Tom Benich, 79, legendary UNC track coach

Alan Gathright, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 16, 2007 at midnight

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Tom Benich was born to run - and to coach All-American track stars to run, jump and hurl the shot put better than anyone in the nation.

The legendary track coach at the University of Northern Colorado for 23 years, Thomas Robert Benich produced 16 All-Americans in track and cross country.

"The kids said they always called him 'Sparky' because when they were down, he had that extra spark to make them try a little bit harder," recalled Charlotte Benich, his wife of 55 years.

Former two-time All-American Mike Tomasini heard a slightly different version: "Tom called everybody 'Sparky' because I think he just couldn't remember their names."

The players soon tagged their coach with the nickname.

Mr. Benich, 79, died Jan. 24 in Greeley from Alzheimer's complications.

Today's showboating athletes and tantrum-throwing coaches could learn a few things from Sparky Benich, the first-generation son of a Yugoslavian coal miner who inspired his charges with calm, soft-spoken encouragement.

He was born Feb. 15, 1927, in Vallorso in Las Animas County to John and Minnie Benich, the sixth boy in a family of 12.

His parents and two siblings survived the infamous "Ludlow Massacre," a 1914 labor clash at a southern Colorado coal mine where the state militia machine-gunned and burned the striking miners' tent city. Seventeen people died, including two women and 11 children.

His athletic gifts freed him from a life in the mines.

At Trinidad High School, he lettered 14 times in football, basketball, track and tennis, and helped bring home a dozen state championships.

After serving in the Navy during World War II, he attended Trinidad State Junior College. There he played on championship football and basketball teams and was an All-American in track.

He later attended the University of Denver on track and football scholarships. He captained a conference champion track team and set a 440-yard dash record that was never broken.

Mr. Benich's more outlandish achievements became legend.

"When he was a young man going to school down at Denver University, he raced a horse in a 100 yards and beat it," Tomasini recalled.

After graduating from DU, he married Charlotte Day in Trinidad in 1951.

Mr. Benich began teaching and coaching, first at his alma mater, Trinidad High, then at nearby Hoehne High School. He returned to DU to coach track and freshman football in 1957.

Six years later, Mr. Benich landed the job he was meant for: track and frosh football coach at Colorado State College, which later became the University of Northern Colorado.

During more than two decades, squads led by Mr. Benich won repeated track championships and he was named the NCAA Division II Track Coach of the Year in 1982 and 1986.

The secret to his success?

"Tom was really, really dedicated to his athletes," said Tomasini, an All-American in track and football at then-CSC in 1967. "He pushed them - not only to achieve their best, but when they did, he would make sure everybody knew about it."

His players respected Mr. Benich as a small-town, multisport hero "who not only talked the talk, but had walked the walk," said Tomasini, who starred in the shot put and discus.

He become a second father to his athletes, helping them both off and on the field, Charlotte Benich recalled.

"We received letters from so many of these boys saying they would have quit college, if it hadn't been for Tom's encouragement," she said. "One boy said he had two deaths in his family and then his girlfriend dropped him. He said, 'I was just so depressed and the coach helped me get over it.' "

Mr Benich's optimism rippled across his life.

"Everybody should be so lucky they grow up with an Uncle Tom," said his nephew, George Latuda. "He never criticized. He was always encouraging you. He was very concerned about every one of his athletes."

Mr. Benich is survived by his wife; two daughters, Cheryl Todd and Sue Fillmore; son, Robert, all of Greeley; two sisters, Mary McCleary, of Morgan City, La., and Frances Johnson, of Farmington, N.M.; six grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

The family requests donations be made to the "Tom Benich Track Memorial Scholarship" in care of the UNC Foundation, Box 20, Greeley, CO 80639.

gathrighta@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5486

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