Former Bull Dog boys gymnasts, coaches recall two decades of dominance

In the history of the IHSAA, perhaps no school has been as dominant in one boys sport as Columbus High School and Columbus North were in boys gymnastics.

The IHSAA sanctioned the sport for 17 years from the 1966-67 school year through 1982-83. In those 17 seasons, the Bull Dogs won 13 state titles, were runners-up three times and finished third in the other.

John Hinds was the architect behind all that success. Along with then-principal Judson Erne, he started the Columbus boys gymnastics program in 1962 when it was a club sport, then saw the success skyrocket when it became a full-fledged IHSAA sport four years later.

“I’d like to thank to (assistant) coach (Louie Russell),” Hinds, now in his late 80s, said at a reception in the North High School cafeteria. “Without him, I don’t think we could have got things done. He was the best assistant coach around.”

Former Columbus North boys gymnastics coach John Hinds, center, is greeted by former gymnast Jim Kahlenbeck, left, and assistant coach Louie Russell at a reception Nov. 29 in the school cafeteria.

Ted Schultz | The Republic

Hinds, Russell and about 30 former gymnasts attended the reception Thanksgiving Weekend and were recognized at halftime of the Bull Dogs’ boys basketball game against Hauser.

“We are indebted to you,” 1976 graduate Doug Pacheco told Hinds. “For any of us that have moved away, I know that once we come back here, if you ever come back to Columbus, one thing that almost everyone in this room has ever wanted to do was to see coach Hinds.”

Along with the 13 state team championships, the Bull Dogs also set the standard with 14 sectional titles, four all-around state championships and 47 individual event state titles. David Carter, a 1969 graduate, and 1970 graduate Nick Woolls share the record with six individual championships, and Carter shares the record with two all-around titles.

Two members of the first state championship team in 1967 went on to have stellar college careers. Brent Simmons was a five-time All-American at Iowa State and helped the Cyclones to an NCAA team title. He won a medal in the Pan American Games and twice was a member of national teams that won World Championships.

Dave Seal, a 1968 graduate, was two-time All-American at Indiana State and NCAA champion on still rings. He was inducted into the Indiana Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2016, one year after Hinds and Simmons were enshrined.

“(Hinds) did it right,” Seal said. “He started a program. He worked hard. He put the hours in. He instilled a work ethic in all of us to succeed, and that made the transition from high school on to college that much easier. He had us prepared to go to the next level. He’s a marker in the gymnastics community around the United States.”

Former Columbus North boys gymnastics coach John Hinds, right, speaks to a group of former gymnasts at a reception Nov. 29 in the school cafeteria.

Ted Schultz | The Republic

A native of Maywood, Illinois, Hinds joined the Circus program as a freshman at Illinois State-Normal in 1955. He joined the gymnastics team his junior year.

After graduation, Hinds spent one year as director of conference planning at Illinois State. He was then offered positions in Columbus and at a Florida high school that had the circus. With his parents having retired to Salem, less than an hour away, Hinds picked Columbus.

“We had lots of fun, and it was great being a part of all those great teams,” 1977 graduate Dan Hittle said.

“One of my fondest memories was when Seymour started their program, and coach didn’t want to embarrass anybody, so we could all compete in that meet, except we couldn’t compete in an event that we specialized in. I was a trampolinist, so I decided to go all-around,” 1976 graduate Steve Stockton added. “The all-around was the only event that Columbus North lost in that meet. But it was some of the most fun I had as a gymnast.”

Russell recalled he and Hinds recruiting some of the smaller kids in the school to join the gymnastics team.

“They don’t take as much muscle mass to move their body like the big kids do,” Russell said. “So we could scour the school for the 98-pounders, and the wrestling coach, Steve Gobert, he fought with us over the 98-pounders because they didn’t grow on trees. The 135-pounders and 180-pounders, they were a dime-a-dozen. The little bitty kids were few and far between. They worked at it. It didn’t necessarily come naturally, but it was easier because they didn’t have all the weight to push around like the bigger kids did.”

Coach John Hinds holds aloft the championship trophy after the Columbus North boys gymnastics team won its ninth state championship in 1977.

The Republic file photo

Twins Tod and Ted McVey, who helped lead North to three state titles before graduating in 1977, started participating in gymnastics shortly after moving to Columbus.

“One of my biggest memories of coach was when we moved from Shelbyville, Indiana, as kids, we had been enrolled in wrestling, and Shelbyville and Columbus kind of had a rivalry going, and they had a rivarly with football and basketball,” Ted McVey said. “So when we moved to Columbus, we were like, ‘What are we going to do?’ My sister Julie had seen us down at Flatrock River, and we’re diving backwards into the river. She was on the girls gymnastics team, and she said, ‘What are you two doing?’

“One of the interesting things, the insight coach Hinds had was to have summer camp,” he added. “My sister told coach Hinds about us, and somehow, we got invited to come to this camp. So we came to camp, won a trophy, came the next year, had another trophy. By the time we were freshmen, we could try out for the team all because we had been groomed by somebody that saw talent in us. So it’s important for someone in our school system to have insight and the desire to help other people to grow, and coach, you have been such inspiration to me and Tod.”

Tod McVey also remembers his time at North with fondness.

“When you move away from here and you go to different places, we talk about this dynasty that coach built,” he said. “The things that we actually accomplished, coach it seemed like every year actually saw kids and recognized talent in people and then fed into them and turned us into the things that were possible. The great thing with John Hinds is, even our parents loved coach Hinds, which was awesome. But for me moving away and traveling around the world and also being this little hick kid from Indiana and going out to Maryland and going to different places around the world and different states, and you talk to all these people and you see there are some great sports athletes, but when we talk dynasty here, it was decades.

“I just want to say, ‘Thank you’ to both of you and to all the guys that came before us, you set the bar and you set the examples, and those were the things that led us and developed us, along with coach,” he added. “I can say from the bottom of my heart to both of you that you made us the men we are today that I hope that you saw in us. I know our parents actually love the results, as well.”

Some of the former Bull Dog gymnasts went on to become coaches themselves.

“The thing that I was always impressed by coach Hinds was, he had the ability as a coach to make us work harder, make us want to work harder,” 1975 graduate Jeff Metz said. “I coached, myself, and it’s not a really easy thing to do, and that doesn’t just go for the ability to be a gymnast, it carried on to other aspects of my life, and I appreciate that.”

Chuck Earle, a 1967, graduate, coached for several years at Perry Meridian and led the Falcons to a state runner-up finish behind North in 1977.

“Just (Hinds) taking the time and knowing that you had guys like Brent Simmons on the team that were going to be successful no mater what, and he still had time to encourage some of us to stick it out, and it got me a career. It got me a teaching career. My one joy in coaching was, I didn’t cut athletes. I think I had six years where I had 43 kids on the team. I did that for one reason. It was for others to have the opportunity that this gentleman gave me.”

Another 1977 graduate, Bob Arthur, has been a Columbus North girls gymnastics assistant coach or head coach since 1983, except for one year in the 1980s when he coached in Singapore and two years in the 1990s when he coached in Taiwan. During those 1995 and 1996 seasons, Hinds helped Sandy Freshour coach the girls team.

“There’s such a legacy built, and I know one of Hinds’ sayings is, ‘Success breeds success,’” Arthur said. “If you hang around with successful people, you’re probably going to be successful yourself. I found that to be true with the teams that coach put together.

“It was a great part of my life,” he added. “I got to go to Singapore and coach at the American school there in the 80s. I coached in Taiwan in the 90s. All these blessings are due to the bug that he instilled in us to do this.”

The IHSAA stopped sanctioning boys gymnastics after the 1983 season, likely because of Title IX. Will Marble, a 1980 graduate, was on some of the last Bull Dog teams.

“There is sport, and there is life, and it’s undeniable the achievements we have collectively made in the sport,” Marble said. “In life, there are things that are measurable that have been given to us all. (Hinds) said, ‘I’m confident that you’ve gotten a lot from this group of people,’ but please feel the love that we have and the gift that you have given us and the lessons of life … you always had faith in us and always brought out the best in us and always had us striving to be better human beings, and for that, I’m forever grateful to be under the tutelage of you coaches and to be in a brotherhood with you all, as well.”