Ames, 2024 IATC Hall of Fame Coach
Don’t be fooled into believing that coaches make an impact on kids’ lives only with wins and losses. This is not to say that wins and losses aren’t important, but it’s the GREAT coaches who strive to win AND be a positive influence on the young people they work with.
Kirk Schmaltz was one of those coaches…..Before embarking on a nearly 40 year teaching and coaching career, Kirk learned from two outstanding coaches who were also outstanding men.
IATC Hall of Fame Coach’s Bob Vanderlinden of Des Moines Lincoln and Bill Bergan at Iowa State had positive impacts on Coach Schmaltz. Kirk ran for Coach Vanderlinden and was a student Coach for the Cyclones under Coach Bergan.
After graduating from Iowa State, it was off to Hudson, Iowa where he was the Boys and Girls Head Cross Country Coach from 1979-1982 and an Assistant Coach for Wrestling, Softball and Boys and Girls Track and Field.
His dream job came in 1983 when he was hired at Ames High to be the Head Girls Cross Country Coach, a position he held through 2017. In his first year, there were 13 girls on the team. That number grew as high as 120 and averaged nearly 90 during his tenure.
Under Schmaltzies tutelage, 36 of his girls’ teams qualified for state and in two other seasons he had individual qualifiers.
In 1993 Alienor Gilchrist won the state cross country title, becoming the first individual state champion at Ames High.
Also at Ames, Kirk was an Assistant Track and Field coach with Hall of Fame Head Coach, Jim Duea, from 1985-2000 and was the Head Coach from 2001-2018. Ames won 5 state team titles with Kirk on staff.
After 38 years as a head coach in Cross Country and 16 in track and field, Kirk stepped way from coaching and teaching in 2018.
During his career at Ames, he was a CIML Coach of the Year 16 times, an IATC Regional Coach of the year 24 times, an IATC State Coach of the Year twice and was a N-F-H-S Sectional Coach of the Year.
Coach Schmaltz was also very active in the IATC having served as a 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President and President. He also served on the states Joint Advisory Board, was a 2018 Character Counts Award winner and served for many years, as a Clerk and meet official at Iowa State home Cross Country and Track and Field meets.
Kirk and his wife Rhonda have been married for 42 years and have two daughters: Steph, who lives in Sheffield England and works for Friends International as a missionary for international college students and Katie and her husband Jonny, who live in Brooklyn, New York. Katie works for Daily Harvest as a training specialist and Jonny is a master brewer and owner of Nite Glow Brewery.