Harper Creek's Corrin Buck: 'Awesome honor' to go into Hall of Fame
Longtime coach Corrin Buck put in the time, put in the effort and now she is getting the reward.
Buck, who led the Harper Creek swimming program for more than a quarter of a century, will be inducted in to the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
After stepping down from leading the Beavers last year, she will be celebrated for her coaching accomplishments at an event at Central Michigan University on Sunday.
Buck said one of the best thing about being chosen, is that this is a coaches award that comes from her peers.
"It's a nomination process and a coach I know said they were going to nominate me and I had to come up with my stats and go through my history for them," Buck said. "But I didn't know if I was going to be selected after all of that, so I was very pleased to get the invitation. It is an awesome honor."
Buck coached swimming for 35 years overall, with the last 26 being at Harper Creek leading both girls and boys teams. She celebrated her 100th coaching victory within the past few years with the Beavers and finished her final season with 115 wins for her career. For Harper Creek, Buck coached 18 All-State swimmers, three All-Americans and had her team place in the top 10 at the MHSAA State Meet three times, with two individual state champions.
"It's one of those things that just warms my heart, being selected," Buck said. "At Harper Creek, we weren't state champions, we weren't that top five program, and often we were in leagues with powerhouses, so we didn't win a lot of titles. So sometimes I figured I wasn't good enough to be honored for something like this. But that's what I like about this. They don't look at those benchmarks necessarily, it's more about what you do for the kids and how you helped them get better. To be recognized for that, I am proud for that kind of honor."
Beyond her time at Harper Creek, she has been inducted as a swimmer into the Slippery Rock University Hall of Fame, where she was a two-time captain. She began her coaching career at Clarion University and later coached at Michigan State.
Buck still competes on the masters swimming circuit and has been the national champion in that division the past five years in the 50, 100 and 200 breaststroke events.
"Corrin has led the Harper Creek swim program with grace and dignity for 26 years," Ed Greenman, the then-Harper Creek athletic director, said when she stepped away from the program. "She started our middle school program and has coached both boys and girls at the middle school and high school level. Obviously, she has touched a lot of lives and has made a huge impact on the swimming community. Her swimmers always competed at the highest level and represented our school in a first-class manner. They took after their coach."
Contact Bill Broderick at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter @billbroderick.
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Harper Creek's Corrin Buck, 'awesome honor' to go into Hall of Fame
