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SPARTANS PAY TRIBUTE TO GORSKI, THEIR 'ADOPTIVE MOM' AND COACH
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Boardman girls track coach Denise Gorski, center, is surrounded by her team Monday after the Spartans surprised their coach for her retirement with a flash mob to her favorite song — ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” — at their final home meet at the Boardman High track. The girls also wore bright blue T-shirts that read: “32 years of Gorski’s tradition” on the front, and “It ends with us” on the back.
By Joe Scalzo
BOARDMAN
BOARDMAN HIGH GIRLS TRACK COACH DENISE GORSKI CRAVES ATTENTION IN THE SAME WAY THAT VEGETARIANS CRAVE HAMBURGERS OR PALM TREES CRAVE SNOW.
So when she was honored during senior night on Monday inside the BHS cafeteria — getting flowers and a nice speech from principal Jared Cardillo — she admitted she was embarrassed, adding, “I meant to go out quietly.”
Her athletes had other plans.
When Gorski walked to the Boardman track for the final home meet of her coaching career, she was greeted by a flash mob of Spartans doing a choreographed dance to her favorite song, ABBA’s “Dancing Queen.”
Her athletes tore off their track jackets to reveal bright blue T-shirts that read “32 years of Gorski’s tradition” on the front and “It ends with us” on the back. When the song ended, they gathered around her and yelled, “1-2-3, Gorski!”
Tearing up, Gorski shook her head and said, “I had no idea [about this]. I’m totally overwhelmed. This is so special.”
After 36 years of coaching, including 32 as the head girls track coach, Gorski will retire at the end of the season to become Boardman’s athletic director, a job she started last fall when then-AD Dave Smercansky went on medical leave.
A Cuyahoga Falls High graduate, Gorski played volleyball, basketball and softball in high school, then played on Kent State’s inaugural golf team in college. When Boardman hired her 36 years ago, they asked if she could become an assistant track coach.
“I didn’t know a thing about track,” she said.
But she was willing to learn, poring over books and soaking up the advice of fellow coaches like Brenda Owen, Jim Fox and Jerry Martin.
“I grew to love it,” she said. “It’s an individual sport, but because I was always on a team myself, I wanted to bring that team aspect to track. We call it a track family, which is really important to me.”
Gorski coached two state champions — Laurie Gomez (two in the 1600 meters and one in the 3200) and Amber Bland (high jump) — and a state runner-up in Adriane Blewitt (discus). She also led Boardman to 13 Steel Valley Conference titles and 10 district titles (although she had to walk into Boardman’s gymnasium and look on the wall banners to get those numbers).
“She is the cornerstone for everything in Boardman track,” said one of her assistants, Whitney Resch, who helped organized Monday’s festivities. “We wanted to show her how much we love her.”
Added senior Emma Schwendeman, “She really deserves this after 32 years. She’s like a mother to me. I mean, I talk to her more than my mom during track season. She thinks of us before anyone else.
“Above anything, she treats us like daughters.”
There’s a reason for that. Gorski and her husband, Dan, weren’t able to have children, “so these girls, all the thousands of them, have been like adopted daughters to me.”
Gorski, who retired from teaching last year, has a three-year contract as athletic director, which was her dream job for many years.
And when Smercansky was forced to retire after 11 years, Cardillo said there was one clear candidate for the job.
“Everything she’s ever done, she does it the right way,” he said. “She does it with class. She’s been an ambassador for our female athletes for over 30 years.
“She is truly what’s great, not only about Boardman High School, but people in general.”
Hadley gets ring
Before Monday’s meet, Boardman presented senior Mark Hadley with a state championship ring, commemorating his Division I cross country title last fall.
“It was very nice to be honored in front of my peers and my parents,” he said. “That’s one of my crowning achievements in running, winning a state championship, and it’s great that it’s something I can still reflect on and celebrate.”