BY JOHN A. DARNELL JR.
      associate editor
      A longtime fixture in the Boardman Local Schools, including as a teacher, coach and athletic director, Mrs. Denise Gorski, will retire at the end of the current academic year.
      Mrs. Gorski began her lengthy and legendary tenure with the local school system in 1977 as a physical education teacher.
      Her career at Boardman High School included 32 years as head coach of the Lady Spartans track and field team, as well as stints as a and girls basketball and golf coach.
      She became the first female athletic director at Boardman in 2014, following her retirement from coaching.
      During her coaching career, Gorski’s track and field teams posted a 271-67-1 mark, including a dozen Steel Valley Conference titles, 15 Mahoning County titles (including ten in a row, from 2001-2010) and nine district championships.
      She brought Boardman Lady Spartan track and field teams to a level of competition that gained note around the state of Ohio. Though the job as a head coach consumed much of her time, she found even more time to keep in touch with her former athletes, often traveling to their track meets after they left high school.
      Among them was Allison Brager, now a captain in the United States Army.
      “You taught me the importance of hard work, discipline and perseverance. You led many young, talented women into promising careers in track and field, and life,” said Brager.
      Another athlete Mrs. Gorski coached was U.S. Olympic hopeful and four-time Highland Games world champion Adriane Blewitt-Wilson.
      “Denise mentored me in ways more than just an inspiring teacher, disciplined coach or successful female professional. She stood by me when our family suffered the tragic loss of my father...she helped me narrow down my path for collegiate athletics, and continued to rally for my success when cancer threatened my Olympic dreams.
      “As an educator, she emphasized accountability and hard work for all her students, even with kids not involved in sports,” Blewitt-Wilson said, adding “It is rare to find a coach who will take on the responsibility of an entire team of adolescent girls, and still have the energy to guide them to athletic victories and personal growth.
      “She understood how the mind of an athlete must be nutured, inspired and pushed to excellence. Her workouts were tough and she would never bend the rules...Our minds were as tough as our bodies in competition.”
      When Mrs. Gorski took over the duties of athletic director at Boardman High School, she immediately improved the visibility of the some two-dozen Spartan sports programs with an improved statistical reporting system.
      She also played a lead role in the construction of the new Boardman Stadium that opened in 2015, and she help to create the ‘Spartan Spirit Crew’ to boost school spirit.
      On 2009, Mrs. Gorski was honored with induction into the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches (OATCC) Hall of Fame.
      “Denise Gorski’s contributions to track and field...have made her recognized and respected throughout the state...Her warm, friendly, enthusiastic personality has gained her many supporters. We are proud to add her name to the roll of distinguished recipients,” said the OATCC).
      Upon her retirement as a coach, Mrs. Gorski was honored in 2014 by the Mahoning Valley Coaches Association (MVCA).
      “She is the teacher/educator and coach future educational professionals should aspire to be,” said then MVCA president Rob Conklin.
      A graduate of Cuyahoga Falls High School and Kent State University, Mrs. Gorski and her husband Dan, have been married for 37 years.
      “I have to thank my husband, Dan, for being so supportive of my coaching and athletic director’s career. We were both involved in coaching for the same number of years and without his support, I wouldn’t have been at it this long,” Mrs. Gorski said.