WILLOUGHBY, Ohio - Joshua McKinley Cook ran the most grueling event in track, the 300-meter hurdles, and in 2004, few ran them better. To this day, Willoughby South track coach Matt Luck says he's among the best athletes he's coached.
McKinley -- he has dropped Cook for professional reasons -- found the hurdles a metaphor then for his life as a young, gay athlete. Today, he continues to draw strength from his sports success while gaining fame as a fashion designer and reality TV star.
His insights during a recent conversation into those days have a ring of universal truth about high school athletics.
His personal outfits and often edgy, but comfortable designs also offer glimpses. While his floral tanktop and tight, bright shorts broadcast his flamboyance on last week's episode of "Project Runway All Stars," they also revealed McKinley still has the muscular build to go with the intense determination that made him a three-sport standout athlete at South.
The popular Lifetime Network reality show about up-and-coming fashion designers hasn't had too many former jocks in nearly a decade on the air. McKinley was Project Runway's Season 9 runner-up in 2011 and he's among the final four in this week's "All Stars" finale, the first episode of which airs Thursday at 9 p.m.
McKinley attributes much of his success on the show to what he learned as a cross country, swimming and track athlete at South.
"I'm very much a dreamer, but in many regards, I'm very much a realist. If there's something you want in life, you have to put 120 percent into that," he said. "I'm not so much of a talker. I'm able to do the things I want because I work hard to achieve them, whether it's doing fashion or sports. Sports helped solidify who I am today."
McKinley has landed a licensing deal for a line of dresses that debut next fall and, with encouragement from his father, Willoughby assistant fire chief Curtis Cook, he recently began designing a line of baby clothes after his sister, McKenzie Cook, had a baby.
McKinley, 27, sometimes is portrayed as bullying other designers on the show, but in truth is a caring guy with a competitive streak. He's easily moved to tears when discussing his late mother, Kathleen Cook, who died in 2009 of ovarian cancer, or when saying how proud he is of his brother, Jacob Cook, an Iraq War veteran.
His former coach, Luck, said he sees the same traits in McKinley on the show as he did on the track.
"He was pretty outgoing and he was fun," Luck said. "He had a very intense side to him. What you see in Josh is what you get. He can be that strong-willed opinionated guy, and at the same time he can be a genuine, soft-hearted guy."
Raffle to benefit Willoughby South athletics
Tickets for the Joshua McKinley dress raffle are $20 and are available at the Willoughby South athletic department, 5000 Shankland Blvd., Willoughby, and at all South home sports events.
To purchase tickets online, go to
They also can be obtained by emailing
or leaving a message on the Willoughby South Athletic Boosters' Facebook page at
http://www.tinyurl.com/a48d9ng
online. The drawing is Feb. 2.
The Willoughby native hasn't forgotten his Rebel roots and is excited about giving back to a school that accepted him as a gay student-athlete, model and actor.
McKinley will design and build a custom-made dress for the winner of a $20 raffle to benefit South's athletic department, which took a $60,000 hit this school year after a failed levy. The dress, because of McKinley's international fame, could be worth thousands of dollars. McKinley said he'll make whatever the winner wants -- be it a prom or cocktail dress (see box).
It's an intriguing way to raise money that befits an equally intriguing alumnus. He appeared in more than 20 plays at the Willoughby Fine Arts Association and tried out for "American Idol." He ran a wide range of events. He was South's No. 3 man in cross country, and he was a league champ, district runner-up, regional runner-up and sixth at state in the 300 hurdles. His best hurdles time was 38.78 seconds.
"I loved the hurdles," McKinley said. "It really parallels life in so many ways because each and every one of us are fighting our own battles, the complications within our lives, within our families and within our friendships. It's all about overcoming those obstacles and pushing forward."
Joshua McKinley Cook, a 2004 Willoughby South graduate, competed in track, cross country and swimming for the Rebels. He excelled in the 300-meter hurdles, qualifying for the state meet, where he placed sixth.
Luck said McKinley had issues with other students in middle school, but found high school classmates more accepting. McKinley said he was driven to succeed in part to prove a point.
"The example I was trying to set is, your sexuality has nothing to do with how well you perform on the track, on the field or on the court," McKinley said. "Whether you're an athlete, dancer or performer, I don't think at the end of the day the sexual orientation of the person, or their preferences, should be the issue when it comes down to competing. Whoever wins has worked the hardest to be the best.
"I would say, at that time, finding myself as a young adult and teenager, knowing that I was different in terms of my sexuality in some regards pushed me to work even harder to show people that I'm going to kick your butt on the track, and I'm gay.
"It's an interesting juxtaposition. I may be who I am, but I still beat you."