During his twenty-two years of coaching at Waubonsee, John Bell has consistently produced successful men’s and women’s cross-country teams. In his tenure, he has been named the Skyway Conference’s Cross-Country Coach of the Year nine times and was officially inducted into the Skyway’s Hall of Fame in the spring of 2005. Bell’s 2005 women’s team placed second in the Skyway Conference with the men coming in fourth. Joanna Cisneros and Abigail Vitkus both earned All-Conference First Team status, while Cisneros and Bolaji Adeoti each went on to compete at the NJCAA Division I Championship Meet.

Under Bell’s guidance, the Chiefs have captured 14 Skyway Conference titles, including the 2004 women’s championship.  In the last decade, Waubonsee’s men placed in the league’s top spot eight times, including an unprecedented six consecutive crowns from 1998 to 2003. Since 1984 he has helped guide 84 male and female runners to All-Conference seasons, including the school’s only two-time female All-American in Sharon Metzger.

In addition, Bell has led Waubonsee’s men’s tennis program for the last seven years. Coach Bell was the recipient of the Skyway Conference’s first Men’s Sports Coach of the Year Award after guiding the cross-country and tennis teams to conference crowns during the 2000-2001 school year. His runners eventually placed 11th in the nation that fall before his tennis squad went undefeated in Skyway play during the spring. They completed their league domination by sweeping all nine flights at the Skyway tournament, tying for the Region IV title and then placing 20th in the nation.

Bell graduated from Dominican High School in Whitefish Bay, Wis., in 1962.  Following his prep school days, he attended Quincy College, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1966.  Bell then earned a master’s degree in business administration in 1970 from Northeast Missouri State College, which is today Truman State University.

Bell has lived in the Aurora area for more than 30 years and was a long-time teacher and track coach at West Aurora High School.  Every year the school hosts the “John Bell Invitational” track and field meet, and Coach Bell was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in February 2003.  Though recently retired, he continues to substitute teach for the school district.  He and his wife, Carol, have two grown children, Sean and Michelle.  Coach Bell is also the proud grandfather of grandsons, Brenden and Reese, and granddaughter, Reilly.

Barry Butler is new to the Waubonsee coaching staff for the 2006 season, but he’s no stranger to Chiefs’ Athletics. Butler attended Waubonsee in 1977 and 1978 before transferring to Illinois State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Business in 1980. He returns to Waubonsee ready to lend his versatility and more than thirty years of running experience to the Chiefs’ program.

A 1976 graduate of West Aurora High School, Butler ran under the watchful eye of then Blackhawks’ coach John Bell for four seasons. Coach Butler was the fourth man on the Blackhawks’ Cross Country team that won the Upstate Eight Conference Championship in 1975. His senior year he ran the 880-yard leg on West Aurora’s two-mile relay team that qualified for IHSA State Track Meet. Throughout his versatile running career, Butler has also won many medals at a number of different meets and in a variety of events. He has garnered hardware in many of the events ranging from the 440-yard dash on through to cross country, while also running in three marathons.

Coach Butler is an independent insurance agent for the Volkman Insurance Agency in Aurora. He presents seminars about insurance for small businesses through the Waubonsee Small Business Development Center at the downtown Aurora campus. Butler also actively chairs committees for the Greater Aurora Chamber of Commerce and is the Treasurer for the West Aurora High School Alumni Association. 

Paul Clennon begins his second season with the Chiefs’ cross country program, this time as a volunteer assistant. Coach Clennon will team up once again with head coach John Bell, with whom he has worked and coached with for two decades at nearby Aurora West High School.  Clennon also serves as the study hall tutor and monitor for Waubonsee’s S.T.A.R. program, the academic and counseling system for Chiefs’ student/athletes.

Coach Clennon graduated from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. He earned his bachelor of arts degree in sociology in 1971 and his master of sciences degree in education administration in 1976. Clennon then went on to teach a variety of social studies courses at Aurora West High School from 1971 until his retirement in 2004.  During his 33-year career there, he was the assistant track coach and head coach of the boy’s cross-country program the last 19 years. Clennon also helped devise distance running training methods called “periodization,” which perennially kept the Blackhawks’ runners at the front of the pack.

An avid runner himself, Clennon still competes each year in some 10K events, 13.1 mile half marathons and has participated in the Chicago Marathon three times.  Clennon and his wife of 35 years Barbara, have four children Julie, Erin, Megan and Mike, a former Waubonsee runner.

After running for Waubonsee in 2003 and 2004, Andy Olson joined the Chiefs’ coaching staff in 2005 as a volunteer assistant coach. He returns this year for his second season helping the Chiefs’ program continue moving forward. Olson was an integral part of the Chiefs’ past success, including a Skyway Conference title in 2003 and was named Waubonsee’s 2004-2005 Vermilion and Gold Award winner.

Olson is a 2003 graduate of Aurora West High School, where he ran both cross-country and track all four years. The past four years he has gained additional coaching experience by assisting the Blackhawks’ summer running program. Overall, he brings 11 years of running experience and knowledge of the sport to the Chiefs’ coaching staff. A resident of Aurora, Coach Olson also ran in the 2005 Chicago Marathon finishing with a time of 3 hours, 30 minutes, placing 3,622 out of more than 40,000 runners.

Bolaji Adeoti joins the Chiefs’ coaching staff this fall as a volunteer assistant coach after being Waubonsee’s leading runner the last two years. A native of Lagos, Nigeria, Adeoti has excelled in both track and cross country since arriving in the United States nearly seven years ago.

Adeoti is a 2004 graduate of Batavia High School, where he earned All-Suburban Prairie Conference status in the 800 meters, and was part of the Bulldogs’ 1600 meter relay team that placed 11th in the state. He capped off his senior year by being named Batavia’s Most Improved Athlete. Coach Adeoti then earned All-Skyway Conference honors the last two seasons running cross country for the Chiefs. He went on to qualify for the NJCAA Division I Finals both years, placing 10th and 12th overall at the Region IV Meets, respectively. In addition, Adeoti competed for the Chiefs’ tennis team the last two years.