Athletics Feature
1995: Coach Bauer with discus National Champion Carl Brown.
1986: Tim (right) with All-American Wade Perry and National Champion Martha Hans Palmer.
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As the results show, that strategy has paid large dividends for his program. And pulling out potential in his athletes has been Bauer’s specialty. Carl Brown was a 6-foot-5, 250-pound physical specimen who had decent performances at Jackson Community College in shot put and discus. However, Brown came from a very tough background and thought he was going to “do his own thing” when he came to Siena Heights. Brown’s first week at Siena Heights was almost his last. “One day I said (to Brown), ‘Here is what you’re doing today in practice,’” Bauer said. “He said, ‘I don’t want to do that today,’ right in front of the team. That was it. I was explosive. And I wouldn’t back down, and the kids knew that. … After that, he figured it out, and ever since it was a great relationship.”
“There’s something about Siena Heights . . . I’ve been here more than I’ve been at my home . . . something that holds us here. It’s the Siena Heights aura.” Brown went on to receive not only NAIA AllAmerican honors, but after graduating became a U.S. throwing national champion and Olympic qualifier, just missing a berth on the U.S. team. There are dozens of very similar success stories in Bauer’s program. He said watching hurdler Martha Hans Palmer win Siena’s first individual national championship was one of his proudest coaching moments. However, he said he still has a hard time dealing with disappointing performances by his team.
“When we have a bad weekend of running or throwing, my weekend sucks,” he said. “The kids don’t understand that. It shouldn’t go that way, but that’s just the way a coach is. You put stress on yourself because you worry about your kids.” Seeing his athletes achieve more than what they thought they could is what motivates him as a coach. “It’s just so much fun for the kid and their family to think that they could do that,” Bauer said. “Not everyone is going to be an All-American. If you’re not, you’re still going to have a great experience. Be somebody. A hungry dog hunts best. If you’re hungry, you’re going to go for it.”
More than a Coach Surprising Bauer fact: “I love kids, even though I don’t have any,” he admitted. However, his athletes often see him as a parental figure, a person they can talk to when they think they can’t talk to anyone else. He understands that while all of his athletes are Saints, not everyone is perfect. “They know when they screw up,” he said. “But you’ve got to remind them that they are here to be somebody. … They’re afraid to tell you, but I want them to tell me. I want to hear it from them instead of someone else. You get on them for a minute, but then you say ‘Hey, I understand. You made a mistake. Don’t do it again.’ We tell them our door is always open. … There aren’t too many days go by that you don’t have to deal with an issue.” He said providing students opportunities is what his program—and Siena Heights—are all about. “We’ve got our share of champions,” he said. “But we like that guy or girl who has potential, who we know is going to get better. That’s what’s fun.”
2010: Bauer poses with Muddy the Mud Hen and President Sister Peg Albert.
Here to Stay Now with a long-promised outdoor track and field facility on the way, Bauer said he is reinvigorated as a coach. He still has his eyes on a team national championship, which he calls “the big trophy.” “We’ve had years where we were in the hunt,” he said. “But it’s got to be perfect. If we never win a national title, it’s not because we didn’t try. It’s hard to win the ultimate thing.” He said his athletes also sense what is coming next fall. “They’re excited,” Bauer said of the new track and field facility, scheduled to be finished next fall. “They want to be the first group to run on this. It’s going to make a big difference. The thing is for the kids, people can watch them now. No one gets to see our kids. That’s the biggest thing. People are going to get to see them perform. That means a lot to the kids.” However, he said having home facilities won’t change his approach one bit. In fact, the tradition of toughness and hard work he has helped build grows stronger each year. “There’s something about Siena Heights,” he said. “I’ve been here more than I’ve been at my home. I give credit to all the kids before, all the old administrators.” And how long will he coach at Siena Heights? “I always said I would stay until we get a track and then retire,” he said. “Now, we’re getting it a little earlier than I thought. I’ll stay for 40 years (total) and then I could be done. There’s something that holds us here. It’s the Siena Heights aura.” Or maybe it’s those cheese sandwiches. u
In fact, Bauer said he has turned down coaching jobs at other institutions because of his commitment to his athletes. “You get to a point where you think you’ve done as much as you can with what you’ve got,” Bauer said. “But then I looked at it. I can’t leave our kids. I can’t leave our team.” Reflections Winter ’11
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