By GENE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
The Stevens Point area community turned out Friday, Jan. 26, to say "thank you" to Donn Behnke, cross country coach at Stevens Point Area Senior High School during the halftime of the SPASH-Merrill basketball game.
Behnke, coach of the SPASH boys cross country team since 1977, was inducted into the Wisconsin Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame on Jan. 16.
Friday he was greeted by cross country alumni, many of whom came back to town to honor the coach they trained under years ago.
His teams have been consistently among the best in the state and have also received national recognition. Those teams have made 24 consecutive trips to the State Meet, the most appearances by any team in the state.
Under Behnke, SPASH teams have won 110 invitational team titles, 22 Wisconsin Valley Conference titles, 22 straight WIAA sectional titles, 3 WIAA Division 1 State Meet runner-up finishes and seven WIAA Division 1 State Meet championships.
Overall, his teams have posted 3,015 wins and 193 losses.
Three of his runners have won the individual State Meet championship.
Behnke's junior varsity teams have produced runners who would be on the varsity of most other teams, sometimes competing with two or three squads in the same meet.
The junior varsity teams have won 24 consecutive JV conference titles, while compiling a record of 2,389 wins and 94 losses.
As Behnke left for the game on Friday, he'd didn't know that he was to be honored during halftime.
He told the crowd that his daughter informed him as they walked into the school about the recognition he was to receive. If he had learned about it earlier, he said he probably wouldn't have wanted to come.
He said his coaching is really about people and they made it easier for him to be honored by what they did.
He thanks his wife and daughter for being supportive of his coaching duties. "All of this wouldn't mean anything if I didn't have them," he said.
Stevens Point Mayor Gary Wescott recited the litany of Behnke's accomplishment and presented him with a lapel pin to wear as an ambassador of the city and the area.
Scott Schultz, executive director of the Community Foundation of Portage County, informed him that a special Donn Behnke Scholarship Fund is being set up through the foundation.
Activities for Behnke didn't end with the game.
Saturday morning, past and present runners showed up at Behnke's house for a morning run.
Saturday afternoon, an open house was held at the UW-SP University Center for runners and their families, including their parents, to meet with Behnke and old teammates.