Track and field head coach Raunig retires

Tom Raunig is a very busy man. He’s been so busy during the past decade or so that something very important has gone unused.

Last week Raunig announced his retirement from coaching track and field and cross country at the University of Montana in order to put his doctorate to use and pursue a teaching position at the University of Great Falls. The 2007-08 season marks his 12th at the helm.

“I got to the point where I wanted to get out of coaching,” Raunig said. “I’ve had (my doctorate) for 13 years so I finally want to use this thing.”

Raunig graduated from Montana in 1982 with a degree in education and, seven years later, he earned a master’s degree in health and physical education. He received his doctorate in adult learning and higher education from Montana State University in 1995.

“It’s something that I put a lot of work into and this seemed like a good time to use it,” Raunig said. 

After the season ends, the coach will be officially packing up and making the move to Great Falls where he will take a tenure-track teaching position in their education school. 

The Havre native said that with the constant cycle of cross country, track and recruiting in between, there was no time to concentrate on using his credentials to their full potential. 

Raunig said that this was the best time to leave because seven full-ride-scholarship athletes are graduating and he’d be committed for a while during the rebuilding process. 

“It really was getting a few years overdue,” Raunig said. 

The announcement came as a shock to members of the track team as they were preparing to start the outdoor season.

“It was definitely a surprise,” senior distance runner Duncan Hendrick said. “He wasn’t unhappy or anything, so it was a shock to the whole team, but we all understand.”

Raunig was a highly successful distance runner during his collegiate career at Montana where he became an all-American and still holds the school record in the 10k with a time of 28:40.24. 

Raunig also ran professionally in Eugene, Ore. and the athletes he coached benefited from his wealth of experience. 

Raunig coached for seven years at Montana State, spent some time at Upper Iowa coaching both track and cross country, then took the job with Montana in 1996. In all, he has been coaching track for 23 years. 

While coaching here, Raunig has guided three all-Americans in cross country and 11 track and field all-Americans. 

“Tom’s a great coach,” senior sprinter James Brown said. 

Brown said that no one expected the retirement, but the team understands that Raunig has needs that exceed the realms of the coaching world. 

“I have a lot of respect for Tom, and I’m going to miss him, but I had a blast here with him as my coach and he has to move on and do other things,” Brown said. 

Getting out of the coaching position will also give the 48-year-old Raunig a chance to focus on his own personal running again. 

He plans on running his 18th marathon when he turns 50. 

“I will miss this job, but I’m a runner too and the neat thing about this new job is that I will have time for running,” Raunig said.