CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The NJCAA has announced two honorees to be inducted into the NJCAA Cross Country and Track & Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame with Cloud County Community College women's track and field coach Ted Schmitz named as one of the two inductees.
A native of Baileyville, Schmitz is a recognized head coach and renowned leader with deep roots at Cloud County Community College. So much so that in 2008, Schmitz was inducted into Cloud County Athletics' Hall of Fame. Before pursuing coaching, Schmitz received an associate's degree from Cloud County in 1979 and continued his academic career at Kansas State University in 1981 where he earned a bachelor's degree in education. As the Head Women's Track and Field Coach at Cloud County for the past 40 years, Ted Schmitz has molded the Thunderbirds into a well-known program across the country.
Before taking lead of the women's track program, Schmitz began his coaching career as the Head Men's Soccer Coach at Cloud County in 1981. With the program, the Thunderbirds collected three NJCAA Region VI Championship titles, four runner-up finishes, and seven NJCAA All-American honors.
The decorated success possessed by Cloud County today is a direct result of Schmitz's dedication to his student-athletes. Cloud County has received national prominence under Schmitz's leadership and the Thunderbirds have finished in the top-five in the NJCAA Track and Field Championships five times and in the top-10 29 times. Schmitz is also responsible for 23 top-three NJCAA Region VI Championship finishes.
At the helm of the women's team, Schmitz has been recognized as the National Coach of the Year three times (1989, 1999, 2003), has been named Region VI Coach of the Year eight times (1986, 1988, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2018), and US Track and Field Central Region Coach of the Year in 2015. Overall, Schmitz has coached over 250 NJCAA All-Americans and over 200 NJCAA Academic All-Americans. Most recently, Cloud's men's team won the NJCAA Region VI title, the program's third-consecutive. In addition, Schmitz was named the 2021 NJCAA Region VI Women's Coach of the year.
Schmitz served as the NJCAA Track and Field Coaches Association Parliamentarian from 2010-13, treasurer from 2013-15, and president from 2015-19. Schmitz is also a sponsor of the Cloud chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and a member of the Kansas State FCA Hall of Fame.
"Coach Schmitz has been and continues to be a model coach, mentor, educator, husband and father for 4 decades at Cloud County Community College. His tremendous faith drives all facets of his life and his approach to developing young track and field athletes is unrivaled. Regardless if it is a local Kansas "up-and-comer" or an elite athlete, that young lady will receive his time, focus and attention to ensure improvement," said Matthew Bechard, Cloud County athletic director.
--cloudtbirds.com--