Cosby family have long legacy

Three generations after Jim Cosby brought his family to Wabash, his legend is still growing.

Cosby graduated from Franklin College, where he played basketball, with a degree in medical technology and was encouraged by several local doctors to come to Wabash County Hospital as director of its laboratory.

But before we move on to the “sports legends” that he can take credit for, let me tell you about another side of Jim Cosby. Jim spent 24 years on the Wabash City Council and “several of those,” according to Jim himself, as its president. (I’ve always heard the number as 15.)

After Jim left Wabash County Hospital, he held the same job at Marion General Hospital. He then returned to Wabash to run the wastewater treatment plant. He also served as president of the Wabash Community Service board.

Throughout this time, his five children were prominent on the Wabash High School sports scene. And one of his grandchildren won a state championship at the 2018 IHSAA Track & Field Meet.

It all began with his namesake, Jim Jr. As a freshman in 1978, he finished 12th in the Central Indiana Conference cross country meet. The following year he was sixth, his brother Monty (sometimes called Andre) was 11th and the Apaches were runner-up for the team title.

Jim won the CIC individual title in 1980, Monty was third, the Apaches took the first four places and Wabash won its first of six straight titles -

County Sports Legends Where are they today?

By Roy Church

three with a Cosby leading the way. Jim was runner-up in ‘81 and Monty fifth. Jim also qualified for the state meet that year and finished 42nd.

Monty was CIC runner-up his senior year.

In track, Jim won the CIC crown in the two-mile in 1980, the 3200-meter run in 1981 and the 400-meter dash as a senior.

Jim, who is second only to Kurtis George on the alltime Wabash 5K record list, graduated in 1982. He ran 15:44.4 in 1981 (his senior year) and then ran for Anderson University.

Monty graduated in ‘83 and is 25th on the all-time Wabash list at 16:51. He also ran for Anderson.

Chris Cosby took a different route, played football for the Apaches and graduated in 1985. Two of his daughters ran cross country and a son was a hurdler.

Chris became a respected surgeon and emergency room doctor in the Indianapolis area before suffering a cerebral hemorrhage that nearly took his life. Not able to return to work, he is now a volunteer basketball coach at University High School, the school his children graduated from, in Carmel.

The only girl in the Cosby bunch, Mary Ann, came along in 1986 and finished sixth, third and fifth in the CIC cross country meet before winning the individual title in 1989.

The team finished third all four years.

As a senior on the track, Mary won the 3200 in 12:20.3 and the 400 in 1:04.3, both meet records, at the CIC event.

Mary continued her running career at Anderson College, but suffered an injury during her first track season and never competed again.

In 2017, she signed on as assistant coach at Avon High School for girls cross country and track. And, after skipping XC this past fall to take on a new job, she is back coaching track this spring.

Her daughter Malyka ran cross country and track for Avon High School, qualified for state in the 1600-meter run as a freshman, was fifth in the 3200 at state as a sophomore and set course records in cross country throughout her sophomore and junior years.

She then ran four years of cross country and track at Purdue University and was on the same team with Northfield’s Jenna Halderman. After graduating in 2019 with a degree in industrial design, she also became an assistant coach at Avon until moving to Kansas City.

Mary’s son, Keith, graduated from Wabash College last fall after four years of track and cross country under Hall of Fame coach Rob Johnson and, while considering graduate school options, is also serving as an assistant at Avon this Spring.

Keith is the one who won the 800meter run at the 2018 state meet.

Mary’s youngest, Maya, is a junior at Ball State University, studying to be a screenwriter. “She was my gutsiest,” Mary said, “but she was always injured. She would get hurt at the end of every season.”

Last, but not least, was Matt Cosby, who graduated from Wabash in 1998. He ran cross country a year or two – his last year with George – but was more into track. He continued his running at RoseHulman Institute and still holds the record for the indoor 55-meter hurdles.

Mary and I reconnected several years ago when I was living in Brownsburg and she was living, teaching and coaching in Avon, the next community south. She was one year behind my son, Rich, at Wabash, running cross country for coach Dennis Horn.

Horn remembers the Cosbys well. “A great family,” he said, “and good kids to work with. Jim and Monty got us started. Starting in 1980, we won six straight CIC championships.”

The first year of girls cross country was 1985. Mary came on the scene in 1986. “They all set the bar pretty high,” Horn said.

Her husband, Dustin Adamson, is a shift supervisor at the Citizens Energy Wastewater Treatment facility in Indianapolis (remember where her dad used to work? Ironic?). They met at Anderson University. He played football at Clackamas (Oregon) High School and is an avid ski racer. In fact, he is a member of the ski patrol at Paoli Peaks.

So, where did all this running prowess come from?

“I know he (her dad) ran cross country at some point,” Mary said.

“Actually, I just found out last year. I’m not sure if it was in high school or college.”

And don’t forget the matriarch, the late Mary Lou Cosby. While not a runner, she was an LPN for Dr. Robert LaSalle and ran a daycare out of their home on North Cass Street. Later in life, she went to Ivy Tech in Wabash and got an associate degree in childhood development in order to upgrade to a preschool program. What a legacy they began.

Roy Church can be reached at roy.church14@gmail .com