SE's Jeff Phillips to be inducted into OATCCC Hall of Fame

Jeff Phillips didn't run cross country or track in high school, he only ran to cut weight for wrestling. So when he graduated from Seneca East in 1979, he probably figured his running days were done.But running wasn't done with him.Phillips will be one of eight new inductees tonight when the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches holds its annual Hall of Fame banquet in Columbus.Being chosen was quite a surprise, said Phillips, who wound up earning girls cross country and girls track success as a coach at his alma mater."Nobody ever expects, least-wise myself, to ever get in there," Phillips said."The quality of the coaches down there and the runners, to be a part of that, I'd never thought it'd be possible because there's a lot of great coaches and runners in that hall of fame," he said. "It's just an honor to be part of it."To me, it's an honor just to be able to have coached these kids in the past. For the program itself, we have a lot of rich history there and we still do," Phillips said. "For me, just to be a part of it to help this program I think is great because we've always had a great tradition there."Matt Schock, who now guides Seneca East's girls cross country and girls track teams and is also the northwest Ohio district representative for the OATCCC, said nominating came Phillips easily and was well-deserved."Jeff's just a good, all-around guy," he said."Jeff wasn't your traditional coach who was a teacher at the school. This is a guy who was coaching wrestling on the side and we needed a cross country coach and he did it," Schock said. "There were numerous, numerous Saturdays where we'd have (meets) and Jeff would be scheduled to work and he would have to use his own sick time and personal time to coach teams at these meets. It just shows where his dedication and his commitment was — to his kids and his athletes, on top of all the success."Phillips' path to the hall of fame began in the mid-'80s.He had returned to his alma mater a few years earlier to coach wrestling while working full time at Pepperidge Farms, but was asked in the summer of 1985 by Athletic Director Harry Wright to coach the girls cross country team."It was only supposed to be for a year or so," Phillips said, recounting the tale. "He said, 'Just send them out there to run.'"Phillips did just that, for a quarter-century.And with lots of success.Seneca East's cross country girls won 15 league titles, 14 district titles and six regional titles on the way to earning 15 state meet team berths during his tenure.He guided Seneca East to the state title in 1998, as well as runner-up finishes in 1997, 2000 and 2008. In all, his Tigers tallied 13 top-10 finishes and nine top-five finishes at state.Seventeen different Tigers also qualified as individual state meet runners — some multiple times, leading to 36 state-qualifying performances.The 21 individual All-Ohio finishes earned by his Tigers included Briana Shook winning back-to-back individual state titles in 1997 and 1998, and Brittany Stockmaster claiming back-to-back individual state runner-up finishes in 2008 and 2009.Phillips was also named coach of the year 14 times in the now-defunct Midland Athletic League and six times in District 6.Along the way he helped Seneca East start cross country programs at the elementary and junior high levels.He began helping out the girls track team in 1992, serving as a volunteer coach for the distance runners for a while before becoming an official assistant coach.Phillips later moved up to girls head coach from 2004 through 2010.In track, he was part of nine league titles, five district titles, two regional titles and three top-10 finishes at state.Phillips coached 23 individual All-Ohio track and field performers and 18 All-Ohio relay teams.A few Tigers stood high upon the state track podium.Shook won back-to-back 1,600 titles in 1998 and '99, and added state crowns in the 3,200 in 1997 and '99.Relay championships came from the 4x800 teams of Kelly Elmlinger, Lindsay Ranker, Shook and Abby Phillips in 1997, and Haley Nagel, Kristin Barrell, Amanda McConnell and Joy Kessler in 2005.State runner-up athletes under his care included Jessica Phillips in the 1,600 in 2009, Barrell in the 1,600 in 2005, Niki Hines in the 3,200 in 1999 — she and Shook ran 1-2 — and Shook in the 3,200 in 1998.And while he played a role in the success, Phillips said a lot of that came from paying attention to what others were doing."I was fortunate to coach with some very good coaches," he said."I enjoyed it. I enjoy watching the kids develop," he said. "At the same time, I was looking at what the schools around me were doing as far as their success. Just over time, I stuck with it and talked to all the right people, different coaches and so on."And what he learned and shared has led to another honor, Schock said."We're ecstatic that he was selected this year," he said. "It's exciting. It's just an honor for our school to have someone selected into that hall of fame because it truly is an elite group."