Michael Kominsky Biography

Oak Hill High School / (Class of 1980) Oak Hill, WV

Classification: AAA Boys

Specialty: Mid-Distance / Distance

University of North Carolina / (Class of 1983) Chapel Hill, NC

Life Chiropractic College (Class of 1986) / Marietta, GA

 

Michael Joseph Kominsky (born on July 1, 1962) was a middle-distance runner. He grew up in Oak Hill, West Virginia, where he attended Oak Hill High School from the fall of 1976 to the spring of 1980.  He is the son of the late Dr. Walter and Delores Kominsky.

Growing up in Oak Hill, Michael Kominsky’s father, Dr. Walter Kominsky, was a well-known and loved optometrist for 40 years in Oak Hill. Walter was born in Blaine, Ohio, from Polish immigrants. He fought for his country in the United States Army during the Pearl Harbor attack. Walter was the sole remaining, West Virginia, Pearl Harbor survivor.

Michael, the youngest of 4, was very active in sports, basketball, football, and track. He graduated from Oak Hill High School as an All-American athlete, who won 4 events at the state track meet, while setting 3 state records in one day.

Kominsky earned a full scholarship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also considered Indiana, Georgetown, Tennessee, West Virginia and Marshall.

Post undergrad, he was a pro-runner for team Adidas, and then segued into boxing and won the WV Toughman competition in the light-heavyweight division.

 

High School:

While attending Oak Hill High School, Mike ran track all four years and cross country his junior and senior years. He also played football for three years.

Kominsky’s high school track and cross-country coach was Dusty Hayhurst.

Hayhurst was most impressed with Kominsky’s “tenacity and work ethic. He really put in the time and effort. I knew no matter what race he was in, he’d be competitive.”

In his track heyday, Mike Kominsky didn’t really consider himself a long-distance runner. He was more the middle-distance type who liked the finish tape to arrive sooner rather than later. He would average 50-55 miles per week out-of-season and 30-40 during track season.

 

[Junior Year]

At the 1978 West Virginia All-Boys Class State Cross Country Meet at Highland Springs Golf Course in Wellsburg, Oak Hill’s Mike Kominsky finished in 35th place. The individual winner, Jeff Adkins of Beckley, posted a time of 15:57. Elkins nipped Parkersburg 97-98 for the team championship.

1979 marked the final year of the English system. At the 1979 Class AAA Boys West Virginia State Track Meet, Woodrow Wilson’s Jeff Adkins broke one state record and tied for the individual high point award with 22 ˝ points. Adkins won the mile in 4:20.47, while Oak Hill’s Mike Kominsky was second in 4:22.3. Adkins also set the two-mile record with a time of 9:11.3. Kominsky would account for 8 out of 10 points for the Red Devils.

 

[Senior Year]

At the 1979 West Virginia All-Boys Class State Cross Country Meet at Clendenin, Oak Hill’s Mike Kominsky was the individual state champion. He covered the Sandy Brae golf course layout in 15:59. Elkins’ Mark Nichols was second with a time of 16 minutes flat.

Elkins High School placed two runners in the top ten, paced by second-place finisher Mark Nichols, to win its second consecutive West Virginia high school cross country championship. Elkins totaled 54 points to 71 for runner-up St. Marys. Rounding out the team scoring was Parkersburg 94, Oak Hill 142. Fairmont West 166, Shady Spring 167, Martinsburg 170, George Washington 173, Keyser 195, Barboursville 209, Dunbar and Huntington East 281.

The rest of the top ten individuals were: Mike Dodge, Wheeling Park, 16:13; Mark Neal, Morgantown, 16:20; Eric Price, Fairmont West, 16:22; Larry Taylor, St. Marys, 16:24; John Iseli, Elkins, 16:27; Ivan Phillips, Shady Spring, 16:28; Lee Haddox, St. Marys, 16:29 and Dallas White, Athens, 16:34.

The 1980 spring track season was the first year of conversion to the metric system for West Virginia high schoolers. At the 1980 Class AAA Boys West Virginia State Track Meet at Laidley Field, Oak Hill’s Mike Kominsky was a triple winner in the distance events, registering times of 1:54.5 seconds in the 800m, 4:19.5 in the 1,600m and 9:17.3 in the 3,200m. Kominsky accounted for all 30 points for the Red Devils’ while leading his team to a tie for eighth place in the team standings. His 3200m WV State record was one of the longest standing records - unbroken for 29 years.

On May 22nd, 2009, North Marion's Zach Tennant ran the 3,200m in 9:14.84. That broke by more than 2 seconds the 29-year-old Class AAA boys mark held by Oak Hill's Mike Kominsky. The next day, Tennant broke another record with a 4:13.84 clocking in the 1,600m. Tennant had quite a two-day weekend.

Kominsky says he’s surprised the 3,200m record stood for so long, especially since he was running the race for only the third time that year.

“I thought the mile and the half records would stand longer,” he said recently. “I thought the 3,200m was my weakest race.”

Michael Kominsky was inducted into the Red Devil Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.

 

[Collegiate]

While at North Carolina he did his undergraduate work in Biochemistry and Nutrition. Afterward, he attended Life Chiropractic College in Marietta, Georgia from 1983-1986.

Michael Kominsky ran for the UNC men’s cross-country and track & Field teams under the direction of Coach Don Lockerbie.

As a freshman, He was an important fifth member of the cross-country team, while enjoying a good freshman season. He gained valuable experience in during the fall cross country season. UNC felt Kominsky had potential to develop into one of the best middle-distance runners in the nation. They felt as a freshman he could challenge for the conference title in his first year.

As a sophomore, Kominsky placed 5th at the ACC in the 1500-meter run. He was on the 4-mile relay team that finished 3rd in the Domino Relays. He helped 4x1500-meter relay team set a school record at Penn Relays. He ranked 4th in the 880-yard run and 5th in the 1500-meter run on Carolina’s all-time list.

As a junior, Kominsky was coming off his best cross-country season ever as the No. 2 runner on the team. He suffered a spike wound in the Atlantic Coast Conference cross country championship but made an outstanding recovery from last to finish 30th and helped propel the Tar Heels to a 3rd place team finish. He finished 59th in the NCAA District III meet while helping Carolina to a 9th place team finish. Kominsky was the most versatile of the team’s distance runners. His junior track season he was considered a favorite for the ACC 1500-meter title after placing 5th his sophomore year.

Mike Kominsky would have been a senior at UNC and was being counted as one of the top three runners in cross country and perhaps the best middle-distance man in track, but he left UNC, so he could go to school at Life Chiropractic in Marietta, GA.

Kominsky ran a leg on the 1981 Rams 4x800-meter relay team which still has the second fastest time on the UNC Men’s Outdoor School Record Board with a time of 7:25.7.

His PRs at UNC were: 880y - 1:52.58 (indoor), 1:51.6 (outdoor); 1000y -2:14.0; 1000m – 2:30.8; 1500m – 3:46.96.

 

[Post Collegiate]

After attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a track scholarship (1980-1983), Kominsky was sponsored by Adidas. He ran for the Adidas Track Club in Atlanta, Georgia for three years. His PR’s include the 800m in 1:49.8 and the 1500m in 3:42.2.

In 1988, he attended the Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, in Seoul, South Korea as the team chiropractor.

In 1992, he just missed qualifying for the U.S. Olympics Trials in the 1,500m by 2/10 of a second, while having run 3:43.6.

As recently as July 25th, 2015, The Premiere Distance Academy hosted a clinic for middle and high school distance runners for boys and girls at Woodrow Wilson High School in Beckley, WV. The clinic included a presentation from three-time Olympian Craig Virgin. There were also appearances by four-time West Virginia state champion Mike Kominsky and former Marshall wide receiver Matt Morris. The clinic was open to runners age 12 and older. It concentrated on cross country, 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter training.

 

[Personal]

Michael Kominsky married Julie Bassichis on June 25, 1995. Michael and his wife, Julie, have a daughter, Alexandria, and a son, Miles. The Kominsky’s reside in Daniels, West Virginia. They are members of the St. Francis Catholic Church.

Dr. Michael J Kominsky is a Chiropractic Specialist in Beckley, West Virginia. He graduated with honors from Life Chiropractic College - West in 1986.

Kominsky was a 1996 Toughman Champion in the Light Heavyweight Division.

Currently, Michael Kominsky is coaching the Woodrow Wilson High School Men’s Track & Field Team, where his son, Miles is an up and coming performer. Mike and his wife of 22 years, Julie are both very involved in the Beckley Community. The Kominsky’s daughter, Ali, will be a senior at Vanderbilt University this year. Kominsky is also one of the team doctors for the WWHS Football program.

 

Submitted by Coach Mike McMillion (updated 04/30/18)