Spruce Creek athletic director Mike Randow mowed, cut and painted the grass in every one of the Hawks’ sports venues for 17 years.
It reminded Randow of his teenage job at Indigo Lakes Golf Course in the 1980s and allowed him to get outside during long days in front of a computer. But more importantly, it continued a precedent his predecessor, Chuck Sofiak, set.
Recently, Randow has been training Spruce Creek bowling coach and next Hawk athletic director Danyalle Miles on how to keep the tradition going after he officially leaves his position on June 1 and Miles takes his place.
“I got her out on the mower yesterday, and loves it,” Randow said. “She was out there. She’s not been on the type of mower that we have before, but she did a great job, and she’s looking forward to it.”
It was Spruce Creek’s version of a torch passing after Randow, the Volusia-Flagler area’s longest-tenured athletic director, accepted another position overseeing the construction of a new event center and running its daily operations.
“It was definitely a difficult decision,” Randow said. “This is all I’ve done for the last 29 years … so I can say I wasn’t looking for another job. This one kind of fell in my lap. I just turned 60 this year, and the prospect of maybe working a little bit less, not as many nights, there are a lot of things that fell into it that just said that maybe this is a good time for me to step away. I love my job, but I don’t know if I had the stamina to continue at the pace that I felt like it needed.”
Randow’s legacy with the Hawks began more than a decade before he was promoted to his position as the school’s athletic director. He has roamed the halls at Spruce Creek for 29 years, beginning in 1997.
Randow held many roles in his time at Spruce Creek. He was a decorated weightlifting coach with six state titles coaching the Hawks’ boys from 2002 until 2016. Randow brought his combined total to 10 state championships with an additional four won during a stint as the girls weightlifting coach.
“There were certainly seasons of the school year where I spent more time with Mike than I did with my own family, and I’m a better person for that,” Spruce Creek principal Todd Sparger said. “I mean, not only was he a quality athletic director, but he’s just an outstanding human being, and that’s an important part of his role here as well.”
Randow’s influence extended beyond the walls and fields of the Hawks’ campus. According to Volusia County athletic specialist Lary Beal, Randow was always an advocate for the Five Star Conference tournaments that promote competition among local high schools.
But more importantly, he championed his student-athletes’ success in the classroom as much as their athletic ability. As a result, several of Spruce Creek’s sports teams registered cumulative GPAs above or near the 3.5 mark.
“He is like my leading [athletic director] in the FHSAA all-academic (submissions),” Beal said. “He has always submitted his academic team champions for every season — fall, winter and spring — and it’s kind of pushed the other ADs to do the same thing. … I would say over and above track state championships, baseball state championships, weightlifting state championships, that he has been part of something that has pushed Spruce Creek student-athletes to understand student is before athlete.”
Last week brought back the nearly 30 years of memories for Randow.
He took the time to read old letters from former students, athletes and coaches he led or worked alongside while clearing his desk in the school he’s worked in since before the turn of the millennium.
The culmination was a surprise gathering with his family and coworkers, many of whom he hired years ago and fostered the success and culture the Hawks’ sports department has built under his leadership.
“Many of the coaches were there, along with my family, and just the things that they said to me and everything,” an emotional Randow said. “I don’t need people to tell me, ‘Hey, you’re doing this, you’re doing that,’ but at the end of the day, it does feel good, and I can say with all certainty that I’m walking away knowing that I gave it everything I got.”
Randow said he will still be attending various Spruce Creek athletic events. It’ll just be as a spectator while Miles, who’s already been at Spruce Creek for two decades, makes her mark on the Hawks’ athletic programs.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Outgoing Spruce Creek AD Mike Randow reflects on 29 years with Hawks
Reporting by Zach Allen, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
