John F. "Jack" Shaw was a Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....

 track

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 and cross-country

Cross country running

Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

 coach whose tenure spanned 32 years. Shaw took over the head coaching reigns from George Dales in 1970; he retired from the position in June 2002. Shaw was born in Kane, Pennsylvania

Kane, Pennsylvania

Kane is a borough in McKean County, Pennsylvania, east by south of Erie. It was founded in 1863 by Civil War general Thomas L. Kane at an elevated site 2210 feet above sea level. In the early part of the twentieth century, Kane had large glassworks, bottle works, lumber mills, and manufactures of...

; he died at the age of 70, in Kalamazoo, Michigan

Kalamazoo, Michigan

The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...

, on January 9, 2009.

Mentor to 56 All-Americans at WMU

As Men's Head Coach at Western Michigan University, Shaw was named Mid-American Conference

Mid-American Conference

The Mid-American Conference is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I college athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twelve full member schools are in Ohio and Michigan, with single members...

 Coach of the Year in outdoor track six times; five times in cross country and once for indoor track. A four-time recipient of the Central Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year award, in 1995; he was also named National Collegiate Athletic Association

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 District IV Coach of the Year. Shaw was enshrined within the University's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997, after leading the WMU Bronco men's track and field team to six Mid-American Conference outdoor championships - including back-to-back titles in 1995 and 1996. WMU also finished as the MAC runner-up nine times with Shaw at the helm.

During Shaw's tenure, the University's indoor track and field team finished in the top-three (at the MAC Invitational) on six occasions. Western Michigan University also claimed five MAC cross-country titles during Shaw’s career; including consecutive championships in 1976 and 1977. With Shaw's guidance, the Broncos won two Central Collegiate Conference outdoor track titles, in 1995 and 1996; one indoor CCC title in 1993, and three CCC cross country crowns in 1970, 1996 and 1999. Nationally, Jack Shaw's squads placed fifth in 1970 and 12th in 1989 at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.

Shaw produced more NCAA All-Americans than any other coach in Western Michigan University history, with a total of fifty-six. Twenty-nine of Shaw’s outdoor track and field athletes earned All-America Team recognition; as did twenty-one indoor track athletes and six cross country runners.

Early career and education

Prior to arriving at Western Michigan, Shaw had served as an assistant coach for the University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

, for Marshall University

Marshall University

Marshall University is a coeducational public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States founded in 1837, and named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States....

, and Ohio University

Ohio University

Ohio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...

; Jack had arrived on the collegiate scene after guiding Warren High School of Pennsylvania to a state cross-country championship in 1966.

Jack Shaw earned his Master's degree from Western Michigan University, and his bachelor's degree (in Geology) from Muskingum College

Muskingum College

Muskingum University is a private four-year comprehensive college with a strong liberal arts tradition located in New Concord, Ohio, approximately sixty miles east of the state capital of Columbus. Founded in 1837, Muskingum University is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church , although since the...

 of Ohio. As an undergraduate, Shaw was captain of the Muskingum track and field team; in 1960, Jack established a varsity record in the 120-yard hurdles. Shaw also served in the United States Army from 1962 until 1968; it was during his military service that Jack developed and nurtured a desire to coach.

The 1971 marriage of Jack and Karen Olson-Shaw brought two sons, Scott and Timothy. Shaw’s legacy is also carried on by WMU; the annual home outdoor track meet — The Jack Shaw Classic — takes place every spring at Western's Kanley Track Stadium.

Shaw's NCAA All-Americans

Outdoor Track and Field

• 2002 Dale Cowper, 13th, hammer throw
  Hammer throw
  The modern or Olympic hammer throw is an athletic throwing event where the object is to throw a heavy metal ball attached to a wire and handle. The name "hammer throw" is derived from older competitions where an actual sledge hammer was thrown...
  
  , 208-0
• 1998 Phil McMullen, 5th, decathlon
  Decathlon
  The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word decathlon is of Greek origin . Events are held over two consecutive days and the winners are determined by the combined performance in all. Performance is judged on a points system in each event, not...
  
  , 7,613
• 1997 Phil McMullen, 2nd, decathlon, 7,731
• 1996 Burger Lambrechts, 8th, shot put
  Shot put
  The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....
  
  , 61-0.5
• 1995 Jeff Brandenburg, 8th, shot put, 59-11.75
• 1995 Brian Keane, llth, javelin
  Javelin throw
  The javelin throw is a track and field athletics throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear approximately 2.5 metres in length. Javelin is an event of both the men's decathlon and the women's heptathlon...
  
  , 221-6
• 1993 Brian Keane, 4th, javelin, 235-1
• 1993 Nate Langlois, 10th, 200 meters, 20.79
• 1992 Vinton Bennett, 3rd, high jump
  High jump
  The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....
  
  , 7-4.25
• 1992 Brian Keane, 7th, javelin, 224-4
• 1991 Vinton Bennett, 3rd, high jump, 7-5.25
• 1990 Jesse McGuire, 7th, 10,000 meters, 29:05.09
• 1985 Alex Washington, 6th, 110 meter Hurdles, 13.74 (w)
• 1983 Alex Washington, 10th, 110 meter Hurdles, 13.7 (ht), 14.01*
• 1982 Jack Mclntosh, 2nd, 800 meters, 1:48.1
• 1981 Chuck Greene, 8th, javelin, 249-1
• 1980 Jack Mclntosh, 7th, 800 meters, 1:49.86
• 1979 Jack Mclntosh, 2nd, 800 meters, 1:46.76
• 1978 Ron Parisi, 6th, javelin, 248-4
• 1977 Tom Duits, 5th, 1500 meters, 3:41.3
• 1971 Jeromee Liebenberg, 3rd, 3000 meter steeple chase, 8:37.0
• 1971 John Bennett, 6th, six-mile, 27:54.3

Indoor Track and Field

• 2001 Dale Cowper, 12th, weight throw
  Weight throw
  The weight throw is a track and field event that is held at Scottish Highland games and occasionally at indoor track meets.In the Highland Games, the weight throw consists of two separate events, the light weight and the heavy weight. In both cases, the implement consists of a steel or lead weight ...
  
  , 66-11.5
• 1996 Burger Lambrechts, 3rd, shot put, 61-9.5
• 1995 Jeff Brandenburg, 7th, shot put, 58-9.75
• 1994 Jeff Brandenburg, 7th, shot put, 60-4
• 1993 Nate Langlois, 7th, 200 meters, 21.38
• 1988 Robert Louis, 5th, 200 meters, 21.34
• 1988 Jamie Hence, 5th, 55 meter Hurdles, 7.38
• 1985 Tom Broekema, Robert Louis, Brad Mora, Eric Teutsch - 5th, distance medley relay, 9:42.53
• 1985 Alex Washington, 8th, 55 meter Hurdles, 7.32
• 1982 Mike Fowler, Gordon Mclntosh, Kurt Liechty, Jack Mclntosh - 6th, two-mile relay, 7:30.60
• 1981 Mike Ericksen, 7th, 600 meters, 1:12.11
• 1981 Dave Beauchamp, Gordon Mclntosh, Dana Houston, Kurt Liechty - 3rd, two-mile relay, 7:34.15
• 1979 Dave Beauchamp, Mike Karasiewicz, Mike Thompson, Jack Mclntosh - 2nd, two-mile relay, 7:31.9
• 1978 Tom Duits, 5th, mile, 4:13.45
• 1976 Mike Schomer, 2nd, weight throw, 62-5.75
• 1972 Gary Harris, 2nd, two-mile, 8:37.4

Cross-Country

• 1989 Jesse McGuire, 14th, 30:09.34
• 1989 Brad Kirk, 33rd, 30:36
• 1988 Jesse McGuire, 26th, 30:01
• 1976 Tom Duits, 35th, 29:32.98
• 1970 Jeromee Liebenberg, 14th, 28:46
• 1970 Gary Harris, 18th, 28:50