Sport in world

Former Western Illinois coach elected into USTFCCCA Hall of Fame

January 17, 2008 on 10:10 pm | In Athletics |

PHOENIX- Jim Sackett, a former Western Illinois track and field and cross country coach, was one of eight coaches inducted into the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame earlier this week.

The ceremony was held Tuesday, December 18, at the JW Marriot Desert Ridge as part of the USTFCCCA’s annual convention. The eight coaches represented all three levels of NCAA competition and covered a time span of nearly a century.

Sackett coached the Western track and field program from 1969-80. In 1971 he added men’s and women’s cross country to his coaching duties.

After his tenure at Western Illinois, Sackett was the head coach at Cal Poly Pomona for 27 years before retiring this past June.

During his 38 years as a head coach at the Division II level, Sackett coached 12 national champions, 135 outdoor track all-Americans and 24 cross country all-Americans. Cal Poly Pomona’s national title in 1983 was one of seven top-10 finishes at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships.

Sackett’s Western Illinois accomplishments included: five Division II national champions, 53 track and field all-Americans, five cross country all-Americans, three Drake Relays titles and a Mid-Continent Conference title. During his tenure, his athletes broke all of the school’s indoor and outdoor track records. He was elected into Western Illinois’ Hall of Fame in 1997.

Sackett competed in middle distances at Mankato State, graduating in 1961 with a degree in history and physical education. After earning his master’s degree in education at Washington State, Sackett began his coaching career at Davis High School in northern California.

The other members of the 2007 USTFCCCA Hall of Fame consists of Lew Hartzog (Southern Illinois), Cyrus Jones (Lincoln), Tom Jones (Florida), Beverly Kearney (Texas), John Mitchell (Georgia), Irv Mondschein (Pennsylvania), and Karl Schlademan (Michigan State).

Sackett is now one of 130 coaches in the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame.

“This is a humbling experience,” Sackett said. “I’d like to thank my wife for raising our children. It takes a special woman to be married to a track coach, because they can’t plan on going to the symphony or the theater. There’s no time.”

Originaly from Source