Late Penncrest Track Coach Continues to be Remembered

His memory still resonates. It comes through on days like Wednesday, when the entire Central League is off for spring break, yet 21 track teams and 350-to-400 competitors filled up s track for the annual Larry Simmons Invitational.

Simmons was the former long-time Penncrest track coach who died suddenly in October 2004 of a heart attack. This year marks the eighth annual track meet in honor of the countless hours and unbounded commitment he gave to not only Penncrest but to the young athletes he coached throughout the area.

That dedication has certainly been passed on to current Penncrest track coach Mike Clark, who along with the Penncrest track staff orchestrate the massive meet, and make sure a special event each year is always included, the 1,500-meter race walk—an event Simmons used to compete in until his death.

"We run the meet in his honor and a lot of how I coach is what I saw Larry do," Clark said. "Larry’s policies and the things he had in place are the same things I run today. Larry was hard on a lot of kids, and those kids he was hardest on are the kids that love him and miss him the most. During the meet each year, there aren’t too many times to think about Larry, because there is so much other stuff going on.

"But once it’s done, everyone that helped put this together is grateful for Larry. He was all about the kids, and the coaches and people that show up are all about the kids. It goes off as smoothly as it does every year that helps say that Larry is watching over all of us."

One of the standout stars of the day was Radnor’s Lydia Ali, the defending PIAA 100-meter state champion. Ali won the 100-meter dash in 12.3 seconds then followed that up with a victory in the 200-meter (26.0 seconds).

"This was a fun meet," said Ali, who’s headed to Penn to run track. "I’m aware of Coach Simmons’ legacy. I knew my coach [Radnor’s Tom Flanagan] was friends with Coach Simmons. This was important to be here in his memory. It was also nice to run in nice weather for a change. I have the Penn Relays coming up, and I may be a little nervous about that, but this was nice to get in."

The race walk was the highlight of the meet. Where each event has a limited amount of competitors, the race walk is all inclusive, and presents a chance to participate for other athletes that may not have been able to compete.

"This is a labor of love," Clark said. "We put a lot of time and effort into this and it’s all for a good cause, to remember a good coach who cared about kids."