On Campus: Cary-Grove alum Taylor Clarke lands head coaching job at Eastern Michigan University

Big moments in life can come fast. For Cary-Grove graduate Taylor Clarke, he’s taken on life at a supersonic pace over the past seven months.

The 32-year-old Clarke got married May 27 to his girlfriend, Sidney. The couple bought a home together in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where he was the head women’s soccer coach at NCAA Division III Carroll University.

They got a new puppy, and they’re expecting their first child in late March.

Oh, and Clarke was introduced Dec. 12 at his new job – more than 350 miles away in Ypsilanti, Michigan – as the head women’s coach at D-I Eastern Michigan.

“Family is a massive part,” Clarke said of the new job. “That was a big call. Any decision me and my wife make, it’s going to be about family at the end of the day.”

While Clarke’s parents in Cary were just over an hour away from Waukesha, his new location will be quite a homecoming for Sidney.

“Her grandparents on her mom’s side are less than a mile from campus,” Clarke said. “Her parents are 20 minutes away. They went to Ypsilanti High School. Her younger sister is getting ready to graduate from Eastern Michigan.”

Plus, her cousins, aunt, uncles and more are scattered all around the area.

When Clarke interviewed for the job to replace the retiring Scott Hall, who was EMU’s head coach for 25 years, he was struck by EMU’s aspirational thinking.

“The ambition of the athletic department stuck out to me,” he said. “They have their sights on big goals. I’m at Eastern to win a conference championship, and I want to be surrounded by people who don’t scoff at that.”

EMU won three regular-season Mid-American Conference titles, and one tournament championship, during Hall’s tenure.

Clarke said while conference championships are his ultimate goal, he wants to ensure the players love the program and want to come back after their careers are over.

“One of the things we want to be known for is a group who seeks out challenges,” he said. “A group of people who looks at anything – good, bad or in between – as an opportunity.”

While Clarke wants his players to have a “chip-on-the-shoulder mentality” and control the tempo on the field, he expects to build strong bonds with them off the field, which was something he prioritized as head coach at D-II Ashland (2018-2020), associate head coach at Bowling Green (2021-2022) and at Carroll.

“Relationships was No. 1,” Clarke said of his coaching roles. “I always wanted to be a teacher.” As a coach, Clarke said he can teach while also helping athletes improve and grow on and off the field.

Standing in front of his new team Dec. 12 at EMU allowed Clarke to rewind to his own college career at D-II Saginaw Valley State University when new head coach Cale Wassermann took over the program.

“On his first day, he told us, ‘We’re going to compete for a national championship.’ I was like, ‘What?’” Clarke recalled. “Then I said, ‘Why not?’ That changed my whole outlook.”

In 2012, with Clarke as a junior captain, SVSU advanced to the national title game, losing 3-2 to Lynn, and won a school-record 19 matches.

“I’ve been in your shoes,” Clarke said he told his new players. “This will be the most exciting challenge.”

His own college experience led to the majority of groomsmen at Clarke’s wedding being former SVSU teammates and Wassermann serving as the officiant.

“I told them, ‘I’m not expecting to officiate any of your weddings,’” Clarke said with a laugh. “But everything I got out of the experience is my No. 1 goal to give back to you.”

Milwaukee speedster: Dominique Thomas (Marian Central), a junior track and field athlete at UW-Milwaukee, has the Horizon League’s top indoor times in the 60- and 200-meter dash events this season.

Earlier this month at DePaul’s Blue Demon Holiday Invite, Thomas won the 60 in 7.48 seconds and also won the 200 in 24.31, a school record by more than two-tenths of a second. Thomas’ 60 time ranks second in school history.

The performance earned Thomas the Horizon women’s track athlete of the week honor Dec. 12.

Nationally, Thomas ranks eighth in the 200 event, only five-hundredths of a second off the best time in the country. She also ranks 19th in the 60, according to the Track & Field Results Reporting System website.

Career year at La Crosse: Junior linebacker Landon Oine (Marengo) posted a career-high 44 tackles this season for a UW-La Crosse football team that ended the season at No. 4 in the D3Football.com rankings.

Oine had a season-best 10 tackles in La Crosse’s 45-40 victory Sept. 30 against UW-Stout. In the postseason, he posted nine tackles in a 56-35 second-round win against Aurora. Oine also had one interception this season.

La Crosse finished 11-2 and advanced to the national quarterfinals. The Eagles’ season ended with a 55-42 playoff loss to national runner-up North Central.

From Chicago to DeKalb: Woodstock North grad Kylie Schulze, who spent her freshman volleyball season at Loyola Chicago, announced last week via Instagram that she is transferring to Northern Illinois.

Schulze, a setter, appeared in 12 matches, starting once for the Ramblers. She posted a season-high 14 assists against Yale on Sept. 16.

At NIU, Schulze will play for Huskies head coach Sondra Parys, a Crystal Lake native who completed her first season this fall.

• Barry Bottino writes about local college athletes for the Northwest Herald. Write to him at barryoncampus@hotmail.com and follow @BarryOnCampus on Twitter.