At the start of fall of 2012, John Carroll University assistant coach Elmore Banton told his team that this would be his last school year coaching the sports of cross country and track and field.

“When I made up my mind and thought it would be my last year, I was tired more than anything else,” Banton reflected.

Fortunately for his middle distance track athletes, the legendary Coach “Mo” Banton will stick around in track and field for at least one more season.

“I really enjoy the kids I'm coaching,” said Banton. “I'm going to be coming back next year to coach the middle distance people.”

Citing understandable reasons from a coaching perspective, Banton said he was very pleased with his current crop of athletes and did not want to waste away his winters at home.

“As the season went on, I got to thinking – what am I going to do in the winter time? Plus, the group of kids I'm working with are fun. They make me feel young again and I enjoy coaching them,” he continued.

“And of course my wife got on me and said, 'what are you going to do sitting around here in the winter time?' I said, 'you got a point there.' D [head coach Dara Ford] let me do it; I'll come back next year.”

Though he is staying with the track team, Coach Banton has had enough of cross country, wanting instead to focus on his golf game.

“I think if I take the fall off, 'cause you know I love golf, I can play golf all fall, then coach in the winter and spring time, that'll be good.”

Banton could not deny his love for track.

“I enjoy track, I like the strategy behind it – trying to position your kids to get as many points as a team as possible.”
“I like the groups of people, having different groups to coach,” he continued.

Banton did say he would make his presence known during the 2013 cross country season, helping each team contend for an OAC Championship and National Championship berth.

“Don't think I'm not going to come to the meets and see them run, 'cause I will be there somewhere,” he projected. “I assume they're still going to have the Mo Banton Relays!”

In 2011, the cross country team started the Mo Banton Relays – an intrasquad meet in early October where team members pair off in mile legs to determine the fastest milers among the Blue Streak harriers. 

Banton is pleased with his squad this season, and optimistic about their prospects to make an impact at the upcoming Ohio Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in Ada. 

“I think we've made some good progress,” commented Banton. “The women's distance medley won the All-Ohio meet, which was outstanding, and the men have been doing pretty good. I think we're in good shape going into the meet, and have a chance to score some real points.”

Coach Banton responded in typical fashion when asked about the championship meet this weekend: with enthusiasm.

“I'm very excited about this weekend,” Banton said. “Since I've been here, I think this could be the best combined finish that we've ever had. I hope the kids are as excited about it as I am.”

Given his background, Banton amazingly arrived on the John Carroll campus without much fanfare in the fall of 2003.
As a competitor for Ohio University, Banton made history when he captured the NCAA Division I Men's Cross Country championship in 1964. Not only was he the second Ohio student-athlete to earn national medalist honors, but he was also the first African-American to win the national title.

He followed his history-making competitive career by becoming the highly successful head coach of the cross country and track & field programs at Ohio University for 23 years. During his tenure at OU, he collected 20 Coach of the Year awards, including nine from the Mid-American Conference and eight All-Ohio notices. Banton guided the Bobcats to 10 MAC titles, 14 All-Ohio championships, and six Central Collegiate crowns in his 23 seasons at the helm.

When hired in 1980, Banton was the first African-American head coach of any intercollegiate sport at Ohio University.

After retiring as head coach of the Bobcats, Banton had a brief stint coaching for the University of Akron. It was brief because  when former JCU head coach Mark McClure took over the reigns of the JCU program, his first phone call was to see if the Banton would be interested in being an assistant coach.

Originally thinking he'd be in University Heights for just a short period of time, he is now in his ninth year with the Blue and Gold.

Since arriving on campus, Banton has coached a number of athletes that have had decorated careers on the OAC, Great Lakes Region, and NCAA Division III levels, including big names like Ellie Fernandez, Shannon McConville, and Cyril Pinchak.

Fernandez, the most decorated athlete in the history of women's track and field at John Carroll University, led her team to a 12th place finish at the 2006 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a second place finish in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.

Fernandez and McConville combine to hold 10 school records, while Pinchak holds every indoor school record from the mile to 5,000 meters and was on the Distance Medley Relay team in 2006 that set the school record

Banton had nothing but positive things to say about the current track athletes that could have a similar impact on the program.

“On the women's side, Emily Mapes, who has already become an All-American in the steeplechase, I think she can only get better,” Banton predicted. “If she really puts her mind to it, she can be outstanding in the steeple, just like Ellie was.”

“I think Gab Kreuz has more talent than anyone walking around on this campus right now,” he continued. “It's just a matter of her doing what she needs to do.”

“Then you got Mike Minjock on the men's side, who was All-American in the long jump last year,” he said. “He has the second-best long jump in the country this year, so he's already outstanding.”

“We've got a good group of young kids, too,” he continued. “We've got Pat O'Brien, and Will Cameron's going to be outstanding once he learns out how to run the 800. We've got about three or four kids on each side that have got the ability to be as good as [the past standouts] were.”

Coach Banton was very confident that his athletes would put their efforts in training to good use in championship competition.

“We've worked hard, we've come a long way, there's no reason we can't go in there this season and do very well,” he projected. “It makes no sense to work hard, and then lay an egg. I think they're ready to go.”

The greatest aspect of Coach Banton's legacy that his runners will remember is his excitement and enthusiasm for his sport and his team.

“I just love enthusiasm, and if you don't have enthusiasm, you can't do very much,” he concluded. “The more enthusiasm you have about yourself and about your team, the better results you get.”