Morello's name will adorn his track and field masterpiece

Maybe it was the artist in Jeff Morello that allowed him to see beauty where there was little to behold.

Morello had come to Christian Liberty as an art teacher in 1993. Shortly thereafter he started the school's track and field program with four girls from the high school.

As the numbers and interest grew, so did the weeds and holes in the old asphalt track used by Arlington High School.

"I would walk down that track and I could just visualize it," Morello said of a new surface with beautifully painted lanes, start and finish lines and relay exchange zones.

For about eight years, kids at Christian Liberty have been able to reap the benefits of Morello's vision turning into beautiful reality through his fundraising efforts.

And now there will be a nice acoutrement to the track as Morello has decided to retire from coaching after 17 years.

"When (athletic director Steve Rowland) told me what they were going to do I said, 'Are you kidding?'" Morello said of having the track named after him.

At their spring sports banquet, Rowland surprised Morello with plans for the plaque honoring his contributions to the school. Naturally, it's been placed on the school's building right alongside the track.

Contributions that came without a price to the school.

"For 17 years he never asked for a dime," Rowland said.

Ironic since the early 1990s recession closed the downtown Chicago art studio where Morello worked. Morello said he always wanted to get into teaching and a friend at Christian Liberty told him there was an opening in the art department.

Not long after he arrived there was interest at the school in starting a track program. Not only did Morello run four years of track and cross country in high school in Michigan, but he truly loved the sport, so he volunteered.

Early on he was the only person coaching the grade school and high school teams for boys and girls. Gradually he found qualified assistants to help with the workload.

There were no hurdles when he started and when he finally got one, he had the shop teacher build more. But at times the hurdles seemed endless.

"At times I thought, 'I'm so tired of this and I don't want to do this again,'" Morello said. "You're swimming upstream and this is way too much work.

"Then a kid would come in and say, 'Mr. Morello, I'm going to try for that mile record,' and I said, 'I can't quit now.'

"I tried to quit for 14 years," Morello added with a laugh, "and I wasn't able to do it."

Three years saw Morello working to raise the $126,000 to finally get the track of his dreams. The leftover money was used to purchase new hurdles, a high jump pit area and the implements needed for the shot put and discus.

It was all part of Morello's belief of giving people the best to perform at their best.

"Excellence is always the goal in whatever we did," Morello said. "One thing I've always hated about anything is mediocrity."

That's why he's thrilled with the direction the school has taken under Rowland's leadership to become a full-fledged IHSA member school.

"His dream and goal was to get to the point where he could see kids go to sectionals and maybe state one day," Rowland said. "He was so excited. That's been his dream."

The reality of trying to balance coaching track with teaching art and also doing things for himself such as performing in a Country and Western-Bluegrass-Gospel band called the Blue Tulip Wranglers finally caught up to Morello, who turns 63 this year.

It wasn't an easy decision as Morello said he "took almost a week and a half to go to Steve and tell him" he was ready to pass the coaching baton to someone else. Eric Sandberg and his wife Kathy, who have been assistants the past three years and teach at the school, will take over the boys and girls programs respectively.

Morello will still be around to help when he can and will work some meets as a starter. And some talented Christian Liberty grade schoolers have Morello thinking it won't be long before someone from the high school makes it to the state meet in Charleston.

"That's going to be the best," Morello said.

Jeff Morello will know he did his best to make it possible.

mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com