Boys track and field: Aikens' fun ride at Fremd draws to a close

Not for a moment in the last 30 years has it ever been about Fremd boys track coach Jim Aikens.

He wouldn't have it any other way.

"I just like to have fun," Aikens said.

For the last 30-plus years, Aikens, who has a well-earned reputation as one of the top throwing coaches in the country, has had his fair share of fun at Fremd. But this Saturday, at the conclusion of the high school state championships at Eastern Illinois' O'Brien Field, Aikens will step down as the leader of the Vikings program.

He is retiring from teaching but won't get too far away from the sport. Aikens will move on to Burlington Central to coach throws there.

And in his spare time? Well, that's till to be determined.

"I may just get on my bike and ride," he said. "Or maybe I'll just sit back and enjoy myself."

Enjoying whatever he does seems to be the mantra that has followed Aikens for the last three decades. And from the results of the program has produced, it's easy to see why it's been so enjoyable.

Aiken's teams won or shared nine Mid-Suburban League titles, including winning back-to-back crowns four times. In that same span, the Vikings amassed 61 individual and relay conference champions including 10 shot put and 7 discus champions.

Fremd has also captured 8 sectional titles, including this year.

At the state meet level, the Vikings hauled in 42 state medals, with three state titles coming in the shot put and one in discus.

Senior Ethan Hanson is aiming to add to the championship list for Fremd at state this weekend.

"I can't think for a better way to go out than to send coach out with a state champion," the Missouri-bound Hanson said.

Hanson's focus is a good example of how athletes have learned via Aikens' guidance. After all, to Aikens, coaching is just a very specific kind of teaching.

"This is a sport, and of course it's great to win and all that," Aikens said. "But I look at being able to teach more than coach. It's like teaching through a different venue."

Aikens, a science teacher at Fremd, has reached into that bag of tricks to use physics and the applied sciences to get his athletes to achieve at the highest levels.

"Oh yeah, I love that part of it," Aikens said with the wry smile he's become known for. "It's part physical science, and part chemistry. But don't tell the kids that part."

His love for the athletes has never been in doubt. Neither has it always been totally smooth sailing, such as when he coached the girls team at Fremd, 1985 through '88.

During practice, a wayward discus struck Aikens in the jaw, loosening more than a few choppers and also forcing him to have his jaw wired shut.

"A couple inches here or there and it wouldn't have been good," said Cathy Jones, once an athlete of Aikens' at Fremd and now the jumps coach Barrington. "Yeah, we and some of the coaches gave him a hard time about having his spaghetti at the team dinner in a blender. Honestly, though, Jim is such a good man. No other way to put it."

In typically positive fashion, Aiken is able to put a positive spin on the whole episode.

"I am the reason they have nets now," he said with a laugh.

When Aikens assumed control of the program from the late Rich Bokor in 1990, the success was almost immediate. That spring, Jeff Teach won the shot put state title and set a school record of 64 feet, 4 inches that still stands. Teach now runs a gym in Northern Virginia training - you guessed it - throwers, among others.

"He really helped me develop my path in life," said Teach, who won four Big 10 titles at Illinois, earning him All-American honors twice. "My dad still lives in Palatine and keeps me up to date on the program and coach."

The next state champion came two seasons later, when Keith Lozowski became Aikens' only shot and discus winner in the same year.

"That 1993 team was a special group," Aikens said. "It was funny because at conference we sat in Lew's (Miskowicz) van and the kids just kept coming up to us asking what they had to do next."

Beyond track, Lozowski was a part of the Northwestern football team that played in the 1996 Rose Bowl as part of two Big 10 football champions.

"Funny thing is, I was going to play baseball," Lozowski said. "Coach talked me out of it. Some of the greatest moments in my life have been a part of throwing, and coach set the tone."

Ken Kemeny kept the long line of talented throwers going by winning the state title in the shot put in 2000. Kemeny now coaches throws at St. Charles North.

"Coach just knew how to coach each of the athletes," said Kemeny, who went on to compete at Iowa. "He would come to the meet, provide just the little things, but would keep it simple."

Aikens will not be defined only by the state champions he coached. His impact might be bettered measured by throwers such as Nick Mitchell, who didn't make the sectional and conference teams in 2003 but promised he would make those same teams in 2004 and beyond - and was correct.

"It was funny, when I told him he wasn't going to be on the teams, he was at practice every day telling me he was going to be on that team next year," Aikens said. "All I kept saying was OK, we will see."

Mitchell earned shot put medals in three consecutive years - the only thrower to do so during Aiken's tenure.

Mitchell is getting married this summer, and Aikens will attend.

"I take pride in people that become successful," Aikens said. "I like to think that when I am done with each of them, they can all come back and coach."

His athletes never lose contact, either. Chip Hodlmair, who won the first medal for Aikens as a thrower in 1989, still stays in touch with his mentor. Not surprisingly, Hodlmair is a throws coach at Bayfield High School in southern Colorado.

"I message him on Facebook and send video clips to him," Hodlmair said. "He is clearly my biggest influence. It's just how he teaches people, how he coaches. He is the reason why I coach."

Aikens isn't kidding himself about one thing - he knows moving on after such a storied run at Fremd won't be easy.

"I think about not being here more and more," he said. "I'm going to really miss it. I am especially proud of this year's group. They gave everything they had."

The coach who turned so many into coaches wouldn't have it any other way.