After 19 years at the helm, Leyden athletic director Randy Conrad will be retiring at the end of the school year.
A 1978 graduate of East Leyden, Conrad won the state title at 126 pounds as a senior and helped the team win its second state team title. After wrestling on scholarship at Iowa State, and being a two-time All-American, Conrad spent three years at Elmwood Park as the wrestling coach, while also being an assistant coach in baseball and boys track.
Conrad then moved to Conant for eight years, and was an assistant wrestling coach and girls golf coach while serving as the dean of students and department chair in applied technology. He is currently the state tournament director for the IHSA in wrestling.
Rick Mason, who is currently a dean at West Leyden, will relinquish that role and replace Conrad starting on July 1, 2018, according to district spokesperson Maryann Mills.
Before becoming a dean in 2013, Mason was a social studies teacher at West Leyden and the boys cross country coach.
In an email interview about 2017 and the year to come with Pioneer Press freelance reporter Mark Perlman, Conrad said work on the new aquatic center at East Leyden, which is scheduled to break ground in March, was one of his biggest challenges of 2017.
The aquatic center will be part of an approximately $50 million project, which will also include a preschool and daycare center, a cafeteria, and new classrooms and practice rooms for band and choir, Supt. Nick Polyak said.
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There will be two pools, a deep one for swimming and water polo and a smaller one that has a shallow and deep end, which will include diving. The project is slated to be completed sometime in 2020. The current pool will be filled in and already serves as a new practice wrestling room.
Q: Who was the most dedicated student-athlete at your school over the last year?
A: This is very difficult to choose the most dedicated, since there are so many I could name. But Jalen Moore was outstanding in football and placed seventh in state (in Class 3A) in the long jump.
Q: Which coach had the biggest impact on the student-athletes he or she worked with in 2017?
A: Our girls basketball coach, Stephanie Kuzmanic, has turned our entire program around in the last four years. We have become competitive on all levels.
Q: Which team surprised you the most in 2017?
A: We had an impressive football season but I think most everyone thought we would be good. The surprise for me was our baseball season winning the West Suburban (Gold).
Q: Of all the things that fall under your purview, what are you most proud of when you think about 2017?
A: The fact that Leyden continues to update our facilities. It is great to see us build a brand new wrestling room. Wrestling has had such a rich tradition here at Leyden so building a new room that can house 100 wrestlers will make a difference.
Q: When you reflect on 2017, what was a teachable moment that really stands out to you?
A: How kind our kids are when it comes to all of the community outreach programs they do. Helping families and raising money for people in need is so nice to see. All 25 of our sports programs found a cause to stand behind to help others.
Q: What was the most challenging part of your job over the last 12 months?
A: Working on all the new ideas, involving the upcoming construction projects. The biggest project soon to begin construction with be an aquatic center.
Q: When you think ahead to 2018, what will make you most excited to come to work?
A: I get to retire at the end of this school year so I look forward to a long vacation which involves fishing and golf.
Q: What are the top three things on your to-do list in 2018?
A: Transition my replacement to the AD position. Pack 19 years worth of things that I have accumulated. Say farewell to all the close friends I have made here at Leyden. What a great place to work.
Mark Perlman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press