David Benson, who coached the Track and Field and Cross Country teams at Julian Middle School for 21 years, was inducted on Jan. 9 into the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
A recipient of the Distinguished Coach’s Award, he recently reflected on his journey as coach, how he began and what he has accomplished.
It all began in 1994 when he interviewed for a physical education teaching position at Julian and was asked if he was willing to coach the school’s track and field team. He already had an extensive running resume, having run cross country at Lane Tech High School in Chicago where he was a three-time state qualifier. He had also, joined the club running team at Northern Illinois University (where he also walked onto the varsity basketball team).
So he gave a yes on the spot.
“It wasn’t a hard sell at all,” said Benson.
But Benson’s running experience was centered on cross country running. (He humbly joked that he was never “fast enough” for track and field). At the time, Julian didn’t even have a cross country team. So, he made one, which he could coach in addition to the track and field team.
He contacted fifth grade PE teachers at Beye, Irving, Longfellow and Mann Elementary, the schools that fed into Julian, and asked for names of the top 10 boys and girls in the school’s P.E. running tests — like the infamous Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) Test. Then, he contacted their families to gauge interest, eventually securing enough participation to make a roster, marking the beginning of the Julian Middle School Cross Country Team.
It started small but participation grew annually, eventually amounting to a program that consistently rostered 90 students. The track and field program recorded even more participants during Benson’s coaching career, usually with upwards of 110 student runners.
Eventually getting the opportunity to coach more than 200 students between both seasons, with cross country in the fall and track and field in the spring, Benson watched a vast number of students set goals for themselves and achieve them. For him, it didn’t matter whether students were running at the front or the back of the pack, but rather the “individual successes” they had the opportunity to achieve throughout the season.
“It’s wonderful to have state championships,” Benson said. “But it’s also wonderful to have those students to get a personal best.”
Benson loved the sport’s accessibility to all students who may not have clicked with other sports. All one has to do to participate is run. This made it all the more special to coach, as it allowed him to coach a vast number of students in becoming the best versions of themselves.
“Running is wonderful in that way,” Benson said.
Still, Benson’s passion for being a part of students’ journeys to break their goals did not mean he didn’t care about winning. Even if it wasn’t the most important thing to him, he wasn’t averse to it. Check out his record:
In cross country, he coached three Individual State Cross Country Champions, 39 Individual All-State runners, 12 top-ten IESA State finishes, and five top-four IESA states team finishes; in track and field, he coached 11 Event State Champions, 118 Individual or Relay Event All-State Competitors, and eight top-four-finishing teams at the IESA State Meet.
On the sectional level, as coach, Benson earned 16 Seventh Grade Girls Team Championships; 17 Eighth Grade Girls Team Championships; 7 Seventh Grade Boys Team Championships; and 9 Eighth Grade Boys 9 Team Championships.
But winning wasn’t the reason he became a coach, or the reason he stayed in the position for 21 years. That’s why, when he achieved his Coaches Hall of Fame award nomination, he was shocked to see all of his victories in writing.
“When I got the call, [I was] still kind of shocked and stunned that [I was] at that level of success,” Benson said. “You like to get acknowledged but it’s also a little humbling or embarrassing.”
The award hasn’t only prompted reflection of his coaching success that is measured in wins, but also the intangible successes.
“I think [the award] certainly validates the time that that connection with kids throughout the decade mattered,” Benson said. “It just echoed how important the program was, and the experience was to kids.”
His award nomination has also prompted former students and parents to reach out to Benson, thanking him for his help and support during their middle school years — a time, for many students, filled with mental health, self-esteem and anxious struggles.
“I had a couple students that reached out with their parents to say that running and the relationships that I had as a coach with them that helped them with some really challenging times,” he said.
To Benson, these calls sparked a “real warmth to know what you’re doing mattered.” He extends his gratitude to the support of the Oak Park community, both throughout his career and upon receiving his award.
