By: Mark Reinhiller
Six College of DuPage all-time acclaimed coaches will be honored this spring by the NJCAA at its inaugural Coaches Legacy Awards presented by Nufabrx.
All legacy award winners will be recognized at a luncheon on Tuesday, June 17, in Charlotte, N.C. The event will be held in conjunction with that evening’s NJCAA Hall of Fame and Awards gala.
Recognized COD coaches are Jim Bowers (men’s and women’s tennis), Robert Cervenka (men’s and women’s track and field), Jim Kelly (men’s soccer), Don Klaas (men’s basketball), the late Bob MacDougall (football) and Jane Vatchev (men’s and women’s track and field).
Those six have combined to win 22 national titles, with 21 for COD. MacDougall, who coached 21 seasons of football at COD, captured an NJCAA title at fellow-Region IV member Joliet Junior College in 2002.
It marks the first time since 1938 that the NJCAA will recognize the achievements and proud legacy of coaches, past and present, at one time. Coaches were selected based on criteria that included NJCAA championships and/or landmark career victories.
Bowers led both the men’s and women’s tennis teams to three NJCAA championships each. Vatchev led both the men’s and women’s track and field teams to four titles each, while Cervenka’s men’s track and field teams won three consecutive national titles. Klaas had 743 career wins at COD and led the men’s basketball team to an NJCAA title. Kelly amassed 493 career wins at COD and one national men’s soccer title, while MacDougall earned 174 career wins at COD and 48 at JJC.