A 1958 graduate of McCaskey HS, Gordie Kraft participated in football, swimming and track. As a swimmer he was a member of a state winning 200 freestyle relay swim team.
Kraft returned to McCaskey after graduating and playing football at Franklin & Marshall. As the head coach of the boys’ track team from 1969 to 1997, Kraft’s teams compiled a record of 272-14, including 63 straight dual-meet wins from 1980-86. His boys’ teams won two Central Penn League titles, 19 L-L League section titles, 20 L-L League championships and 11 District Three crowns.
Kraft’s boys’ track teams compiled 19 undefeated seasons and five times his boys’ teams finished second at the PIAA State meet. During his tenure, he coached seven state champs (five individual and two relay teams).
As head coach, Kraft led the McCaskey girls’ track team from 1981-1997. Those teams, compiled a 104-68 record, won two state championships, four District Three titles, three L-L League titles and four L-L section crowns. He coached six state girls’ champions (four individual and two relays). Four times his girls team finished the season undefeated.
Before taking over as head coach, Kraft was the assistant track coach for the boys’ team from 1967-68. He was also a prominent assistant football coach from 1962-97 (seven Lancaster-Lebanon Section One championships) and the head swimming coach for the 1965-66 season.
Kraft has been inducted into the McCaskey Athletic Hall of Fame, the Susquehanna Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and the L-L Hall of Fame.