For the last 48 years, Richard Allen Kochert, or Coach, as many of us know him as has been creating impact in our community and school district.

For generations, he has been a man known for his dedication, support, fortitude, and determination in the way he lives his life and the way that he encourages those around him. 

Over the years, Coach has mentored, taught, and relentlessly pursued success in the name of Tri-County High School. For the last nearly five decades of his life, he has left his heart and soul on the track and field. Even now, at almost 77 years old, he shows up to support the kids in this program when they are left without a coach. It takes a level of commitment that not many of us recognize in this day in age- to dedicate a life's work to one place, one body of students, year after year.

After being inducted into the Indiana Association of Track & Cross Country Hall of Fame in 2019, winning 32 Midwest Conference Coach of the Year Awards over his time as a head coach, and the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches longevity award for coaching 40-plus years in track and field, the expectation set by Coach has been one that few will ever have the drive to meet. 

The impact he has made extends beyond those of us in this town; people all over the state have felt the impact of Coach Kochert's passion, knowledge, and loyalty to this sport.

We are just lucky enough that our community and our school have been the place he has chosen to call home. 

 The legacy of Richard Allen Kochert is something to be honored.

 It is something to be celebrated.

It is something that only comes around once in a lifetime. 

For every kid that Coach has impacted, for every win, loss, or long winded speech that left us inspired and capable of pushing ourselves further than we ever thought possible- I ask that his legacy, his life work be honored by naming Tri-County's track- The Richard Allen Kochert Track & Field, ( The RAK) for short.

He deserves to be honored in the same place that he has spent countless hours, running back and forth across the field, coaching kids, pushing them, and helping them to discover what it is they are truly made of. 

It's a small gift for the insurmountable difference that Coach has made in each of our lives, this school, and the community.  He deserves to be able to see firsthand that all of his work, love, and efforts have made a difference that will last for even more generations to come.

Thank you, 

Paige Miller