The green and blue plaque on the edge of Riverbank Stadium’s track reads: “Kent D. Overbey Track —Teacher. Mentor. Coach.” Having served as Huron’s Boys Cross Country coach for over four decades, Kent Overbey’s roots at Huron High School run far and wide, spanning from the Humanities department to the athletic wing. His recent announcement of retirement marks the departure of an integral part of Huron’s history: he is the last remaining person at Huron who was part of the school’s first staff after its creation in the fall of 1969.
“Like all kids, I wanted to be an athlete and thought my success would be in basketball and football,” Overbey said. “But I became aware that perhaps my limited talents might lend themselves more to track and distance running.”
He joined Kirkwood High School’s track team in 9th grade soon after, but also continued playing basketball until 11th grade, and football through 12th grade. His football team won the Missouri state championship in the fall of 1955, but by then, Overbey had realized where his true passion lay.
“I played [on the football team] but wasn’t a star,” he said. “I would never exchange those memories; I have no regrets, but making All-State in the mile and 800 meter five different times told me what to focus on.”
It was his high school coach, Coach Emil Wiggins, that inspired Overbey’s 65 year coaching career.
“In high school, like most males, I had no idea what I wanted to do for a career,” Overbey said. “But I kept getting bugged by my counselor, so I thought that maybe I’d like to be like my high school coach.”
Both his first teaching and coaching experiences were at Kirkwood High School, the highschool he graduated from in 1961. Simultaneously serving as a social studies teacher, under his leadership, his cross country team placed 2nd at the state meet, and placed 1st the following year. In 1964, he left teaching and coaching to join the Peace Corps in Iran for approximately two years. Upon returning home, he began to substitute teach while pursuing an MA in Education at Washington University. Subsequently, while pursuing an MA in History at the University of Michigan, he served as a teacher assistant and assistant track coach at Ann Arbor St. Thomas. Eventually, while running the afterschool sports program at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School, he learned about the opening of a new high school – Huron High School. The fall of 1969, in which he began teaching Humanities and serving as the head track coach, marked the start of Overbey’s decades-long journey at Huron.
“My high school running seasons with Kent are some of the best that I will ever know,” said Lucas Weintraub, a former Huron cross country captain and a current freshman at Northern Michigan University. Weintraub ran competitively from 6th grade through senior year of highschool.
One of the things that Overbey is known for most are his “Kentisms”: quotes or sayings that he would repeat to his runners. Overbey wanted not only to be a positive role model for his athletes, but wanted them to be role models for their school, their team, and themselves. These brief, no-nonsense snippets of advice were a way for Overbey to guide his team both on the track, and in life.
“He was the first person I called when contemplating the idea of whether or not I should graduate early,” Max Samaha, a senior on the cross country team said. “He said, ‘Why? Why do you want to do it?’ And he told me one thing that really stood out. He said that everything you do should have rationale and thought behind it. And moving forward, from that, I’ve learned that you really need to weigh things, weigh out the pros and cons of things, and think things through before you make a decision.”
According to Overbey, running – but also life in general – has no shortcuts, and success will be the result of nothing but hard work.
“We wanted to always be sure that we outworking all the other teams. All the hard work does not guarantee success, but it does guarantee the chance to achieve success.”
Not only did Overbey work tirelessly to instill this drive in his athletes, he utilized it himself in his own work, devoting himself entirely to coaching.
“The workouts he gave us were hard but they helped because there was real math behind them,” Weintraub said. “While we learned in class everyday, he’d be in his office or at home calculating our pace times for the next workout we were going to do. You can’t just give workouts and call yourself a running coach; Kent put in the hard work and that’s why he is a good coach.”
His role in not only the Huron community, but the entire Ann Arbor community, is evidently irreplaceable.
“Anytime we go out for a run across the city and be with Kent, someone would reach out to him and recognize him,” said Samaha. “And it was always for the most positive things, too. It was for some impact or meaningful connection that he established with someone. His willingness and dedication to a career of service is extremely notable. ”
His dedication to everybody he interacted with manifested in countless ways, from the 20 mile drive he had to make from his house to Huron each day, to hurrying around race courses to cheer on his team, to caring for and remembering each and every single one of his athletes.
“He coached many people over the years at Huron, but he never forgets any of them and has all of the records going back to when he started,” Weintraub said.
Overbey’s memories of unforgettable moments in his coaching career reflect this sentiment.
“There are far too many to recount, but some come to mind,” he said.
The first state championship team at Kirkwood. They not only went on to great success in college and their careers, but also served their country in tough times, and were awarded many citations for bravery under fire.
The 2003 team of Tinney Daoud, Lisull, Riker, Hamilton, Rudy, and Gao, who won 2nd at states.
Watching a first-time walk-on senior coming out of a somewhat troubled background to 3 months later mounting the victory stand at the state meet, having won the state championship in the 300M hurdles.
Watching Scott Larson, a decent high hurdler but very fortunate to just be in the state meet and then in the finals of the high hurdles, all the blue-chippers lost their form and their cool, hitting hurdles and making several fall down but ‘ole Lars kept his cool and his form and just did his best, which turned out to be good enough to persevere and emerge as the state champion in the high hurdles.
Watching Don Hubbard win the mile at States with a stress fracture.
65 years of coaching, 58 at Huron and 41 in boys’ cross country. 46 years of teaching, 39 at Huron. After decades pouring his energy into his work, retirement couldn’t be further from the end of Overbey’s legacy. His impact at Huron – his wisdom, his passion, and his love for his students and athletes – reverberates through the Book of Kentism, a PDF fondly written by athletes and passed down through the years, containing dozens of his sayings.
Books first. – “Running and memories gained will always be important but education will serve you for the rest of your life,” said Overbey.
It only rains on the other guys. – “I looked around in disbelief at all these upperclassmen excited to run in the rain. I heard Kent say, ‘it only rains on the other guys.’ It sparked a realization for me that it’s raining on everyone, but the job still has to get done.” said Samaha.
I am 3rd. “This saying was also his license plate,” said Weintraub. “How he explained it was ‘religion/books/school 1st, others/friends 2nd, and I am 3rd’. That really tells you about how Kent lived his life.”
