Chuck Lynch Scholarship

Established in 1966, the Elyria Catholic Cross Country program has seen a tremendous amount of success. The Panthers have qualified as a team to the Ohio State Meet 16 times in school history, winning four state titles, finishing as the runner-up four other times, and producing 19 All-Ohio runners.  Through nearly all of it, Class of 1973 alumnus Chuck Lynch has been there as an athlete, assistant coach, head coach, and parent.  That's nearly 50 years of dedication to Elyria Catholic. Chuck's tenure as head coach from 1987 through 2019 is the longest run of any cross country coach in Lorain Country and one of the longest in the state of Ohio. Chuck ran for the Panthers as a senior when they finished second in their State-Meet debut in 1972, and he returned as an assistant coach a few seasons later before eventually moving up to the head job.  Chuck has coached hundreds of EC student-athletes to be both better runners and, more importantly, better people. In 2001, he founded the All-Lorain County All-Star Team program for cross country and still runs it to this day.  He has spent countless Friday nights selling 50/50 raffle tickets at EC football games before getting up early the next morning to catch a team bus to a far-away cross country meet. Chuck Lynch truly embodies the Elyria Catholic pillars of  excellence, compassion, faith, tradition, and community and demonstrates “loyalty that never dies."