Mahomet-Seymour Hall of Fame: Cully Welter
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Four selections have been made for the Mahomet-Seymour Education Foundation Hall of Fame. This is the second of the four who will be profiled in upcoming days.
The inductees, who will be recognized on Friday, Sept. 23 before the M-S homecoming football game, are:
Paul Blue (Class of 1937)
Kendra Donley Free (Class of 2005)
Larry Gnagey (Class of 1948)
Cully Welter (Class of 1987)
By FRED KRONER
Cully Welter’s athletic prowess ran past the success he achieved at Mahomet-Seymour High School.
It didn’t come to an end after he earned All-America accolades in track and field while a University of Illinois student.
Welter subsequently entered the coaching world and has become one of the most successful football coaches in IHSA history.
He will be one of four headliners when the Mahomet Education Foundation adds to its Hall of Fame prior to the homecoming football game on Friday (Sept. 23). The upcoming class will mark the fifth year for inductions.
As a Bulldog, Welter earned 10 varsity letters, four in track and field and three each in football and basketball.
In the summertime, he played baseball.
“I was one of those kids who loved whichever sport was in season,” Welter said. “I could not imagine not participating in multiple sports.
“I played because I loved them all. I never thought about specializing in one of them. I am sure I had aspirations to play a sport in college, but that was never my motivation for playing them in high school.”
In football, Welter was an all-conference first-teamer as a senior for coach Frank Dutton. He played wide receiver and defensive back.
In basketball, Welter was the point guard, playing for coach Del Ryan during the final three years of his coaching regime. He was an all-conference second-teamer.
In track, Welter was the state runner-up as a senior in the 400 meters and ran the anchor leg on a 400-meter relay which was the Class 1A state championship team under the direction of coach John King. Welter not only held the school record in the 400 meters when he graduated, but also in the 200 meters.
On the relay, he followed Terry Johnson, Brett Peterson and John Rusk in touring the track at Eastern Illinois University in 43.92 seconds.
In Welter’s mind, he was hopeful he could play a sport in college – baseball – that he never played for his high school.
“I was naïve to think I would go to the University of Iowa and play baseball because my dad played there in college,” Welter said. “I was clearly not good enough to make that happen, so then it came down to football and track.
“I had some walk-on opportunities to play football at some decent-sized schools, but I did not think I was big enough to pursue that path and, admittedly, I have some regrets that I did not give those opportunities some stronger consideration.”
He had partial scholarship offers for track from Eastern Illinois University and Illinois State University and was a recruited walk-on by the Illini.
“I wanted to compete in the Big Ten,” Welter said.
When he informed the various coaches of his decision, not everyone was enamored with his choice.
“I still remember the ISU coach was upset when I called him to tell him I was going to Illinois,” Welter said. “He told me I was not good enough to run at Illinois.”
Welter proved the doubters wrong, earning a partial scholarship as a sophomore and a full scholarship for his junior and senior seasons.
He was part of 400- and 1,600-meter relays which won Big Ten titles indoors or outdoors and individually, was the 400-meter conference runner-up before graduating in 1992.
“I have always been grateful to Coach (Gary) Wieneke for the decision to reward me when he could have put that money toward new recruits,” Welter said.
There were no long-term hard feelings between the ISU staff and the Welter family.
“The ISU coach still recruited my sister (Wendy) the following year and she went on to have a good experience as part of their track and field program,” Cully Welter said.
Until high school, Cully Welter wasn’t even the fastest sprinter in his family.
“My sister was really good, and I was OK,” he said. “She could beat me in the 400 meters until I got to high school.”
Though it is not well-known, the ISU coach was almost accurate in his assessment of Cully Welter.
“I almost did not continue with track after my freshman year at Illinois,” Welter said. “I did not improve on my high school times, and I was not used to training year-round, and I missed doing other sports.”
Illini teammate Lee Bridges helped convince Welter to stay the course.
“Bridges was a great influence on me,” Welter said. “I was fortunate to be at Illinois when we were in the midst of six straight Big Ten titles, and he took me under his wing and mentored me.
“Coach (Willie) Williams did not give up on me, even though I was this little white kid from rural Illinois. I made some significant improvement as a sophomore.”
Individually, he made the Big Ten finals in the 200 meters and was a member of the championship 1,600-meter relay teams indoors and outdoors.
Thereafter, he was the conference runner-up in the 400 meters and a part of three 1,600-meter relay teams that qualified for nationals his junior and senior seasons.
“I do not think any of that would have been possible without the coaches and teammates I had at Illinois,” Welter said.
Welter attended Mahomet-Seymour schools all the way through, starting in kindergarten. The family moved from Urbana to Mahomet when Cully was 4.
He was appreciative of the opportunities.
“I loved growing up in Mahomet,” said Welter, the oldest of three siblings. I was not always the best-behaved student, but I only have fond memories of school and the community.
“I am not a huge goal-setter, so I never really looked too far into the future.”
As he prepared to enter college, he didn’t have a clear career path and he changed his mind several times.
“I had no idea what I wanted to pursue when I went to college,” Welter said. “I think I went from Liberal Arts to Business to History to Education.
“I always loved to read, and I developed an interest in history. Math was always my favorite subject growing up, and I had a passion for sports.
“I thought teaching would be a good way to combine all of those elements and potentially make an impact on lives, like my coaches and teachers did for me. So, ultimately, I pursued that path.”
Welter’s first coaching experience after college was as a volunteer at his high school alma mater.
He worked with Tom Shallenberger and Vic Zimmerman – who is now the superintendent at Monticello, where Welter teaches – with the M-S football program.
“We used to do crossword puzzles on bus trips to away games, and I had a blast coaching that year,” Welter said.
When springtime rolled around, Welter volunteered in track with coach Jim Risley.
“He was another great mentor for me,” Welter said. “I would have loved to stick around Mahomet, but I did not get hired for a teaching position, which was completely understandable.
He accepted a job in Colfax at Ridgeview High School.
“At some point, I did want to come back to Mahomet, but it did not work out, and I definitely understood that as well and have no bad feelings.
“I am a big believer that things happen for a reason and I try to trust in God’s plan in my life, so I have nothing but praise for MSHS.”
Welter coached various sports before settling on football and track and field.
“I was open to coaching any sport,” he said. “I coached recreation T-Ball when I was in high school, and then coached youth basketball for a year.
“I figured I would always coach track and field, but I did not really have an initial preference for football or basketball.”
That decision was made for him.
“At Ridgeview, football was the position tied to the job, so I was the freshman football coach and the head coach in track.”
Starting his second year at Ridgeview, Welter was promoted to the varsity football head coaching position.
“I think football and track was the most sensible combination due to the break in between them,” Welter said. “At Aledo, I coached girls’ freshmen basketball for one year, which also happened to be the year our fourth child was born, so I was coaching three sports with four kids under the age of 8 at home.
“That was a little stressful.”
He recently completed his 29th consecutive year coaching football, 28 as a head coach. This spring will mark his 24th year coaching track, either on the boys’ or the girls’ side.
He has guided 26 consecutive football teams into the IHSA playoffs. Welter ranks in a tie for 36th for career football wins in Illinois. His cumulative record is 231-70 and that includes coaching state championship teams at Aledo in 1998, 2001 and 2002 and at Monticello in 2018.
Welter’s induction into the M-S Hall of Fame is scheduled for the same night that Monticello will play its homecoming football game, which he will coach.
Thanks to the efforts of administrators in Monticello, Welter will be present for both events.
Monticello has agreed to move its start time for its Sept. 23 football game from 7 to 7:30 p.m. The pre-game inductions at M-S will take place by 6:30, allowing Welter time to reach Monticello by the opening kickoff.
“I am not surprised by the efforts made by (Monticello athletic director) Dan Sheehan and the rest of the administration on my behalf,” Welter said, “as they are always willing to support students and staff in all aspects of our lives.
“That being said, that does not diminish my gratitude for their desire to accommodate me in regard to this honor.
“Dan did not hesitate to work on a solution even though he could have easily decided it was not his responsibility or worth the effort.”
Welter said the M-S induction will be one of his career highlights.
“This distinction means a lot to me because I am proud to be from Mahomet,” he said. “We have had a long history of successful student-athletes who were involved in a wide variety of endeavors, so I feel fortunate to have even been considered as a nominee.
“I really appreciate those who had the vision to put it together and the work that goes into it, and how hard it must be to make the selections.”
There is plenty of credit to be shared for the success he has enjoyed as a coach.
“I have been fortunate to be part of three communities that support their programs,” Welter said. “Secondly, I have always had loyal and dedicated assistant coaches who have the right priorities.
“Finally, we all know that it is hard to be successful without talented and committed players, and I have had an abundance of those over the years.”
