Hall of Fame
Sue Wise’s career in the sport of track and field has been so broad and successful that her induction into the York University Sport Hall of Fame in 2015 marks her fourth career induction.
She began competing in track and field at a young age and has been involved ever since as an athlete, coach and administrator. She has a long list of reasons why the sport held so much appeal to her.
“There’s so much I love about track and field. I like that it is a natural sport and that it’s based on the basics of movement like running, jumping and throwing. I also like that it’s not always about winning, sometimes it’s just about personal bests. You can take so much away from a performance even without finishing first. And I always enjoyed the individual element.”
Wise was a tremendous multi-sport athlete competing for the McMaster Marauders while pursuing her undergraduate degree, winning four OWIAA team titles and 12 individual gold medals and eventually becoming a coach. She was inducted into their hall of fame in 1992.
After graduating from McMaster, she completed her master’s degree at Western University and worked with the Mustangs as a coach, ultimately earning induction into the track and field wall of fame in 2015. She then headed out west to Saskatoon to coach at a high performance centre and with the Saskatchewan Huskies women’s track and field team, winning Canada West and CIAU championships in 1985 and 1986 to earn induction into the Saskatoon Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.
All of that was accomplished before she even stepped foot on York University’s campus and turned the track and field program into one of the most prominent in Canada.
Wise spent 13 years as head coach of the men’s and women’s teams, leading the Yeowomen to OWIAA and CIAU championships in 1988 and 1990, the only two conference titles in program history, as well as three other national medals and five provincial silver medals. She also guided the Yeomen to three CIAU bronze medals and eight OUAA medals.
She left the coaching ranks in 1999 to spend more time with her sons Jamie and Brendan, who by then were both very involved in high-level hockey. But Wise remained at York as an instructor in the kinesiology and health science program, teaching a number of different classes until she retired from the position in 2012. She had a remarkable impact on the track and field program and, in return, the University left a significant mark on her as well. Not only is it where she met her husband – former Yeomen men’s hockey head coach Graham Wise, who is currently the head coach of the Ryerson Rams – but it was also a place that allowed her to grow as a coach and administrator.
“York was the best place to coach! We had the best facilities in Canada and access to a tremendous pool of athletes. I also really liked the autonomy the University gave us to run our teams. As head coaches we were responsible for everything, kind of like running your own small business. It was great to be able to do something I loved and believed in.”
The imprint she left on the sport not only at York but across the country was so great that the current OUA and CIS women’s track and field coach of the year trophies are named in her honour. She still isn’t done in track and field as she remains involved even now, currently as the manager of high performance for Athletics Ontario.
When she isn’t at the track, Wise is writing a book about hockey moms, building on her own experiences in the role as her sons progressed through the ranks. She is also eyeing a well-deserved retirement in the next couple of years. Regardless of when she finally steps away from track and field for good, Wise’s influence on the sport will be felt for years to come.
