WMVO Good Times Great Oldies
CEDARVILLE, Ohio — Prior to Friday’s All-Ohio Intercollegiate Classic held at Cedarville University, former Kenyon College cross country coach Duane Gomez was presented with the Marv Frye Award, which recognizes lifetime achievement or service to collegiate cross country in Ohio.
From 1982-83 through 2019-20, Gomez coached both Kenyon’s men’s and women’s cross country teams. In that span of 37 seasons, he piled up well-deserved accolades. In men’s cross country, Gomez directed four North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championship teams and was a four-time NCAC Coach of the Year. In women’s competition, he was also a four-time NCAC Coach of the Year and steered the Kenyon women to three conference crowns.
“I look back with so much fondness and so many cherished memories,” Gomez said. “I am continuously inspired by Kenyon’s incredible student-athletes, whom I had the estimable opportunity to coach, and I am so lucky to have been able to nurture lasting mentorship relationships.
“To me, working at Kenyon was like working with family,” he added “I was able to grow and be challenged in an incredibly supportive environment. In reflecting on all these years past, it’s clear to see that I have been so fortunate to have worked with so many generous and remarkable colleagues. I look back now and smile remembering when I was first hired as a Kenyon coach, I feel that I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and it all worked out so well for me.”
Under Gomez’s direction, Kenyon cross country runners combined to earn 94 All-Region honors, seven All-America honors, eight NCAC Runner of the Year awards and four NCAC Newcomer of the Year awards. Twenty-three of Gomez’s cross country teams earned national ranks and seven of his student-athletes were inducted into the Kenyon Athletic Association Hall of Fame.
Gomez, who also had a long run as Kenyon’s track and field coach, had tremendous success at the national level, too, coaching five NCAA Championship team qualifiers, 24 NCAA individual qualifiers and a pair of NCAA individual-event national champions.
In the middle of it all, Gomez served a six-year stint as the vice president and president of the Ohio Intercollegiate Cross Country Association.
The annual award was first presented in 2001 and is named after Frye, who was the long-time cross country coach at Ohio Wesleyan University. He headed OWU men’s track and field from 1961-97, and cross country from 1960-88 and 1993-94. Even before he stopped coaching at OWU, Frye served as the meet director and host for the All-Ohio Cross Country Championships.
“I was so surprised and so very honored when I received the call about the Marv Frye award. It is such a prestigious award and named after a man who meant so much to me,” Gomez said. “Marv passed away two years ago at the age of 94, and he was always so helpful to me over the decades. I once told Marv he was like my second dad, which makes this award priceless to me.”