Aug. 7, 2008

Contact: Brian McCann

I thought I'd take some time today to call your attention to one of the best coaching jobs being done at Cleveland State.

Joe Jaketic, who is beginning his 38th and final year as CSU's Equipment Manager (I kid him that he came with the Physical Education Building), has served in the dual role of head women's cross country coach since 2005.

Joe is a runner (I have the photos in the old fashioned short shorts in his SID file to prove it) so when Lee Reed approached him about taking over as head coach, he didn't hesitate.

And what he has done with the program has been amazing.

First off, CSU is at a terrible disadvantage compared to most of the Horizon League because we do not have a track team. Without a track team, it is hard to go and get the best distance runners because they want to be able to workout and compete year round.

Still, Joe has searched every nook and cranny of the Greater Cleveland area to put together a team and the results have been good.

You only have to go back to the 2004 season to see how far the program has come. In that year, CSU had just four runners on the team, which meant they couldn't even get a team score at any race because a team score is made up of the top five finishers.

For a whole year, it was like the Vikings weren't even there.

Enter Joe Jaketic.

For his first season, he pillaged the rosters of the other Viking teams to come up with six runners. One came from the soccer team, one was a softball player and he also found runners on the fencing and swimming teams.

The other two runners were first year recruits Audrey and Julie Piotrowski from Parma. The twin sisters (Note: The easy way to tell them apart is that Audrey, who has the longer first name, also has longer hair) were originally recruited by Allison Had, who coached in 2004. They helped to bring stability to the roster.

Fast forward to this year and Coach Jaketic has a roster of 12 runners, none of which he borrowed from other teams. Sophomore Allison Craine returns after leading the team at every meet in 2007 while the twins are also back.

In 2004, CSU technically didn't have a finish at the Horizon League Championships. The following year, the Vikings were last. But it was a real good last.

In 2006, the Vikings edged past Detroit by five points to finish eighth at the Horizon League Championships, marking the first time in more than a decade that they weren't last. Last year, CSU dropped to ninth (out of 10) but still finished eight points ahead of Youngstown State.

Did I mention that both Detroit and Youngstown State have a track team?

The contributions of the women's cross country team go generally unnoticed. They practice early in the morning at Edgewater Park, usually finishing before 8:00 a.m., and they don't have a home meet during the year.

The runners are also some of the best students at CSU.

As a team, the Vikings were publicly honored by the NCAA last year for their multi-year Academic Progress Rate. In a nutshell, the program has a perfect graduation and retention rate, numbers that few teams in any sport can boast.

Individually, Audrey Piotrowski is starting her second year representing the Horizon League on the NCAA Student-Athletic Advisory Committee (SAAC).

Another reason why Joe Jaketic deserves a little attention is that sometime during the fall, he is going to retire as the only Equipment Manager that CSU has ever known. Just ask him how many days until that happens and I am pretty sure he can get it down to the hour.

When Joe does step down, he'll remain Coach Jaketic because the cross country team is has found a place in his heart.

Keep up the good work.