By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Seaman community will celebrate the life of Viking coaching legend Bob Camien at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 28, at the Sunrise Optimist Club, 720 NW 50th Street in Topeka.
The longtime Seaman cross country and track and field coach passed away on Sept. 3 at the age of 76 after a long illness.
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Camien was living in Naples, Fla. with his wife, Julie, at the time of his death.
Camien came to Seaman as a shop teacher and coach in the 1979-1980 school year,
Before starting his long career at Seaman, Camien, a native New Yorker, was an elite track athlete for Emporia State University.
Camien ran distance under ESU Hall of Famer Fran Welch in college after running for another ESU Hall of Famer, Jim Fraley, in high school in New York.
Camien led Seaman to an impressive run of Centennial League championships as well as a Class 6A girls cross country title in 1984 and the Class 5A state track and field title in 2006.
Seaman's annual track and field meet, one of the biggest regular-season meets in Kansas, is named the Bob Camien/Claudia Welch Invitational in honor of Camien and former girls track coach Welch.
