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February 10, 2021Chuck Lynch has left his print on the Elyria Catholic’s community with his 44 years of involvement as a Panther. Throughout these years he has been an active member of the cross-country team, track and field team, and countless community service endeavors. He started his cross-country journey in 1976 as he assisted Coach Tom Mahl and then stepped up as head coach in 1986.
He began his EC journey in 1969 when he became a freshman at Elyria Catholic. He then continued on his years as a member of the 21st class to walk the halls of Elyria Catholic. He participated in three years of track and in his senior year he was a member of the cross-country team. He achieved a personal record of 10.56 in the 2 mile. As a member of the Class of 1973, he went on to graduate from LCCC, received a certificate from Baldwin Wallace in Human Resources, graduated from Capital University, and did masters work in Labor Relations at Cleveland State. He then decided to continue on with his love of cross-country after the influence of his high school coaches to become an actual coach. He was not only active in sports but also volunteering his time in many areas at EC and in the broader community. His efforts supported EC Bingo, Dads Boosters, and several rummage sales that benefited not only the community but his own teams. Later in 2000, he started the Lorain County Cross Country Awards, which continues today.
As a coach, Chuck explained that he was mainly influenced by his high school coaches as they pushed him to succeed as a student and an athlete. He then took this lesson and applied it to his own teams to make them the best they could be. As someone who has had the experience to work with Chuck, I can see how he pushes each and every one of his athletes in a way that is most beneficial to them as an individual. Even though he was the head coach for the boy’s team, when the girl’s team was in need of one, he stepped up and took the responsibility of both teams. Chuck once said “You don’t have to be the best to win, just the best that day,” as one of the greatest forms of encouragement before a race.
As an outstanding coach he led his team to qualify in states, 5 times. On top of that he has also taken many individual athletes to states through his years as a coach. Within 44 years of coaching he said he has had too many amazing memories to even consider one of them as the greatest, but one of his top favorites was missing the title of state champs in 2009 by 5 points, even though this also qualified as the worst memory too. Coaching to him has meant a great deal because “most people don’t get the opportunity to do something they enjoy, and if you can do something you enjoy and be successful at it then you should do it.”
Interview by Alana McMahon '21
