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Fortunately for The College of Wooster a very cold and snowy winter didn’t deter California native Tony Kauke from becoming a Fighting Scot.
“I wanted to attend a school where the student-to-teacher ratio was strong and where I could compete on the cross country and track and field teams,” said Kauke, who visited campus in January 1994 in the midst of an extreme cold wave. “Despite the winter weather, Wooster felt like where I wanted to be during my visit. I felt an immediate connection with head coach Dennis Rice from the first time I met him.”
A regular scorer in the cross country lineup as a first-year, Kauke placed 36th in his inaugural North Coast Athletic Conference Championship meet with a time of 29:09. On the track, Kauke’s potential was duly noted as he delivered a breakthrough performance with the winning time of 1:59.96 in the 800 meters at the NCAC indoor meet. At the outdoor meet, Kauke captured his second of six first-place finishes at the conference level, breaking the tape in the 1,500 meters at 4:02.93.
The following year, Kauke moved up to Wooster’s No. 3 harrier, and dropped his time to 28:31 at the conference meet, good for 35th-place. On the track, Kauke’s top showing was in his specialty – the 800 meters – where the middle distance standout finished as the conference’s runner-up at the outdoor championships at 1:57.53.
After missing the cross country season as a junior, Kauke returned stronger than ever during the indoor track and field season, and in fact, broke Wooster’s school record and the NCAC championship record in the 800 meters with the winning time of 1:57.5, a showing that helped propel Wooster to a runner-up showing at the indoor NCAC meet. Kauke doubled up on 800-meter titles come outdoor championship time with the tape-breaking pace of 1:57.43.
As a senior, Kauke placed second at the indoor conference meet with a time of 1:59.39 in the 800 meters, and his performance was one of many that helped the Scots capture the conference championship for the first time in a decade.
“Nothing’s better than a bunch of guys from different event groups all coming together to win a championship,” said Kauke. “We dumped a Gatorade cooler on Coach Rice when the meet ended. It was a great day.”
Kauke’s success carried over to the outdoor season, and in fact, he book-ended a fine career with winning 800-meter times. Kauke turned in a 1:56.29 at the conference meet, and followed that up with a career-best 1:53.90 at Baldwin-Wallace College’s last chance meet in a final effort to qualify for nationals. No runner since Kauke has bested his 800 meters time.
Outside of the 800 meters, Kauke was part of the NCAC champion 4x400 relay as a senior that turned in a 3:20.97. In his return to the cross country course earlier in the year, Kauke earned an all-academic certificate from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
“Tony’s intensity carried over to all aspects of our program,” summed up Rice. “He trained hard, competed hard, and was an excellent team leader. Tony’s track training sessions are legendary. Tony understood what it took to become a champion and the sacrifices that needed to be made to get there. He’s one of the all-time great student-athletes that I’ve had an opportunity to be a part of coaching.”
After graduating from the College with a degree in communication studies, Kauke returned to California where he started his professional career as a high school cross country and track and field coach at Piedmont High School. Later, Kauke joined the college ranks as a coach at the City College of San Francisco for five years before joining the staff of the Sports Basement, a sporting-goods retailer in San Francisco. Most recently, Kauke was the vice president for gear e-commerce at ZOZI, a company that specializes in online reservation, payment, and customer management software.
Kauke, in the midst of completing a year-long work sabbatical, enjoys spending his free time outdoors, and currently resides in Oakland, Calif.