Remembering Hall of Fame Distance Runner Bill Donakowski
10/19/2017 12:09:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Men's Track & Field
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan cross country and track and field programs are mourning the death of Hall of Famer Bill Donakowski, who passed away Sunday, Oct. 15, at the age of 61.
One of the finest distance runners in the nation and a model student-athlete during his Wolverine career from 1974-78, Donakowski was inducted into the program's Hall of Fame in 2007.
The Flint native -- who also went on to become a renowned aerospace engineer -- was at the leading edge of a renaissance in Michigan's distance running heritage that began in the mid-to-late 1970s, earning three Big Ten individual titles, four All-America awards and a school record at 10,000 meters that remains through the present day as the longest-standing in program history.
"This is a tragic loss for the University of Michigan and all of Bill's family, teammates and friends," men's cross country head coach Kevin Sullivan said. "When coach Ron Warhurst came to Michigan, Bill was one of the guys on those early teams that elevated our program to a conference and national powerhouse. He was a big part of the revival of our great distance running tradition from the 1950s and earlier, and certainly he was one of the guys who helped start that up."
In the 15 years prior to his freshman year -- and the arrival of Warhurst, who also later coached Sullivan -- the school produced only five All-America honors in distance events; in the 15 years following his freshman year that number grew to 37, including 21 on the track. The same pattern followed at the Big Ten level, with 18 champions versus 28 champions in those two timeframes.
On the cross country course, Donakowski was just the second man in school history to earn All-America honors in three consecutive years, accomplishing the feat just one year after teammate Greg Meyer became the first. He was 23rd as a sophomore in 1975, 25th as a junior in 1976 and 24th as a senior in 1977.
During that 1977 senior cross country campaign, Donakowski mounted a gutsy late-race comeback at the Big Ten Championships to claim Michigan's first individual conference title since Don McEwen in 1950. Trailing Minnesota's Steve Plasencia by more than 40 yards with less than a mile to go in the eight-kilometer (4.97-mile) race, Donakowski surged to the lead within the next half-mile and never looked back.
His triumphs on the trails in 1977 flowed directly into momentum on the track in his final track season in 1978. Donakowski capped his final indoor campaign with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships over two miles, earning Michigan's first All-America plaudits in the event since McEwen in 1951.
A month later he left his longest-lasting mark on the Wolverines' record books with a record-breaking performance over 10,000 meters at the Tennessee Dogwood Relays. In what is still to this day the fastest anyone donning the Block "M" has covered 10 kilometers, Donakowski clocked a hand-timed 28:25.8 to come within one second of the meet record.
Donakowski's record -- which in the intervening years has seen only Lex Williams in 2010 come within 10 seconds of it -- is the oldest school record on the books at Michigan, edging out the 4x100 relay mark set in June of 1978 by less than two months.
"It serves as a testament to how fantastic an athlete he was," Sullivan said. "When you look at all the outstanding men who have come through the program after him who haven't been able to touch that record, it really shows what a fierce competitor he was. Those were the things that coach Warhurst always told me about Bill, that he was one of the toughest competitors he ever had."
The following month he captured his two Big Ten track titles -- at 5,000 and 10,000 meters -- en route to leading Michigan to a second team title in three years. Prior to Donakowski's and the Wolverines' wins in 1976 and 1978, Michigan hadn't claimed the outdoor conference crown since the 1964 season.
Donakowski's brother Gerard and sister Donna were also All-American distance runners at Michigan and Eastern Michigan, respectively.
Following his time at Michigan -- which culminated in his graduation with degrees in architecture and engineering -- he pursued careers in both distance running and aerospace engineering.
"You look at what Bill did academically, and he really is the quintessential Michigan student-athlete," Sullivan said. "Bill Donakowski is a model for how we envision all of our student-athletes. He fit that mold then, and he would be the type of athlete who we would want on our team now. He was a great student, and coupled it with world-class athletic ability."
He ran a career-best 28:13.9 over 10,000 meters at the 1979 Penn Relays -- making him the ninth-fastest Michigan-born man in history at that distance -- and won the U.S. Marathon Championship in 1986 at the Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis, Minnesota, while at the same time excelling as an engineer as such organizations as Rockwell International and the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. His work resulted in several patented inventions in the United States and China.
A visitation will be held Friday, Oct. 20, from 2-8 p.m. at the Potere-Modetz Funeral Home (339 Walnut Blvd., Rochester, Mich.), followed by a funeral mass at noon on Saturday, Oct. 21, at the St. Andrew Catholic Church (1400 Inglewood Ave., Rochester, Mich.).
Donakowski's full obituary can be found online.
