At Newton’s grand farewell last November….
Coach Newton on stage at York for the farewell event held in November, 2016. Hundreds of students and residents attended the celebration in the Joe Newton Fieldhouse.
Runners, colleagues, contemporaries recall this life giant
By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
Joe Newton’s career coaching resume does not need to be repeated and likely will never be duplicated.
But he has another resume—the resume of life—that based on those he has coached, taught and mentored over the years, dwarfs anything the legendary coach has ever accomplished on a cross-country course during a tremendous career that spanned six decades and produced 28 state championships—a mark that likely will never come close to being approached.
Newton died in early December in Arizona at the age of 88. The Independent recently talked to a variety of individuals who knew Newton. The picture they paint: There never will be another Joe Newton.
Even opponents felt motivated
“He had an absolutely astonishing career,” said Hinsdale Central boys cross-country coach Jim Westphal. “His ability to motivate kids is remarkable and how he had the skill to get every kid on those teams to get the most out of their abilities. That’s tough to do and he mastered that skill and to do it over the period he did it and did it successfully is absolutely astonishing. He was infectious when you were around him. You felt motivated as an adult and coach. He had a very unique ability to do that.”
Westphal ran against York in the 1980s while attending Oak Park-River Forest.
“I remember Joe motivating me as an athlete from the opposing team,” he said. “If Joe knew your name or acknowledged you, you felt you had arrived. I’m significant now. That’s the kind of aura he had from that perspective.”
Westphal didn’t mince words when stating Newton’s significance to the sport.
“Joe Newton defined distance running and cross-country in the state of Illinois. If it wasn’t for Joe, the state would not be as competitive as it is today and not as competitive as it is on the national scene. It’s due to Joe. He put us on the map. He’s a legend.”
He put the sport on the map in Illinois
Neuqua Valley boys cross-country coach Paul Vandersteen agreed with Westphal’s statement.
“Joe Newton put Illinois cross country on the map,” he said. “When you compare Illinois high-school cross country to the rest of the country, we are consistently in the Top 5 for sure. I’m not sure another sport in Illinois can boast of that? The reason largely is attributed to his impact on other coaches and what he has taught us. Joe was impressive due to his work ethic and the focus on positive relationships with kids. So many coaches focus on the X’s and O’s when the real difference is made with building relationships and motivating athletes to pursue excellence.”
Wagner weighs in
York athletic director Rob Wagner noted Newton’s impressive statistics of 28 state titles, 44 total state trophies and 28 straight conference titles.
“All worth mentioning,” he said, “but his greatest asset was his ability to bring people together. You never forget Joe Newton after meeting Joe Newton. He touched the lives of generations of students. He will remain in our hearts forever.”
IHSA talks impact on sport, athletes
The Illinois High School Association sent these remarks to the Independent from Executive Director Craig Anderson concerning Newton’s impact.
“Joe Newton’s impact on IHSA cross country and track and field is immeasurable,” said Anderson. “There certainly are many tangible honors in Joe’s career from state championships to individual runner state titles into his enshrinement in the NFHS National High School Hall of Fame. But the impact he had on the student-athletes he coached and the standard of excellence he set for not only his teams, but those who they competed against always will be his greatest legacy.”
Recalling Foot Locker championships
Orland Park Sandburg High School boys cross-country coach John O’Malley was in San Diego at this year’s Foot Locker Championships (a race York runners have competed in many times) when he learned of Newton’s death.
“Joe Newton’s influence is so greater than simply coaching York runners, which in itself is a tremendous legacy,” he said. “Joe Newton pushed Illinois to be greater. He pushed the United States to be better. He established a standard of excellence. But what’s maybe most significant to me is that he facilitated an environment where the sport of cross country matters. Those two boys from Illinois who were leading the Foot Locker this year (Sandburg’s Dylan Jacobs won the national title) doesn’t happen without Joe Newton. And for the thousands of teenagers looking for a place to matter, Joe Newton created a place for that to happen, not just for students at York but for students everywhere. That’s far more important than those trophies sitting in the cases in Elmhurst. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to coach in an environment that coach Newton established.”
A long history for Charlie Kern
Current York boys cross-country coach Charlie Kern Sr. recalled his first encounter with Newton as a young student teacher at York.
“I first met Mr. Newton in front of the school as the team was running around the circle drive,” he said. “I was 24, but nervous to the point of sickness to address the man whose shadow extended all the way to my hometown in New York. I had secured a student-teaching position for the fall of 1993 and was hoping to assist the cross-country team. Knowing that I had to ask the man who wrote the book on high-school cross-country and motivation if I can help him was, in my mind, folly, but perhaps he would be kind enough to let me perform some lowly task and I could soak up as much as I could.
“Walking from a distant parking lot toward him was an exercise in courage. My heart was pounding and my legs were weak. I repeatedly practiced my speech, making changes along the way. Once I made it to the steps outside the gym, his glare was focused and directly on me. He looked over the top of his glasses and was waiting for me to speak. I immediately fumbled my words, botched the speech and watched his face contort with a combination of amusement, compassion and disdain. Needing to save face, I cut to the chase and said, ‘I will be student-teaching in the fall and was wondering if I could help you and the cross-country program?’
“Everything changed with that question in more ways than I could have imagined. Mr. Newton, sitting in his chair, stood up and declared to his manager: “Kurtis! Can you believe it! This man came to me from God!’ He welcomed me to York with a performance that is symbolic of his existence. He was larger than life. I am having great difficulty coming to grips with the end of the most amazing coaching run, pun intended, in the history of cross country. The six degrees of separation game is a fun way to see our connection to Kevin Bacon. In the world of Illinois cross country, there may not be a person who is more than one level removed from Mr. Newton. I am fortunate to say I have worked directly with Mr. Newton and have been doing so since 1993.
“The lessons he taught his athletes also were learned or relearned by his assistant. Mr. Newton took advantage of the opportunity to teach young men lessons that will sustain them for the rest of their lives. A winning culture was not built from trophies, but from a foundation of values that insures success for life. The Newtonisms and references continue to rattle around in the heads of athletes from 1956 to 2015 and guide the lives of young and old me. In this way, Mr. Newton has become larger than life. He lives on in his students and athletes and thus becomes immortal.”
Brian Baker inspired to triple major
Speaking of managers, Brian Baker was exactly that for Newton from 2011 through 2014. He now has a triple major of sports management, business analytics and management information systems at Ohio University.
“Mr. Newton was the embodiment of someone you wanted to be,” said Baker. “He was a strong leader, but at the same time he gave all the kids on the team the care and support they needed to succeed. He was so many things to so many people. He was a great father, coach and a great mentor to everybody who got to know him.”
Baker said Newton compiled quite the stack of papers over the years. “Most workouts had some kind of time component to them,” he explained. “At the end of practice every athlete would give me their times from the workouts and I would write them down. Newton kept track of every workout on a sheet. All the notes form the pre-practice meetings would be on there as well. He put that all in a file and every year he had a file and then I would organize those files later. Mr. Newton’s office wasn’t that large so we had to be smart about how we used the space.
“When you think about how long he did it and the size of the program we had, over the years he mentored a lot of people and really gave them a lot of inspiration. A lot of the practices he would get people to come back from previous years who had either known Mr. Newton from the time he taught P.E. or ran under them and these people would talk about the tremendous impact he had on their lives and the way his lessons had an impact on them. A lot of people wanted college recommendations from him. That speaks to someone doing that. You only ask someone who means a lot to you for a recommendation. The sheer quantity he had for those requests speaks to the sheer power he had on so many lives.”
Former runner recalls four straight state championships
Brian Collins was part of four straight York state-championship teams in the early 1980s and still holds Newton in the highest regard.
“Other than my parents, nobody had more of an impact on me,” he said. “He paid attention to everybody. All he cared about was you being successful. That’s what made all the toughness about him bearable. He truly cared about you and wanted you to succeed. It’s remarkable what he did.”
Collins said he most looked forward to Newton’s pre-practice remarks. “That’s the thing I looked forward to the most,” he said. “Before practice he would have these team meetings and he would tell a different story or something you should pay attention to as a young man. He would talk about things such as Vince Lombardi, a guy who had run for him, or something that had real meaning at the end of it. I looked forward to it every time.”
Collins also recounted Newton’s process of checking in and checking out for the day. “He gave each guy a nickname that usually was different than your name. And there were 200 kids. You had to be on time. If you were late twice you were kicked off the team, it didn’t matter who you were. He greeted you by name when you checked in and then you shook his hand when you checked out. He looked you in the eye and said great work or not so great work. He did that with every single guy. Whenever I went back to visit he would remember my nickname, mine was Nick. He would remember races and times from 30 years ago. He cared about you and always was very present when talking to you.”
Hedman recalls fondest Newton memory
Ron Hedman ran for Newton from 2007-2010 and went on to a collegiate career at Wisconsin-Parkside. One of his favorite Newton memories came during a West Suburban Conference Silver Division championship meet.
“Senior year we had just beaten Oak Park-River Forest who was No. 1 in the state and ranked fifth in the country,” he said. “At the time in the conference you had to win the duals and win the conference meet. Mr. Newton tells us, ‘I’m going to say a prayer for you boys now. Please don’t let them suck today. That lightened the mood. We won the conference that day.”
Hedman said negative thinking was foreign to Newton. “He meant the world to me,” he said. “Every day I went to practice there he was, a guy always there to cheer you up if you had a bad day with classes or something personal was going on with life. He took the time to see how you were doing. He always was willing to help others. He helped me get into college with recruiting and with jobs. He always wanted his guys to succeed in life no matter what it is. I don’t think there is a more impact person doing what he did on a daily basis.”
Making Newton immortal
Kern Sr., like many others have mentioned, pointed to Newton knowing everybody’s name on the team, which most years numbered in the 150-175 range.
“He tried to say every kid’s name every practice,” he said. “Everybody knew the coach’s eyes were on them. Everybody got the same treatment whether it’s the No. 1 guy or the last guy across the finish line. Everybody was subjected to the same rules. He had such a passion for what he did. He had a love for coaching, a love for York and a love for the kids he taught. That’s what made him stand out the most. The Greeks didn’t write obituaries. They only asked one question: Do they have passion? Nobody can argue Mr. Newton didn’t have passion. He was passionate. He made cross-country cool. Sometimes there were 200 kids in the program, more recently it has been 150-175. Other programs don’t have that. Other people wanted to replicate that and make it cool at their school. He made cross-country cool and a legitimate sport, not something used as training time for basketball or wrestling or other sports. When I was in New York, he cast a shadow all the way out here. He was larger than life. He left a mark on so many people.
“We make him immortal by living out the lessons he taught all of us.”
