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Kiwanis Club honors Glenn Marlow Award winner

Craig Long thanks the Kiwanis Club as Dot Marlow applauds.

Craig Long, who was managing the Mr. Gatti's Pizza in Hendersonville when he first met Henderson County schools superintendent Glenn Marlow, was honored on Thursday with the Glenn C. Marlow Athletic Achievement Award for his 33-year career as a teacher and coach at West Henderson High School.

The Hendersonville Kiwanis Club started the Glenn C. Marlow Award in 1999 to honor an educator with a record of outstanding athletic achievement, community service and service as a role model for the youth of Henderson County. The award is named for the longtime teacher, coach and superintendent who was also a Kiwanis Club member.

A native of Springfield, Ohio, Long graduated from Morehead State University with a BS degree in 1973. He started his teaching career at Mason County High School in Kentucky in 1974 where he taught English. He moved back to his hometown that same year to begin his coaching career at Northwestern Middle School where he was the head football and wrestling coach. He was assistant track coach and taught science. In 1976 he became a graduate assistant at the University of Kentucky, where he earned his MS degree in 1979. He spent four years at Kenton Ridge High School in Springfield, Ohio, where he taught English and coached wrestling and assisted in football. He moved south to Hendersonville, and embarked on a 33-year career as a teacher and coach at West Henderson High School.

"At West, Coach Long did a little bit of everything," Kiwanian Rick Wood said. "In the classroom, his specialty was teaching creative writing to sophomores. Coaching wise, he coached whatever was needed. He was head wrestling coach for five years, head track coach for three years, head swim coach for five years and football assistant coach for 26 years.

"The sport he is probably most known for coaching is one he was asked to start in 1996. Without any background in the sport he agreed to start a women’s soccer program and in fact he still coaches the varsity team at West High, despite retiring from teaching in 2014. His soccer teams have been very successful over the years and Coach Long has been honored five times as Conference and Regional Coach of the Year. In 2007 he was named the North Carolina Soccer Association 2A State Women’s Soccer Coach and he was selected to coach in several all-star games, including this past year when he was selected as the co-coach for the women’s team in the NC-SC Clash of the Carolinas in Charleston, SC."

Long had a direct connection to the Kiwanis Club, serving as a Key Club Adviser for 27 years. He has also been active in Mills River United Methodist Church and since his retirement has volunteered at Johnson Farm and serves on it’s Advisory Board.

Long's wife, Gina, joined him at the Kiwanis Club awards presentation. They have three daughters, Chelsea, Brittany and Courtney and  three grandchildren.