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)