Eastern Michigan Athletics
Remembering Bob Parks: Week 1
3/9/2021 2:36:00 PM | Men's XC, Men's Track & Field, General
The early years, 1930-1967
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- Bob Parks was not your typical championship coach. Parks was a pioneer with humble beginnings, who not only competed and/or coached at the highest levels, but also thrived. By the end of his career, his accomplishments put him amongst the greats in his respective sports. Through his training and coaching, he was able to get the most out of his student-athletes, sending an individual to every Olympic games from 1968-2012.
However, he was a family man as well. Today, his daughter, Sue Parks, is the Director/Head Coach of Eastern's cross country and track & field program, coaching up her student-athletes on the track named after her father. It is incredibly hard to capture the magnitude of Bob Parks' influence, but perhaps it is best to take a closer look into the life of such a storied coach. Over the next few weeks, we hope that you will gain an understanding of how Bob Parks was larger than life, and why the cross country and track & field teams at EMU still hold on to the moniker "Champions Built Here."
Robert C. Parks was born on Sep. 6, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pa., moving west to the Mitten State early on. When the depression hit, the family moved to Birmingham, Mich. before finally settling in Howell, Mich. As an underclassman in high school, Parks participated in football, basketball, and baseball. However, peers encouraged him to join the track team because of his speed. He joined the track team his junior year and never looked back.
Park's high school principal recommended that he take his talents to Michigan State Normal College where then-Head Coach George Marshall had developed stellar cross country and track & field teams. After meeting with Marshall and taking a tour of campus, Parks decided to enroll at MSNC in the fall of 1948.
Though he wanted to play football alongside track, Marshall convinced Parks to stay away from the gridiron. Moreover, Marshall persuaded Parks to join the cross country team, which Parks admitted was "not that great at." On the track, Parks was a three-time letterwinner and a consistent member of the relay teams, setting several indoor, outdoor, and meet records that stood for years. As a captain in 1952, Parks became Eastern's go-to runner in the half-mile and quarter-mile and won the 1952 Interstate Intercollegiate Conference Association's (IIAC) 880-yard run and was a member of the mile relay team that held the school record time of 3:18.4 for 14 years.
During his time at Eastern, Parks was a member of the Phi Sigma Epsilon fraternity (now Phi Sigma Phi). Through the fraternity and mutual friends, Parks became acquainted with his future wife, Pat Greene. Doug Stringer, a good friend of Parks who attended Howell and participated in track at EMU, was engaged to Greene's best friend. The two went on their first date at a New Year's Eve fraternity party in Detroit. They were wed on June 20, 1953, in Howell and had Stringer as his best man, while relay teammate and fraternity brother Glenn Davis acted as the usher.
Parks, not being able to stay away from sports, played a doubleheader baseball game in White Lake, Mich. later that afternoon. The couple honeymooned in New York City at the beginning of the summer before returning to the family's cottage in White Lake.
Parks later earned his master's in Physical Education from Michigan State University, commuting for classes from Howell. Bob and Pat lived in an apartment the year after and would welcome their first child, Nancy, in 1954. Later on, the two bought a house in Livonia, Mich. where they lived for three years and had Sue, in 1956.
During these few years, Parks used his degree to maintain his passion for sports. He began teaching at Ferndale High School in Ferndale, Mich. where he coached physical education, basketball, freshman football, and varsity track. Soon after, Parks moved on to Redford Thurston High School in Redford, Mich. where he taught English and social studies. At Thurston, Parks organized the school's first cross country and track & field teams. In his book, Parks described the program-building process as "real pioneer stuff" writing:
"We ran our XC meets in a big field next door until they built a housing subdivision there. There was no track, so I made a white line in an oval and we ran around that. We LJ'd over a creek so they had to jump far to keep from getting wet."
As time went on, Parks developed talented track & field and cross country teams, earning local notoriety. In the early 1960s, his track team had become a state contender with a number of student-athletes ranked highly. After the state meet in 1961, Parks trekked to Kalamazoo, Mich. for an interview for the assistant track coach position at Western Michigan University. To Park's surprise, he landed the job, moved to Kalamazoo, and began to work under legendary Broncos' cross country/track & field Head Coach George Dales.
Parks expressed that Dales was "demanding, but a good coach and a hard worker." The two meshed well and began to build admirable programs. Parks, having lived and coached on the east side of the state, helped pull in big recruits from the Detroit area which resulted in the winning of multiple Mid-American Conference Championships in track and contending nationally in cross country.
In 1964, the Broncos managed to stun the NCAA cross country world to capture the year's Division I title in East Lansing, Mich. In addition to the stiff competition, the team also dealt with weather as the course had to have a few feet of snow cleared off for the runners. However, the victory was not a fluke, as the Broncos went on to win the 1965 national championship as well. To this day, those two national championships are only ones ever won by Western Michigan.
Later, Parks' former coach, Gorge Marshall, was looking to retire. Marshall wanted Parks to return to his alma mater as his replacement and drummed up enough alumni support to do just that. Thus, Parks moved back to Ypsilanti, formally taking over cross country and track & field July 1st, 1967.
Be sure to follow along in the following weeks as we continue to take a deep dive into Bob Parks' legacy at Eastern Michigan University.
However, he was a family man as well. Today, his daughter, Sue Parks, is the Director/Head Coach of Eastern's cross country and track & field program, coaching up her student-athletes on the track named after her father. It is incredibly hard to capture the magnitude of Bob Parks' influence, but perhaps it is best to take a closer look into the life of such a storied coach. Over the next few weeks, we hope that you will gain an understanding of how Bob Parks was larger than life, and why the cross country and track & field teams at EMU still hold on to the moniker "Champions Built Here."
Robert C. Parks was born on Sep. 6, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pa., moving west to the Mitten State early on. When the depression hit, the family moved to Birmingham, Mich. before finally settling in Howell, Mich. As an underclassman in high school, Parks participated in football, basketball, and baseball. However, peers encouraged him to join the track team because of his speed. He joined the track team his junior year and never looked back.
Park's high school principal recommended that he take his talents to Michigan State Normal College where then-Head Coach George Marshall had developed stellar cross country and track & field teams. After meeting with Marshall and taking a tour of campus, Parks decided to enroll at MSNC in the fall of 1948.
Though he wanted to play football alongside track, Marshall convinced Parks to stay away from the gridiron. Moreover, Marshall persuaded Parks to join the cross country team, which Parks admitted was "not that great at." On the track, Parks was a three-time letterwinner and a consistent member of the relay teams, setting several indoor, outdoor, and meet records that stood for years. As a captain in 1952, Parks became Eastern's go-to runner in the half-mile and quarter-mile and won the 1952 Interstate Intercollegiate Conference Association's (IIAC) 880-yard run and was a member of the mile relay team that held the school record time of 3:18.4 for 14 years.
During his time at Eastern, Parks was a member of the Phi Sigma Epsilon fraternity (now Phi Sigma Phi). Through the fraternity and mutual friends, Parks became acquainted with his future wife, Pat Greene. Doug Stringer, a good friend of Parks who attended Howell and participated in track at EMU, was engaged to Greene's best friend. The two went on their first date at a New Year's Eve fraternity party in Detroit. They were wed on June 20, 1953, in Howell and had Stringer as his best man, while relay teammate and fraternity brother Glenn Davis acted as the usher.
Parks, not being able to stay away from sports, played a doubleheader baseball game in White Lake, Mich. later that afternoon. The couple honeymooned in New York City at the beginning of the summer before returning to the family's cottage in White Lake.
Parks later earned his master's in Physical Education from Michigan State University, commuting for classes from Howell. Bob and Pat lived in an apartment the year after and would welcome their first child, Nancy, in 1954. Later on, the two bought a house in Livonia, Mich. where they lived for three years and had Sue, in 1956.
During these few years, Parks used his degree to maintain his passion for sports. He began teaching at Ferndale High School in Ferndale, Mich. where he coached physical education, basketball, freshman football, and varsity track. Soon after, Parks moved on to Redford Thurston High School in Redford, Mich. where he taught English and social studies. At Thurston, Parks organized the school's first cross country and track & field teams. In his book, Parks described the program-building process as "real pioneer stuff" writing:
"We ran our XC meets in a big field next door until they built a housing subdivision there. There was no track, so I made a white line in an oval and we ran around that. We LJ'd over a creek so they had to jump far to keep from getting wet."
As time went on, Parks developed talented track & field and cross country teams, earning local notoriety. In the early 1960s, his track team had become a state contender with a number of student-athletes ranked highly. After the state meet in 1961, Parks trekked to Kalamazoo, Mich. for an interview for the assistant track coach position at Western Michigan University. To Park's surprise, he landed the job, moved to Kalamazoo, and began to work under legendary Broncos' cross country/track & field Head Coach George Dales.
Parks expressed that Dales was "demanding, but a good coach and a hard worker." The two meshed well and began to build admirable programs. Parks, having lived and coached on the east side of the state, helped pull in big recruits from the Detroit area which resulted in the winning of multiple Mid-American Conference Championships in track and contending nationally in cross country.
In 1964, the Broncos managed to stun the NCAA cross country world to capture the year's Division I title in East Lansing, Mich. In addition to the stiff competition, the team also dealt with weather as the course had to have a few feet of snow cleared off for the runners. However, the victory was not a fluke, as the Broncos went on to win the 1965 national championship as well. To this day, those two national championships are only ones ever won by Western Michigan.
Later, Parks' former coach, Gorge Marshall, was looking to retire. Marshall wanted Parks to return to his alma mater as his replacement and drummed up enough alumni support to do just that. Thus, Parks moved back to Ypsilanti, formally taking over cross country and track & field July 1st, 1967.
Be sure to follow along in the following weeks as we continue to take a deep dive into Bob Parks' legacy at Eastern Michigan University.
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