(Note: Marco Salas will be a redshirt sophomore for the Sun Devil football team this fall. A 2018 Dobson High School graduate, he is an aspiring journalist and is writing various stories and chatting with some Sun Devils as we head towards the 2020-21 athletic season.)Want to see our @ASU_Alumni say thanks to @CoachGregKraft ? Pretty cool messages in this video from many https://t.co/gpr9w956ut
— Sun Devil TFXC (@SunDevilTFXC) July 16, 2020
by Marco Salas, Sun Devil Athletics Communications Student Writer
In spring of 2019, Sun Devil track and field head coach Greg Kraft announced that he would be stepping aside in his final year at ASU and serve as assistant athletic director as Dion Miller took over the program. The baton was handed off and the program is in good shape.
Coach Kraft coached many great Sun Devils. NCAA champion @MagdalynMaeEwen shares a great story about @CoachGregKraft when she thought about transferring. Hard to leave a great coach ... and she didn't. Trophies happened!!! https://t.co/sZvbcXybXA pic.twitter.com/bWNesMKGQn
— Sun Devil TFXC (@SunDevilTFXC) July 8, 2020
But as July of 2020 begins and Coach Kraft (check his twitter HERE) officially hands in the office keys and the ASU parking pass, we owe him and his family a final look at his legacy.
Great night at Sun Angel with @LSUCoachShaver and my lovely wife! ???? pic.twitter.com/62WZO1UloF
— Greg Kraft (@CoachGregKraft) March 24, 2018
A four-time United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Coach of the Year, and three-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year, his teams won four NCAA titles and recorded 12 top-four finishes at national championships. At least one Sun Devil has won an NCAA individual title in 13 of the last 16 years, and overall Kraft guided his student-athletes to 38 national titles, 21 Olympic berths more than 300 All-America honors since the Devils' first NCAA appearance under him in 1998.
While the Sun Devils excelled under Kraft in competition, they also excelled in their studies, earning countless all-academic honors from the Pac-10/12 and MPSF, as well as fielding more than 20 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. The program was recognized six times as top academic team in the country by the USTFCCCA, with six student-athletes earning the title of National Scholar Athlete of the Year and another nine receiving Scholar Athlete of the Year honors from the conference.
Just got back to Tempe! First things first: Congratulate @MagdalynMaeEwen on her historic weekend in person! ??????#ForksUp! pic.twitter.com/G6UyLyv8yg
— Greg Kraft (@CoachGregKraft) February 11, 2018
"Coach Kraft is the reason I graduated as a Sun Devil. When our throws Coach resigned my sophomore year, Coach Kraft gave me a release form and permission to transfer to any university I saw fit. I was an athlete who was on track to win multiple national titles but he didn't hesitate to give me the freedom to choose my own path and potentially a new university. During the two hour conversation we had after he gave me the release form, I realized Kraft didn't just care about the performance or the win. He cared about the athlete. I put my faith in Kraft and threw the form away on my way out of the building. -- NCAA multiple champion Maggie Ewen
ASU was an immovable object at the top of the NCAA in 2007 and 2008, winning four titles in those two years and becoming just the third program in NCAA history to sweep the men's and women's indoor crowns at the same championship event in 2008. That team won 13 individual national titles in those two years and included three Olympians.
Starting in 1996, Coach Kraft has given student-athletes the chance to compete at the Division-I level. One of those student-athletes was Sarah Stevens, who began her career in Tempe in 2006.
Stevens, who goes by Walker now, is a 15-time all-American in shot put and a member of Sun Devil Hall of Fame. From her earliest days as a Sun Devil, Walker remembers Kraft being a coach who took the time to talk to his players and ask them how they were.
"Coach Kraft had an interest in all of us and he wanted to get to know us and would talk to us. It wasn't just about athletics it was about so much more with that. He knew about my family and he frequently during my freshman year ask about my mom, she was on my recruiting visit with me, and so things like that just make it easy to talk to a coach and talk to somebody especially when you're far away from home."
Always great to give back to the community that supports us so well! #SunDevilsServe! pic.twitter.com/SxZWBop2Js
— Greg Kraft (@CoachGregKraft) January 6, 2018
Now married to her husband Ross with three kids (Riggs, Ryer and Sloane), Walker resides in Buffalo, Wyoming, where she coaches at Buffalo High School. She relays the same message to her athletes that Kraft would tell her during her time as an athlete. Making sure to highlight the ones she wished she understood while under Coach Kraft's wing.
"At the time he's [Kraft] investing and he's putting into all of these athletes and you appreciate it and you understand it but it's not until you are the parent or you are the coach and now I'm doing the same things with my high school athletes because I had really great coaches in my life that did it for me. I might not see how that sort of manifest until these kids that I'm now coaching are 10 years down the road."
Another former athlete, Kelly MacDonald, (who goes by Bean now), enjoyed her time at ASU and appreciated the impact Kraft had on her life.
Bean, a 1999 All-American in cross-country, earned All-American status in 2000 and 2001 in the 5,000 meters and won Pac-10 titles in 3,000m steeplechase and 5,000m in 2001 and 5,000m Run in 2000.
As a prospective student, ASU was always on the top of her list, especially since the coach was unlike any other.
"I remembered that I always loved talking to the Arizona State coach. Whenever he called I loved our conversations and I could tell it would be a cool place to not only go to school but to be part of a program that was building from the ground up and that was Walt Drenth (distance coach at the time who coach Kraft hired)," Bean said.
While they weren't performing at a high level when she got there, Bean bought into what Kraft was speaking through his words and actions and saw the program rise.
"Coach Kraft had only been there one year, he clearly communicated from the beginning that he had a vision to be one of the top programs in the Pac-10," said Bean, who highlights the year they beat Oregon as a highlight of her career and a turning point.
"My first year was 1997 and we were terrible, we were really bad, last in the Pac-10. Then my sophomore, 1998, we were fourth at the Pac-10 cross-country meet and we beat the Ducks and that was a hug accomplishment for the program just to be Oregon who was a perennial top-10 team for cross-country. That year we qualified for the national meet for the first time."
After finishing her career in Tempe, Bean became a track coach at the University of Washington before moving into the sports apparel industry at Cloud 9 Sports. She is currently married to her husband, Jimmy Bean.
From talking to his former athletes, you could tell that Kraft had a way with words, especially when it came to motivate each athlete. A saying that immediately triggers a flashback to all of Kraft's former athletes would be:
"You punched your ticket."
For Walker, hearing those words means she had made her coach proud.
"You wanted to hear coach Kraft say that you punched your ticket to the regional track meet because that means you made the postseason. You made the team that you're going to travel with, you're on that team. It was kind of that like...I did it and coach Kraft recognized me, and he sees me as an athlete. You feel proud, you made Coach Kraft proud."
For Bean to hear it, it meant her career was soon about to leave a mark in Sun Devil history.
"I had a really big race, a big 5K and it was at Mount Sac my junior year and I remember finishing the race and I was upset because I let this one girl beat me in the last lap and I remember him saying, 'you punched your ticket not only to the national meet but to the Olympic trials,' and he was like, 'and you have a school record'. I remember smiling like okay I'm not that upset that girl beat me," said Bean, who knows how much of an amazing feeling it is to have your coach read out how well you're doing.
"It was a cool thing to keep track of during track season, he would notify the whole team kind of who had a top-10 mark, a top-15 mark who was on the cusp of making the national team. It was so fun to see other event groups having success for our whole team, it was motivating for the distance side it made us want to work harder so we can represent at the conference and the national meet too."
While athletics were important for Kraft, it was never about that. He wanted to see his athletes grow and develop into amazing men and women who will go into the next part of their life as successful adults.
"I think that that's probably the case for Coach Kraft is a lot of what he put into his athletes, and his program, he's now seeing how those are coming out in the form of families and children and professional careers away from athletics that it makes everything you do kind of worth it and I think that's who coach Kraft is," Walker said.
For over 40 years, Kraft inspired his athletes to achieve great things. His words and actions matched the energy he brought each and every day.
For that, the Sun Devils are very thankful.
Enjoy retirement Coach Kraft!
THOUGHTS FROM OTHERS...
"You are leaving an amazing legacy and tradition at ASU. Thank you for believing in us and pushing us to work hard, not only in athletics but in every pursuit. Congratulations on your continued success and much deserved retirement." -- Sun Devil Sara Shisslak
"Congratulations on a Hall of Fame career! We thank you for being such a great leader and teacher, and for restoring Sun Devil track and field to its rightful place as one of the top programs in the country. Your legacy will never be forgotten. Sending my best to you and your family!" -- Sun Devil Dr. Anthony Q. Hazard Jr. aka Tony (Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies Department/Department of History at Santa Clara University
"Where do I even begin with Coach Kraft.... thank you for giving me an opportunity to be a part of such an amazing team and coaching staff. Since my first day at ASU I felt like I was part of a family. I know we shared a deep connection (given that we are both half Japanese) but your pre-meet Coach Kraft talks always got me pumped up to go out there and win. You always made sure your throwers were in good hands with Coach Dumble. You played a huge roll in helping me become the woman I am today. I wish you a very happy retirement and hope you enjoy living everyday like a vacation. -- Sun Devil Jessica Pressley