By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com

Respect, it is said, is at the core of every human interaction. It's an action of honor, a deed of character, dignity and value.

For a group of Gary Wieneke's former Fighting Illini student-athletes, some of whom competed nearly 50 years ago for him, their loyalty and admiration for their head coach is being shaped in the form of a gift that exceeds $1 million. When the new track at the University of Illinois's future Demirjian Park complex is dedicated in the spring of 2021, it will be known as the Gary R. Wieneke Track.

That news and word of Wieneke's election to the U of I's Athletics Hall of Fame was delivered to him and his wife, Peggy, earlier this month by Illini Director of Athletics Josh Whitman, Senior Associate Director of Development Howard Milton, Head Coach Mike Turk, and former UI athletes Chris Saunders and Mark Avery.

Wieneke, who's battling health issues, was stunned by the news.

"These guys are unbelievable," Wieneke said. "During the whole time we've been together and from everything we've done, this is much more than I ever expected."

Turk, who took over as the Illini track and field coach in 2009, says he just stood back and soaked it all in.

"The joy that it brought to someone who had dedicated his life to this profession and to other people is really a validation of what all of us view in this profession," Turk said.

Saunders, a former Illini letter winner (1994-96) and a volunteer coach for Wieneke from 1999-2003, owns Green Street Realty in Champaign. He's been an annual contributor to the I Fund for several years and personally donated a gift of $500,000 for Illinois's new track in Wieneke's honor.

"This project has a special meaning to me and my wife," he said. "Coach gave me confidence and instilled me with a competitive nature. I've been able to use that throughout my career. Being in a position now where I can financially help support this project was something I really didn't even have to think about. It feels good to give back and be able to carry Gary Wieneke's name forward for the long haul. He's earned it."

Mark Avery, who won seven letters from 1974-78 for Illini cross-country and track, is the Decatur-based publisher of Grain Journal, a bi-monthly trade magazine for the grain storage and handling industry. Like Saunders, he's donated $500,000 towards the effort of honoring his former coach at Demirjian Park.

"Coach always tried to focus us on the university and being an Illini," Avery said. "When you're an athlete, you don't notice all the traits you're picking up, like hard work and discipline. He pushed us and brought us together. We were a really close-knit group and that all started at the top with him. Coach attracted high-character people and those kinds of individuals tend to hang together."

Several other athletes also are contributing to the naming of the track in Wieneke's honor and they'll gather in April when track and field alums reunite on campus.

"Coach Wieneke's legacy is the glue that binds our group together," Saunders said.

Wieneke, who retired at the conclusion of the 2002-03 season, served as Illinois' head cross-country coach for 36 years and inherited head track and field coaching duties from Bob Wright in 1974.

Following a three-year stint in the U.S. Army, Wieneke competed as a record-setting student-athlete in both track and cross-country at Augustana College. He served as a graduate assistant at Bowling Green State University, then returned to the state of Illinois to become a high school coach.

John Wright Sr., a former Illini football and track athlete and the son of Wieneke's mentor, said his father frequently credited UI's newest Hall of Famer for the success of his own teams.

"When you talk about Gary Wieneke, I'm reminded of something that my son said to me a while ago," Wright said. "He said 'the definition of preeminence is extraordinary excellence; once established and sustained, it creates a competitive advantage'. My dad thought about Gary like that. Gary was so strong in areas of track and field where my dad was not strong.

"The way you build a team is by having people who are strong in all areas," Wright continued. "My dad was a hurdles and sprints coach, a pole vault coach, and a shot and discus coach, but he didn't know much about the distance events. He brought Gary in to handle those other areas and he had ultimate confidence in him. I don't think he could have thought any more highly of any individual." 

For a group of Gary Wieneke's former Fighting Illini student-athletes, some of whom competed nearly 50 years ago for him, their loyalty and admiration for their head coach is being shaped in the form of a gift that exceeds $1 million. When the new track at the University of Illinois's future Demirjian Park complex is dedicated in the spring of 2021, it will be known as the Gary R. Wieneke Track.

Turk says you have to look beyond Wieneke's outstanding record and accomplishments to understand the worth of the man.

"He's been selected to Halls of Fame at every place he's ever been and by the U.S. Track Coaches Association and the Illinois Track Coaches Association," Turk said. "But the thing that's always impressed me so much is how Gary's athletes genuinely care about him. It's really an incredible thing to see the relationships they still have after all these years. We get caught up in winning and losing and we tend to judge coaches solely on how much they won and what they produced. This guy produced extremely well on the track, but he also produced great people. Coach Wieneke mentored and touched and changed a lot of lives over a long period of time. At the end of the day, that trumps the athletic accomplishments and his coaching record."

Comments from other friends and associates of Gary Wieneke:

Rod Cardinal: "When I came to Illinois out of the Army, I was a pretty inexperienced athletic trainer. Coach was an awesome role model and a mentor for just dealing with track injuries. He had high standards of who he was going to recruit. As much as recruiting championship-caliber athletes, he recruited championship character. Coach had an ability to pay it forward and his athletes, as they've grown and matured, have been able to achieve similar types of things within their athletic programs or with the various companies they work with. He was such an inspirational guy. He might not have been as inspirational as Ray Eliot, but he wasn't too far behind in terms of inspiring kids to perform their best. They just didn't want to let him down."

David Woods, Indianapolis Star: "At the same time Gary was mentoring all of those young athletes, he was unintentually coaching and mentoring me. Illini track was a significant beat at the News-Gazette at the time and he was so patient with me. Because of his integrity and just by the way he managed himself and his team, you couldn't help but respect and admire the way Coach Wieneke conducted himself. Like a lot of good teachers, athletes appreciated him more two and four and ten years down the road than they did at the time. He was tough, but fair. The fact that his guys are so devoted to him says a lot.

Joe Corley, former Illini athlete and past president of the Illini Striders:  "I thought that Gary had an amazing relationship with his athletes. That was a product of being very knowledgeable about what he was doing and just being a good friend. He was dedicated to them and they were dedicated to him. Gary isn't as well known as Illinois basketball and football coaches but, as far as what he contributed, he's right up there with the elite."

Loren Tate:  "They don't come any better than Gary Wieneke ... hard-working, dedicated and close to his athletes. He had a great run with athletes like Lee LaBadie, Mike Durkin, Craig Virgin, Charlton Ehizuelen, Rob Mango and Marko Koers, among others. Gary Wieneke has no enemies, only friends."

Gary Wieneke's Notable Achievements

• Coached the Illini to 12 Big Ten championships: six in outdoor track (1975, 1977, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1994), five in indoor track (1977, 1981 1987, 1988, 1989), one in cross country (1984).
• Coached Illinois to four NCAA indoor team trophies: 1976 (fourth), 1977 (fourth), 1988 (second), 1995 (tie-fourth). Those are Illinois' only top-four finishes, indoors or outdoors, since 1954.
• In 22 Big Ten meets from 1985-95, Illinois finished in the top three 20 times.
• Coached four Olympians: Craig Virgin (1976, 1980, 1984); Mike Durkin (1976, 1980); Bobby True (2000); Marko Koers (1992, 1996, 2000).
• Coached Big Ten's first sub-4-minute miler, Lee LaBadie (3:58.8 in 1971) and United States' only world cross-country champion, Craig Virgin (1980 and 1981).
• Coached five sub-4-minute milers: LaBadie, Durkin, Jeff Jirele, Len Sitko, Koers.
• Coached the Illini to world indoor best in two-mile at Houston Astrodome in 1971.
• Coached Marko Koers to six Big Ten titles at 800 meters: four outdoors, two indoors.
• Coached Koers to one NCAA indoor title (1993) and one outdoor runner-up (1996), and two other NCAA runners-up: Ron Phillips (1972) and Rob Mango (1973).
• Coached 11 different half-milers to 27 Big Ten titles. In a 10-year span from 1992-2001, Illini runners won the Big Ten 800 meters (outdoors) eight times.
• Coached Illinois's only cross country individual NCAA champion, Craig Virgin (1975).
• Coached Illinois's only cross country Big Ten team champion since 1947 (1984).
• Illini cross country finished fifth in NCAA in 1969 and 1976, ninth in 1983, seventh in 1989, 10^th in 1975. Those are Illinois' only top-10 finishes since 1956.