Dedication of Steve Kerzie Legacy Track set for 10 a.m. Saturday

VIRGINIA—Less than a week after hosting the Iron Range Conference Championships, the Rock Ridge track and field teams will host one more this season.

Kicking off the Kerzie Invitational at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 18, the brand new, state of the art track at Rock Ridge High School will be named the “Steve Kerzie Legacy Track” in honor of Steve Kerzie and his years of service and impact throughout the Gilbert school system.

Running and field events will kick off at 10:30 a.m. following the dedication.

During the planning phase for the new Rock Ridge school district, Deanna Kerzie, daughter to Steve and the head girls coach of Wolverine track and field said she knew she wanted to have her father honored in some way in the new facilities. At first, it came with putting his name on the video scoreboard. Now, the entire track will be dedicated in his honor.

“My brother and sister and I did what we could and gave what we could in order to get this track named after him,” Deanna said. “We ended up giving $120,000 and through other donations and fundraisers, we were able to raise another $120,000 to get the track named after him.

“It was a team effort and a lot of people from the area, whether its Gilbert, Eveleth or Virginia, helped make it happen.”

Kerzie served as an educator, coach and athletic director in Gilbert for more than 40 years. Even after his retirement, Kerzie spent time involved with the Eveleth-Gilbert communities and continued refereeing athletics well into his 70s. Even after he was done reffing football and basketball, he would still take the time to officiate track and field meets late into his life.

The Kerzie family worked in tandem with Willie Spelts, Director of School to Work Engagement and Fundraising Coordinator at Rock Ridge Public Schools. When plans were coming together for the different facilities at Rock Ridge, Spelts said there would be no better fit than Kerzie when it came to a name for the track.

“Like all the communities that make up our new district, Gilbert is another very important piece to all of this and who better than Steve Kerzie,” Spelts said. “The donation we received from the Kerzie family for the video scoreboard was one of the first major donations we received and it allowed us to really get the fundraising going and now we have all these great and wonderful facilities to use for years to come.

“It was important for me to make sure Kerzie was on this new campus for everything he did for Gilbert High School and Gilbert Public Schools.”

Kerzie passed away at the age of 97 in 2018. Before it was certain that Rock Ridge would become a reality, Steve urged his daughter to make sure that the all the measures to create the new district were approved.

“He told me to make sure I did as much as I could to help make this pass,” Deanna said. “He wanted this because it was good for the kids. My dad was always for the kids and doing what we could to make things better for them.”

And while none of the current Rock Ridge track and field athletes would come to know Steve Kerzie personally, his daughter has been trying to make sure everyone had an idea of the man he was.

“We’re trying to introduce him to them so this is for them but it’s also for every athlete in the past too. People knew how much fun he was. He was a good man with a kind heart that taught me to fight for these kids. It doesn’t matter whose toes you step on, he told me, you fight for the kids.”

With 45 years of coaching under Deanna’s belt, combined with all the work her father was known for, the Kerzie family has been involved and made an impact in Gilbert and the surrounding area for over 70 years.

“That’s why we added ‘legacy’ to the Steve Kerzie Legacy Track,” Spelts said. “The Kerzie family has been connecting us and has had a positive impact for such a long time around here. All of the support from the Gilbert Buccaneers was absolutely incredible and awesome. It was a lot of fun working with the people from Gilbert and we’re very happy and proud to be a part of it.”

Spelts also gave special thanks to Matt Uhan from the First National Bank of Gilbert.

“They made a sizable contribution and really went out of their way to make sure we were able to match the Kerzie family’s $120,000. I think that solidified the support of Gilbert so we’re so very thankful for them.

For the first time in the short history of Rock Ridge track and field, the Wolverines can now host their own meets. Since the program began, the teams have only ever known long bus rides to and from other schools in order to compete.

Now that they can welcome other teams into their space, head boys coach Ryan Malich says it’s been a massive net positive for the program.

“We’re re-learning how to host meets and it’s a lot of learning on the fly and troubleshooting on the go,” Malich said. “But this is such a great thing to be able to offer our kids. Instead of traveling all across the state, we’re hosting them.

“As a kid from Eveleth-Gilbert, we never hosted meets. This is huge for them. They feel like a team and they get to perform in front of their parents and friends in their community and show them what we’ve been working towards. It’s exciting.”

Running on a square dirt track just one year ago for practice, Kerzie described the feeling of finally having her athletes on a real track.

“When I first walked onto this track, I couldn’t help but cry. Back when we were just Eveleth-Gilbert, the kids always talked about having this and wishing we had our own track to run on, but I told the girls that that wasn’t something we could control. We didn’t need a track to go to state and win the 4x200. We modified everything to make it work for us and that’s the way it was.

“Now we have all this and what a difference it makes for everyone. The hurdlers, the relays, and now we have pole vault finally again. It’s beautiful and it’s a great place to watch meets for fans too. Nothing is too far to get to or to watch from. I’m looking forward to us getting to use this every season.”

With the massive growth of the track and field program, Malich says it’s important the team can have the best of the best when it comes to training.

“This entire facility really speaks to what our program has experienced over the last couple years. Without the community support and the booster program we have, we wouldn’t have any of this.

“Everyone is so involved and to get to have the best facilities from the track to the weight room or the entire school, it makes us remember that this is bigger than us and I think the kids are motivated by it. The effort this year has been phenomenal and I’m just so impressed with the work ethic and the attitudes the kids have had.”

As they prepare for today’s dedication, Deanna Kerzie knew this was where their athletes were meant to be.

“This is their home,” she said. “It’s our home now. It’s the home Rock Ridge track and field needed.”