Cougars name meet after former coach
SILVERDALE — Former Central Kitsap track and field throws coach Bill Braun accepted an invitation from head coach Neal Gaulden to appear at his old stomping grounds Friday as the Cougars hosted a multi-team South Sound Conference 3A meet.
Braun, who retired last spring, figured something might be up.
“He wouldn’t tell me what this was for,” Braun said.
As it turned out, Gaulden wanted to make sure that Braun would continue being part of the track and field program for years to come. Central Kitsap’s first home meet each spring will now be known as the Bill Braun Classic.
“We want to take this opportunity to honor him for his service,” Gaulden told the crowd during a pre-meet ceremony highlighting Braun’s 17-year career.
Braun admitted to being caught by surprise, but said it was “pretty cool” to be recognized. He received one plaque from Central Kitsap’s coaching staff, while also posed for photos with another plaque installed near the javelin starting area, located behind the home stands at Cougar Field.
Both plaques noted Braun’s accomplishments while coaching boys and girls shot put, discus and javelin: 158 league championship participants and 16 league champions; 58 district championship participants and 11 district champions; 25 state championship participants and three state champions.
Sixteen of Braun’s athletes set school records and four hold West Sound records in their respective events.
Braun said the support of his wife Lori, who attended Friday’s meet, contributed to his ability to be a successful coach. All the hours spent coaching in the spring meant lots of time spent away from his family.
“She had to handle so much stuff,” Braun said.
Retiring in 2009 after 24 years in the U.S. Navy, Braun spent three years as an unpaid volunteer coach at Central Kitsap Middle School before joining the high school’s coaching staff. His first state medalist was a special one: his daughter, Bethani, who placed eighth in discus at the 4A level in 2009.
After that season, former Central Kitsap head coach Mark Ward asked Braun, whose daughter was graduating, if he wanted to continue on as throws coach.
Braun thought it over and decided: “I'm staying.” Of the three throwing disciplines, Braun knew shot put and javelin the best, having competed in both during his high school days in Pennsylvania. He didn't begin coaching javelin until 2009.
“Honestly I didn't know a lot, but I worked really hard,” Braun said. “I studied it, I watched videos, I went to clinics. I put a ton of time and effort in.”
Hudson Keffer became Braun's first state champion in 2015 as the senior won the 3A boys javelin title. Keffer went on to compete at Arizona State University. Pono Fuiava joined Keffer as a state title winner in 2019, claiming the 3A girls discus title as a sophomore.
Braun planned to retire from coaching at the end of Fuiava's career. That plan changed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, robbing Fuiava and other
West Sound track and field athletes from the chance to compete in the postseason for not just one year, but two.
“She basically lost her junior and senior years,” Braun said. “I have no doubt, 2020, our girls would have won state.”
Braun didn't want 2021 serving as the unsatisfying final chapter of his coaching career, so he agreed to stay on through 2023 after conferring with Lori.
“My wife said, ‘Do what makes you happy,'” Braun said. “I said I'm going to do it two more years ... it looks like I was a genius for going out with a state champion.”
Braun was talking about current University of Tennessee freshman Roderick Schenk, who won the 3A boys javelin title last year with the No. 1 throw in the nation: a state-meet record 219 feet, 1 inch. The throw broke Keffer's West Sound record of 210 feet.
“It flew like a laser, man,” Braun said.
As the weather warmed up each spring, that's when Braun's athletes tended to perform their best. There was always a plan to ramp up and shine in the second half of the season.
“I didn't care what they did in March and April,” he said. “I cared what they did in May.”