The team’s inaugural head coach in 1972, Shaw was a part of 41 of the program’s first 42 seasons. He spent 32 years at the helm before shifting to assistant coach when he retired from teaching in the district in 2004. From there, he spent nine more years as the Chieftains’ hurdles and sprints coach.

But, as the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. The 2014 season was the first in program history without Shaw on the coaching staff, as he instead took an assistant position at Lexington Trails Middle School in the De Soto district, where he’s taught communication arts since retiring in Tonganoxie.

“After 10 years of teaching kids at De Soto, I knew all of them in the high school and I only knew a handful at Tonganoxie,” said Shaw, who also coaches cross country at LTMS. “Ever since I came here, they’ve asked me to be a part of the track program. I kept putting them off, but eventually, it was to the point where it was probably time for me to switch.”

With more than four decades of involvement, Shaw is at least partially responsible for nearly every bit of success the Chieftain girls have enjoyed in their history. In Shaw’s head coaching tenure alone, they had 118 individual league champions, 33 regional champions, 35 state placers and four state runners-up.

Perhaps more important, though, were the 18 top-two finishes THS recorded in 31 league meets. According to Shaw, that’s the real measure of success.

“We had talented individuals, but we prided ourselves on trying to win a team title,” he said. “A lot of schools don’t look at it that way. We would always stress scoring a point or two for Tonganoxie.”

During his time as head coach, Shaw also helped Kevin Adams win a state championship in the 110-meter hurdles in 1982. He was the unofficial hurdles coach for the girls and boys teams. He coached three more state champs as an assistant, starting with the boys 4×400-meter relay team in 2009. One year later, DJ Lindsay and Andie Jeannin won titles in the 400- and 800-meter runs, respectively.

Lindsay’s winning time of 47.89 seconds was the fastest state time in any class that season and still stands as the Class 4A meet record.

“Anybody could have coached that kid,” Shaw said. “I was just fortunate enough to be the one to work with him. I’m not going to take credit for making him the super runner that he is. He just had the goods.”

Shaw said he’ll likely teach in De Soto for one or two more years, but has already discussed staying on as a coach when he retires from teaching.

“It’s hard to give it up,” he said. “I still get along well with the kids and it’s fun.”

When Shaw resigned as head coach, he essentially traded places with his successor, Chris Weller, who had been an assistant since 1994. Weller, who specialized in jumps, led the girls team through 2013. The Chieftains took fourth at state in 2008 — their highest team finish in program history — then repeated that feat a year later.

The program’s first multi-time state champ also came under Weller’s watch, as Jenny Whitledge won three consecutive high jump titles from 2011 to 2013. In total, the girls won five gold medals in Weller’s tenure, including Jeannin’s 800 title and a javelin title by Roxi Grizzle in 2007.

“We’ve just been really, really blessed over the years,” said Weller, who still teaches industrial arts at Tonganoxie Middle School. “We’ve had some great kids with great potential who worked really hard at it and came through at state.”

Weller, who has taught in the district for 33 years, resigned from coaching after the 2013 season so he could spend more time with his family. He currently has three grandchildren ages 4, 2 and 1, and another will be arriving soon. Weller took his oldest granddaughter to watch 2014 THS grad Haley Griffin — her dance instructor — jump at the Chieftains’ regional meet in May.

Shaw and Weller’s days with the THS team may be behind them, but Shaw said they’ll both continue to remember their time — particularly that spent alongside one another — with great fondness.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better man to work with, in all honesty,” he said. “It was always a team effort. The coaches at Tonganoxie always worked well together. That’s something I was really proud of. We worked together for the good of the kids, and that’s something I’ll always remember.”