Contact: Martin Rickman
Entering his fifth season as cross country coach, Joe Jaketic has rebuilt the cross country program and it all stems from his dedication to his alma matter. A Cleveland State graduate in 1972, Jaketic has never been able to shake his enthusiasm for the Vikings, and that has truly carried over into his head coaching career.
Prior to becoming head coach, Jaketic served as the equipment manager for CSU athletics. He retired from that position in December of 2008, after 37 years, and oversaw the ups and the downs of Viking athletics. Jaketic ran cross country at Maple Heights High School and spent time running at Ohio University before transferring to run cross country and track at Cleveland State.
While a student, Jaketic spent two years in the equipment room as a part-time job before being offered the equipment manager position in 1972. He just couldn't bring himself to leave Cleveland State.
"When I was a student, I would watch the little gym in Fenn Tower at night," Jaketic said. "Apparently I must have impressed Mr. Jim Rodriguez, the Associate AD. I then graduated and the equipment room was looking for a full-time person. He recommended that I be hired and I took the job.
"I always said that I'd stay here till something better comes along and nothing better has ever come along."
In his time as equipment manager, Jaketic saw revolutionary changes in CSU sports and facilities. The Physical Education building and the Robert F. Busbey Natatorium were constructed, Viking Field, home to the softball team, was opened in 1988, Krenzler Field became the home of Viking soccer and underwent renovations in 2005 and the Malaga Tennis Center was erected in 1997.
Most notably, the Bert L. and Iris Wolstein Center was built and in addition to being home to the men's and women's basketball teams, it hosted the 1996 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship, the 2000 and 2005 NCAA Division I Wresting Championships, the 2002 Horizon League Men's Basketball Championship and the 2000 and 2005 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Midwest Region First and Second Rounds.
Jaketic stayed with the school and was excited to see the campus grow and evolve. But one thing stayed the same through the years; Jaketic continued to enjoy his job and spend as much time as possible talking to students and athletes.
"My fondest memories are the students," Jaketic said. "It used to be that every athlete had to come to me so I knew all the athletes and what sport they were in. They'd come by early and we'd chit chat a little bit.
"Ninety-eight percent of my help has been student help and we always had fun. When it was time to work, we worked, but I'd find out about them and joke and it got to be that there were many times where people who weren't on the clock would come down and eat lunch and hang out in the equipment room. Those are my best memories."
Jaketic has a personal philosophy that academics come first in his program, and that has showed, as his team is consistently near the top of the Horizon League in GPA and has won the Academic Progress Rate Award.
"For recruiting, I go on a website and can find races and results," Jaketic said. "I send letters out, but I base everything around districts. I draw the line and anybody above that line I send a letter. That letter gets sent to the coaches along with questionnaires that go out to the athletes. On the questionnaire, the times are the last thing down. At the top is their GPA, class standing, ACT and SAT score along with who their counselor is."
"I stress academics because we have academic money at the university and I'm proud to say that I have four runners getting full tuition for academics and at least two more getting some academic money."
It is that commitment to academics that represents just how involved Jaketic is in his players' lives. He pays close attention to their class schedule and works with them to get them into study sessions. He even moved practice time to 6:30 a.m. as a way to help his players stay healthy both mentally and physically.
"We practice at 6:30 in the morning and that is positive because they are done early and they can still take afternoon classes," Jaketic said. "Because of their schedule they may not be able to eat lunch if we practice at 2 p.m. because of the classes they're taking and this works out great. I want to make sure they stay nutritious and eat a balanced diet. My new assistant coach, Kate Mone, is also a nutritionist with the Cleveland Clinic. The team knows her and can relate to her."
With all his extra free time after retiring from the post of equipment manager, Jaketic has more free time than he has had in almost four decades. He has used that time to improve recruiting and to work with Dr. Ken Sparks, his neighbor across the hall, to institute speed intervals for his team. Sparks, an associate professor in exercise physiology and health, is a runner himself and was an All-American and an accomplished middle-distance runner. Jaketic believes that the speed intervals make the team faster, as well as helping them to stay positive.
All in all, this year's team is a far cry from the team of runners Jaketic saw in his first year with the program. A month before the 2005 season, the former coach resigned and Athletic Director Lee Reed asked Jaketic if he would become what was essentially the interim head coach.
The 2004 squad did not even have enough runners to compete. But in his first year, twins Julie and Audrey Piotrowski joined the team, and Jaketic was able to get creative by pulling runners from other sports like swimming, soccer and softball to fill out his team. Those athletes used cross country as a way of conditioning.
Jaketic's efforts did not go unnoticed, as Reed removed the interim tag and Jaketic was named to the position full-time. In his second year, the Vikings had their first finish ahead of a league opponent since 1997.
Jaketic has made Cleveland State a place where distance runners want to compete purely for cross country. Set back by the fact that the Vikings do not have a track and field program, Jaketic has to find athletes who are passionate about distance running, but more importantly, are coming to CSU to get a degree.
And those players have come in bunches. With four newcomers and five returners, the CSU team is ready to take another step forward in the Horizon League. Jaketic's philosophy is to always enjoy what he's doing, and with almost four decades of experience, there is no doubt that he enjoys what he's doing at Cleveland State.
