Macniders hit finish line at Schaumburg

Schaumburg's trophy case just outside the gym might be the perfect place to meet Jim and Jon Macnider.

The Macnider brothers have done their part to fill it with a combined five state title trophies from their boys and girls cross country programs. There are eight other big pieces of hardware commemorating top-three state finishes.

Now their long runs in charge of their programs Jim at 37 years for the boys and Jon at 31 for the girls will hit the finish line at a familiar place Saturday. At Peoria's Detweiller Park for the Class 3A state meet.

And they could be adding to the Schaumburg trophy case one more time.

“I think we're capable,” said Jim of his boys team which was hampered in the sectional when Tyler Anderson lost a shoe during the race.

“We've run well all year,” Jon said of the girls team which will battle Palatine one final time for potential state supremacy.

Having teams which, in Jon's words “are in the hunt” or as Jim put it, “are going downstate and their season isn't over yet,” keeps them from getting too sentimental about the end of their journeys at Schaumburg.

“I've had a chance to pull away from it in steps,” Jim said of retiring from teaching at the end of the last school year.

“I try not to think this is it because it will make me sad,” Jon said. “The girls deserve my best and I can't sit around worrying about it.”

One of the things Jon has missed this year is sitting in the Schaumburg physical education office during first period and talking and sharing ideas with Jim.

Jon calls his older brother his role model. He also joked that when he came to Schaumburg as a teacher's assistant in 1977 he initially didn't want to follow in Jim's footsteps.

“I wanted to make it on my own,” Jon said with a smile. “But I'd rather be employed where my brother was working than be unemployed.”

What the Macniders did at a school still in its early stages was employ what they learned as runners for the legendary and still coaching Al Carius at Division III powerhouse North Central College.

Jon worked as a volunteer assistant his first three years in Jim's boys program. In 1980, Jon took over the girls program and two years later had a state championship team with state medalists Brenda Fleming and Janet Salazar.

When the Schaumburg girls won again in 1999 it came after a third-place sectional finish as Katie Donlon and Jim's daughter Lana medaled.

The Schaumburg boys' first title came in 1985 in Class AA as medalists Mark Lishhynsky and Andrew Bredfield helped end a five-year championship run by York. Not bad for a team that finished third in the Mid-Suburban League and didn't win the regional or sectional.

The Saxons won again in 1987 and repeated the following year. Medalists Rick Hornstrom, Kevin Hedenberg, Scott Lilley and Rick Miller led a narrow 70-77 win over York, which went on to win the next six titles.

“When I first started (in 1974), I wanted to win conference,” Macnider said. “Once we got down to the state meet we said we'd like to do it every year.”

His younger brother discovered it's not easy for even the premier programs.

“What I lost sight of, and people lose sight of, is we had a long string of (team) qualifiers every year,” Jon said. “Then we had a stretch from 2002 to 2007 where we didn't qualify and you realize, this is hard.

“I realized these kids do something special when they qualify for state. In high school (at Niles West) we never went to the state meet and I thought those guys changed in phone booths. Here it's believable and here it's a reality.”

They also realize whether it is changes in the school or by the state expanding classes, it is best for others with more energy to roll with them.

“When I retired last year I figured I'd coach cross country for a few more years, but as the season went on I thought, no,” Jim said. “I figured it was time to go and time to take that next step.”

One he's already taken by working with students at North Central who are planning to become teachers.

Jon believes the cross country gods have smiled on him in his final year. He figures to do some traveling with two of his three sons living in San Francisco.

“It's time to level out a bit and not have so many highs and lows,” Jon said. “I'm looking forward to watching other people do it and not have the emotional investment.

“My plan is not to plan for awhile and see what presents itself.”

But it's easy to get the feeling they don't plan to be out of action for long.

Jim mentioned the possibility of helping Carius at North Central next year. And both enjoy having the ability to make an impact on kids.

“I just enjoy it and I'm looking forward to going down there,” Jim said of the state meet. “I'm a coach and I love doing it.”

Said Jon: “I'm a coach, too, so we'll see.”

They hope to see their time come to a glorious end Saturday in Peoria.

mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com