Conant High School’s second-ever boys cross country coach nearing career finish line

The finish line is coming into view for John Powers after 34 seasons coaching boys cross country for Conant High School, where he’s followed in the footsteps of his legendary mentor Jack Ary.

Though it’s only mid-September, Tuesday’s meet at Busse Woods was an especially poignant one as it’s his last on Conant’s home course.

It also included Bartlett High School, where his son Evan is the assistant girls coach and John Atchison — a member of his first state-qualifying team — is now the assistant boys coach.

Powers invited as many other team alumni as could make it.

Though most of the school year and even his final track season still lie ahead, the fall is filling him with nostalgia as he looks back on what his decision to join the cross country team at Conant in the early 1980s inspired.

And for a third of a century, he’s been inspiring others and introducing them to a sport he feels demonstrates the value of grit and perseverance.

“There’s no time out in cross country,” Powers said. “We’ll be at every meet on that schedule. I think cross country is an awesome place for kids to be.”

He said part of the poetry of the sport is the opportunity to both perform as an individual and score as a team.

“Track, to me, is more technical,” he added. “Cross country is more blood and guts. You have to beat people to be successful.”

Strongly inspired by Ary’s guidance, Powers knew he wanted to be a coach himself. And it was very clear in the ‘80s that if you wanted to be a coach, you had to be a teacher too.

He majored in education at the University of Illinois where he continued to run cross country and even coached track at Champaign Central High School.

“I loved the teaching,” he said of the career he’ll be retiring from next summer. “It was a great career choice for me.”

His return to his alma mater in Hoffman Estates was as much by luck as by design. He spoke to the distance coach at Conant during a track meet Champaign Central was at and learned he was looking to leave. That prepared a path for Powers to go back in 1992 and be reunited with Ary.

He initially was Conant’s first full-time substitute teacher for three years, but ultimately settled into his ongoing role as a physical education and wellness teacher.

Entering his final year now, he’s struck by how differently he’s experienced the passage of time at Conant as both student, teacher, athlete and coach.

“There’s a certain part of me that feels like I just got back from college,” Powers said. “I still catch myself thinking, ‘Once I’ve done this long enough, I’ll be good at it.’”

Conant Athletic Director Erik Hauser said the modesty Powers continues to demonstrate is just part of what’s made him such a pillar of the school, adapting his approach to essentially two different generations of students.

“He’s one of our veteran coaches, well liked,” Hauser said. “It’s rare for a sport that’s been around for a long time to have had only two coaches.”

It was in 2000 that Powers succeeded Ary as head coach. But for his son Evan, he’s been a lifelong inspiration. The younger man is now in his second season of coaching at Bartlett High.

While this entire swan song season means a lot to the entire Powers family, the meeting of the two generations at Busse Woods was highly anticipated.

“For me, it’s the most exciting meet of the year,” Evan said. “I know there’s going to be a lot of alumni there.”

For him, his father’s example was not only general but as specific as following him into coaching cross country.

“It’s a journey of self-growth and self-improvement,” he said of the sport. “It’s about going out there and seeing how far you can push yourself. It’s a very individualistic sport but you’re looking around for your other guys.”

Being surrounded by both colleagues and competitors as a professional coach himself now has made Evan recognize his father’s uniqueness even more.

“I don’t think anyone can do it like my dad,” Evan said. “I think the culture my dad has fostered at Conant, you’d have to go a long way to find something else like that.”

The Cougars varsity squad has five more meets left on the schedule before regional, sectional and state meets in late October and early November.