Red Simmons' 100th Birthday Celebration Set for Sept. 5
8/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Track & Field
Reunion Information (PDF)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - As part of the University of Michigan men's and women's track and field and cross country reunion weekend (Friday-Sunday, Sept. 4-6), the 100th birthday of Kenneth "Red" Simmons will be celebrated. Simmons was the first women's track and field coach at Michigan and continues to be an active member of the athletic community.
The celebration for Simmons, who was born on Jan. 5, 1910, will be held at noon on Saturday (Sept. 5)at the U-M Indoor Track Building, however, the RSVP deadline ended on Aug. 25.
Simmons is considered the Founding Father of Michigan women's track and field. In 1959, Simmons retired from the Detroit Police Department and began teaching physical education at U-M. He started the first Ann Arbor Women's Track Club, "The Michigammes", in 1960, which evolved into the NCAA Division I program that it is today. Simmons became Michigan's first women's track and field coach in 1976, with 1978 marking the first season that women's track was a varsity sport. He was the coach until 1981.
"He is a pioneer, since he started the women's program at the club perspective and then made it a varsity sport," said current women's track and field head coach James Henry. "So I consider him the founding father of women's track and field."
Simmons and his first wife, Betty, created the Michigammes as an outlet to allow women the chance to compete. His first member, Francie Kraker Goodridge, went on to become the first native Michigan woman to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team. She competed in the 800 meters at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City and in the 1,500 meters at the 1972 Games in Munich. All told, the Michigammes produced three Olympians, in Goodridge, Sperry Jones and Micki King, even though Jones and King punched their ticket to the Olympics in other sports. Jones competed as a kayaker at the 1968 and 1972 Games, while King won a gold medal in diving in 1972.
With the passage of Title IX legislation in 1972, the need for the Michigammes slowly slipped away. The recruitment of many of its top performers to newly formed varsity university programs across the country made it hard to keep the group together. With Simmons having proved his mettle as a coach with the Michigammes, he was selected as the first women's track and field coach at U-M.
In his four years as coach, the Wolverines gradually improved, finishing fourth at the unofficial Big Ten Conference outdoor meet in 1981. He coached the program's first All-America selection, Penny Neer, before retiring from coaching in 1981.
A 1933 graduate of Eastern Michigan University, then Michigan Normal College, Simmons is still visible at both EMU and U-M. He was inducted into the Eastern Michigan Hall of Fame in 1978, became U-M's first honorary 'M' man in 1990 and was the inaugural inductee into the Michigan women's track and field hall of fame in 1994. The Wolverines have hosted the "Red Simmons Invitational" every year since 1981 in his honor.
Simmons won four Senior Olympics gold medals in 1995 at the age of 85. Simmons and his wife, Lois, continue to support Michigan Athletics with their time and generosity, funding several scholarships and awards.
Contact: Sarah VanMetre (734) 647-4423
