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Tom Welty is going from one of the places he enjoys being the most to a place he couldn't have possibly envisioned himself being in a span of a day.
Welty is in his 34th, and final, season coaching track and field in Polo. On Thursday morning, he was making the rounds at the Class 1A Boys State Track and Field Meet in Charleston.
He's had about 20 athletes advance to state since he became the varsity head coach in 2000, and this year, triple jumper Brian Cavanaugh, hurdler Bryan Kraft and middle-distance runner Justin Hughes are competing.
"Those guys worked so hard," Welty said, "and they definitely earned their way here."
On Friday, when the Class 1A competitors enjoy an off-day, Welty and fellow Polo coach Don Reece will be heading back to the Sauk Valley. Their destination: Oregon, where they will attend the visitation for Sarah Kamp, a teacher at Polo who was killed earlier this week in an auto accident.
Kamp and Welty were close. Welty, an English teacher in Polo since 1979, served as a mentor for Kamp, also an English teacher, when she began her teaching career 9 years ago.
"It hasn't really sunk in," Welty said. "I guess sometimes you go through the motions and do the best that you can at a particular time to get through it. The students at Polo went through an awful lot of grief all at once. With the timing of it, I guess there will be some healing that will go on this summer. They're resilient."
The same can be said for Welty, 54, a track and field/teaching lifer. He competed in track and field and cross country at Amboy High School, and set a 2-mile record of 10:06.5 in 1975 that stood until ex-Clipper Colton Shaw turned in a 10:05.6 a year ago.
After graduating from Carthage College in 1979, he came to Polo to teach and coach, and didn't leave. He taught and coached track at Aplington Middle School from 1979-2000, before moving over to the high school. He noted it's been a good run.
"I love seeing the light bulb start flickering a little bit, and then sometimes they shine," Welty said, "and know that you had an effect. That transfers over to sports as well."
The current group of Marcos sent him out on a high note. It was picture day, a day Welty dislikes due to all the extra hassles of getting 53 teenage boys all on the same page, and he was busy trying to corral one particularly unruly athlete.
"I kind of turned my head and I was yelling at someone," Welty said. "I turned back around, they all peeled their sweatshirts off, and they had a caricature of me on their t-shirts. On the back it said, 'Welty is the method to our madness.'
"They stung me pretty good. That left me speechless."
In retirement, Welty's big project will be to construct an addition to his garage at his home on the Rock River near Grand Detour. He plans to travel, with a trip to New Orleans in August, then another to Mexico to follow.
When not on the road, he'll chill on his boat and perhaps reel in a fish or two.
"I try to fish," Welty said, " just like I try to golf."
Welty file
High School: Amboy, class of 1975
College: Carthage, class of 1979
FYI: Teacher and coach in Polo since 1979. … Guided 20 athletes to state finals since becoming varsity boys coach in 2000. … Retiring after 34 years in Polo