Picture courtesy of Huey Counts

GYPSUM — Wade Caselman had a pretty good idea last summer that the end was near.

After more than three decades as a teacher and decorated coach at Southeast of Saline High School, he was ready to move on.

Turns out he could not have scripted the final chapter of his 32-year run — 23 as head cross country coach and 16 leading the Trojans’ track and field program — any better.

Not only did Southeast’s boys win a Class 3A team championship in cross country last fall, including a runner-up finish for senior Brayden Walker, but two weeks in Wichita they picked up a second-place team trophy at the state track and field championship.

Wade Caselman

“Most definitely, it did kind of put the cherry on top,” Caselman said.

Caselman, 57, officially announced his retirement last December.

“I kind of new from the beginning of the school year that this would probably be my last year,” he said.

But the most recent success hardly tells the whole story of Caselman’s legacy at Southeast, his alma mater. Try a school-record 10 state boys and girls cross country team championships and the Trojans’ only two track titles.

“He’s made a huge impact not just on the program, but on my running career,” said Luke Gleason, a 2021 Southeast graduate and former Emporia State runner, who will succeed Caselman as head cross country coach in the fall. “He showed me how to be a human first, rather than a runner first, and he likes to give those life lessons.

“I don’t think you’ll find a head coach in the state with his track record in cross country.”

Cross country definitely is where Caselman made his most enduring mark, going all the way back to his high school days. As a freshman in 1983, he was a member of Southeast’s first-ever cross country team under the legendary Skip Olson, and in the fall of his senior year, 1986, he helped the Trojans claim their first team title.

“Southeast has had a strong tradition very early on, and I feel that coach Gleason is going to do a great job of carrying on that tradition,” said Caselman, who in addition to participating in the school’s first state team championship coached the Trojans to six girls titles (2014, 2015, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023) plus four (2018, 2019, 2020, 2025) on the boys side.

Last fall’s boys title eclipsed the mark of nine he shared with predecessor Wayne Sager, who also had a long career as Southeast athletic director and girls basketball coach.

“It’s crazy how much he’s changed the program here over the last 20 years, and he’s probably one of the winningest coaches in the whole state,” said Walker, a member of Southeast’s state championship 4×800-meter relay team at last month’s state meet. “Winning 10 state championships is crazy.”

“Not many other people could say that, if any.”

Walker and fellow senior Jacob Bircher, who in addition to the relay title won the 800-meter run at state, both are headed to Park University next year to continue their cross country and track careers.

Caselman, who went on from Southeast to run at Emporia State, taught and coached for two years in Medicine Lodge before arriving back at Southeast in 1994. While he also spent some time as a basketball assistant, it was only natural that he gravitated to coaching distance runners.

“My dad coached cross country at Salina Central,” Caselman said. “He coached cross country and track, and I just kind of followed in his footsteps at an early age and fell in love with cross country and track.”

Although he will be remembered first and foremost for his cross country coaching success, Caselman said that arguably his fondest memories came in the spring.

“On the track, the boys winning back-to-back state championships in 2021 and ’22, that’s surprisingly the only state team titles that Southeast has had in track,” he said. “That was a special group, and w would have loved to have had 2020 (canceled because of the pandemic), because we were primed that year.”

While Caselman is stepping away from teaching and coaching, he wasted no time moving on to a new job teaching driver’s education at The Garage in Salina two days after the state track meet. He saw it as a good transition to when he decides to retire for real.

“I was eligible to retire three years ago (from the school district), and I just wanted to spend more time with my family and grandkids,” Caselman said. “It’s less time consuming.”

No doubt he will devote some of his extra free to keeping up with Southeast of Saline’s cross country and track program even if he’s no longer directly involved.

“Yep, I’ll still be their number one fan,” Caselman said with a smile.