ADAMS TWP — A high-school coach's relationship with athletes isn't always about X's and O's or personal best times.

Some coaches are able to connect with their players on a more personal level.

Such was the case with three of the Mars High Athletic Hall of Fame's latest inductees.

Clem Papik, Tim Tyler and the late Dave Skurcenski joined 12 former star athletes as the 2008 class, which was honored at a ceremony at Mars Middle School Friday evening.

All three coaches led Mars sports at the varsity level.

Papik coached football, cross country and boys and girls track. On his watch, the Planets boys track team won the WPIAL title in 1971, the first district championship for any team at Mars. He also led the boys cross country squad to three WPIAL titles and the girls to one.

Tyler, who is in his eighth season as boys golf coach, also mentored athletes in boys and girls track, boys and girls cross country and girls basketball.

In all, he has coached a total of nearly 60 seasons of sports without having a losing record in any of them.

Skurcenski, who died in 1989, was a former head coach of the boys basketball team whose positive outlook rubbed off on many of his athletes.

On his tombstone are the words, "Try Enthusiasm. It Works."

Known to many as Coach "S," Skurcenski's widow, Karen, accepted her late husband's induction.

"When you needed time, he'd make time," said Michael Hensel, an inductee who played football, basketball and baseball at Mars before graduating in 1983. "He was definitely a life-changer for me."

"He was the No. 1 cheerleader for all of Mars sports," Tyler said of Skurcenski.

Tyler also has a positive way of dealing with high school athletes.

"My message to kids has always been that sports are fun," he said. "We competed, but we had fun doing it.

"It wasn't work, work, work all the time," added Tyler. "I'd try different things to get the kids' minds off the same thing. Things like Easter egg hunts and we'd take a day off of practice and get a softball game going."

Donna Eckstein-Dallatore, a 1974 graduate who was inducted Friday, ran for Tyler's girls track squad.

"The first year we had a girls track team (1972), we went undefeated," she said. "It was amazing.

"We used to have mud battles at the old track," Dallatore added. "With the football team practicing there, the infield got pretty muddy. The thing I take away most from those times is definitely the friendships."

Tyler's coaching tenure has spanned two different eras.

"Now, coaches try to get kids to play just one sport," he said. "I never pushed that. I encouraged them to try other sports. I always got stale doing the same thing. That's why I coached different sports."

His championships aren't what Papik relishes most.

"I never got into coaching because of things like that," he said. "I just loved sports.

"I had the opportunity to coach some great young ladies and gentlemen through the years," Papik added.

Other members of the 2008 Mars Athletic Hall of Fame include Liz Hawkins-McMeekin, Leatrice Totin-Krivyanski, Glenda Mahan-Comley, Carolyn Shott, Leslie Aiken-Brooks, Russell Ford, James Hardt, Ed Totin Jr., Dennis Clark and Wayne Santom.