MONROE — When Scott Mosher ran his last high school race in 2000 for Monroe, he wasn’t sure what the future would hold. As the story unfolded, Mosher returned to live, work and coach in his hometown. Twenty years after his final race, he won the WISTCA District 5 boys track and field coach of the year.

“I’m quite proud of this award because it is indicative of where we are as a program and coaching staff,” Mosher said. “I look at it as a team honor.”

Between cross country and track and field, Mosher spent 14 seasons coaching at Fond du Lac High School. Upon his return to Monroe five years ago, he’s also taken over as the cross country coach for both boys and girls.

“While (Fond du Lac) was a great experience, there is whole new level of pride coaching at Monroe High School. There is a tradition here that doesn’t exist at other schools,” Mosher said. “We have a recorded history of the Track & Field program that goes back over 50 years, maintained by all the coaches who have had the privilege of coaching this program in the past. To be a part of this is awesome.”

At the time of his hire five years ago, there were zero assistant coaches returning in the track and field program. Last spring the team had 12 coaches, nine of which are alumni.

“Tyler Witt, Shawn Paulson and Gerry Herbst all joined the program and all were first time track coaches. Eric Jubeck became the head girls coach a couple years ago and at that point the coaches from the two programs work seamlessly together,” Mosher said. 

Mosher was a member of Monroe’s boys cross country state-qualifying team his senior season in 1999. The following spring, he reached the state meet in the 800-meter run, placing ninth.

After hanging up his competitive running shoes, Mosher said it didn’t take long to join the coaching ranks.

“I turned to coaching because of love of the sport. After I was done competing as an athlete, I felt a void from not being part of a team. I’ve talked to a lot of former athletes, and that’s a tough transition,” Mosher said. “I applied for a coaching position right away after college and was an assistant for a number of years. I don’t know if I ever planned on being a head coach, but the (Monroe) position opened up so I applied for it. It never really mattered to me to be a head coach or assistant or volunteer, I just wanted to be involved in a program I could be proud of.”

The early change between athlete and coach was hard, Mosher said, but he was able to figure it out relatively quickly.

“The transition from not-a-coach to coach is tough at first. As an athlete you get nervous energy that builds up before a competition, but then you get to compete to get rid of it,” Mosher said. “For a coach you get that same nervous energy, but you don’t get to burn it off until the meet is over. That’s a tough feeling to get used to.”

In track and field, Mosher said the big jump was learning to coach all of the events — sprints, distance, shot put, discus, high jump, long jump, hurdles and pole vault. In his track partnership with Jubeck, a high school classmate of Mosher, the duo feels fortunate to have volunteer coaches that are not just passionate about the sport, but can be considered “head coach” of their event.

“I’ve been fortunate to have been an assistant coach under seven different head coaches, as well as be an athlete under multiple coaches as well.  This allowed me to see what works, and just as important, what doesn’t work,” Mosher said.

One former coach in particular said something that sticks with Mosher to this day, “We might not be the fastest or the best team each year, but we will be the most fundamentally sound team.”

“If coaches can focus on fundamentals, success will follow. This coaching mindset also allows us to get some of the best athletes out for the team. Kids know that if they come out for Monroe track and field that they will become better athletes and better at every other sport they do, not just track and field,” Mosher said.

The Monroe boys team competed in in events across the board at state last year, nine in total — one of which was then-sophomore Cade Meyer, who won the high jump title in his first year learning the event and the sport. Meyer, a rising basketball college basketball recruit, wanted to work on his speed, conditioning and leaping abilities during the basketball offseason and joined the track team. Under tutelage of Mosher & Co., Meyer went on to break the school record at an early season home meet, and then recorded the highest mark in the state tournament for all divisions, winning the D2 championship.

Mosher, now in his late 30s, is married with three young children; two girls and a boy. He said his family supports him in following his love of coaching, even if that means spending more time away from home than they might like.

“They are all supportive of me coaching because I think they all see that it’s what I’m passionate about. Without their support and understanding it wouldn’t be possible to coach,” Mosher said of wife Katie and children Alivia, Henry and Claire. “Family will always come first and many of the assistant coaches are in the same position; having family commitments. We understand that we might need to miss a practice or even part of a meet if one of our kids has something we need to be at.

“I struggled with this at first because before I had kids, I felt it was important to set the example for the athletes of commitment to the sport. But I think we are able to set an even better example by showing that family comes first and that you can balance between sports, job, family, etcetera.”