End of an era: Highly successful coach Adams stepping away
Altoona Area High School track and field
Trending
SHIPPENSBURG -- One of the last things Mike Adams did as an athlete at Altoona Area High School was earn a silver medal at the PIAA Track and Field Championships.
Saturday, in one of his last actions as the Mountain Lions' coach 32 years later, he placed a PIAA silver medal around his son's neck.
"It was pretty sweet with him winning a medal at my last state meet," Adams said. "That was a nice moment."
It was the final of many for Adams, who graduated from AAHS in 1990 and won a gold medal in the 400-meter relay and a silver in the 200 dash his senior year before competing at Penn State, where his son, Jake, will also compete starting next year.
After shouting a few words of advice and encouragement from just beyond the fence across from the long jump pit at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium Saturday morning, Adams turned his hat backward before Jake's final jump and ran his hands over the top of his hat a couple of times.
"I was real nervous. I'm not going to lie to you," Mike Adams said. "No one was jumping really far today. When he had that 22 (feet) and got out to the lead, I thought he had a chance (to win gold). Credit to (champion Brendan Leneghan of Saint Joseph's Prep), he won it on the last jump of the competition, and he beat him."
With that jump, Jake Adams narrowly missed becoming the fourth outdoor track individual state champion under his father's guidance. Adams also coached two relay teams to state championships, won two state team titles (in 2008 and 2010) and coached 40 athletes to state medals in outdoor competition alone.
"It's been an honor having my dad as a coach," Jake Adams said. "He knows so much about it and cares so much for it, and I love it, too. It's great to have him here for this."
Adams plans on following his son, literally, to Penn State and across the country, so he recently made the decision that Saturday would be his last day as the Altoona boys track and field head coach.
"I want to watch Jake next year," Adams said. "My wife and I want to see him jumping in college. We want to travel and watch him, and that's the most important thing I'll be doing."
Building a state power
After graduating from Penn State in 1995, Adams joined the Altoona coaching staff as an assistant in the 1999-2000 season before he took over in the 2004-2005 school year.
"He came on as an assistant under Tom Musselman, and at that time, we had a very good track program," Altoona athletic director Phil Riccio said. "But with Mike's knowledge of the sprints and his strength training, it started to grow even more to where it has blossomed now that when you mention track, you mention Altoona, and that's because of Mike and what he's put into it."
Adams did not lose a track dual meet in his first decade as the boys coach, going 76-0 in that time. His finished his career with a 126-3 dual meet mark.
"I think we have a top program in the state, and we have had one for a long time," Adams said. "People know what Altoona track is, who we stand for and what we are. I take a lot of pride in that and the respect this program has."
That first decade also included a pair of team state championships and a PIAA runner-up finish sandwiched in between.
"Winning our first state championship was pretty cool," Adams said. "We have been fortunate enough to win a number of them, and I have been fortunate to coach a lot of great athletes. As anyone knows, a coach is only as good as their athletes, and I have been fortunate enough to be at a place where we have great support from the administration and a great coaching staff. I couldn't ask for more throughout my career."
National acclaim
A major part of that success from 2008-2010 was fueled by one of the greatest track and field athletes to ever compete at Altoona, Brady Gehret.
Gehret, a 2010 graduate, won two PIAA outdoor titles, three indoor individual event state titles and helped four relay teams win state championships. His specialties were the 200 and 400 dashes, events he may not have ever run if not for Adams.
"My 10th grade year, I was just a jumper," Gehret said. "I only did the long jump and high jump, and Coach Adams immediately made me into a 400 runner, which I didn't like at first. I grew to like it, and that year we won states as a team and kept improving throughout the years and getting better at everything."
Gehret went on to win a national championship in the 400 dash and reached the finals of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in 2012.
"I wouldn't be anywhere near the athlete I was without his guidance and coaching throughout high school," Gehret said. "I'm very appreciative of him and how he led me to the career I had."
In addition to Gehret's accomplishments, Adams coached Neal Huynh, who became a national champion in the javelin, coached eight high school All-Americans and had plenty of success at the Penn Relays, which attracts top competitors from all around the world.
"The coaches and I were talking about this (recently) about there being so many great memories," Adams said. "I'm grateful for those memories and experiences. I have been at Altoona for 23 years and the head coach for 19 years, and I can't pinpoint one moment, but when we were at the Penn Relays and were the top American team and won gold watches -- that was pretty sweet, because that's the elite of the elite there."
Jake Adams finished third in the long jump at the Penn Relays in his father's final season but went on to record his best jump of 23 feet, 9 inches to tie Gehret's record later in the season.
"Building throughout the season was a big message," Gehret said. "We wanted to be ready for the state meet. The meets we did throughout the season were kind of just tune-up meets, even big invites. We looked at them all as workouts to have a good state meet, because ultimately, track is all about peaking at the right time. You build the whole season to peak at the state meet."
Leaving a legacy
Due in part to what Adams built, Altoona's Mansion Park is one of the top facilities in the state and hosts the District 6 meet annually as well as invitationals that attract top teams from across Pennsylvania.
"Our facilities are second to none," Adams said. "We have the best facilities in the state of Pennsylvania. Our scoreboard is way better than theirs (at Shippensburg). We do some things at our meet that they don't even do at the state meet, and we take pride in that. Our administration and athletic director have helped us do that."
Adams won 11 District 6 team titles at Altoona and had plenty of success during indoor season throughout his career as well, winning a pair of state titles in 2009 and 2010, crowning six individual state champions, three relay title winners and 32 state medalists.
But the longtime coach appreciates the men his athletes grew into after high school.
"Their accomplishments after they have graduated athletically don't even mean as much to me as when I see them and I see they are good people with good jobs raising a family," Adams said. "They will text or call me every time there are districts. I got so many calls and texts wishing good luck with Jake (last Saturday). That means more than anything."
While Adams will be busy following Jake's collegiate career during track season, Riccio doesn't expect him to become a stranger around Altoona's campus.
"Mike has meant so much, and he's an Altoona guy that lives and breathes Altoona," Riccio said. "We're losing him as a track coach, but he's still going to be with us in football and be in the building. I have had the privilege to coach with him for 10 outstanding years. He puts the kids first, and he wants to win. He gives off that vibe, and it goes to everyone, including the kids. It's his drive and dedication and the work he's put into it. He doesn't leave any stone unturned, and he's made our program elite."