- Became Loras' second track and field All-American racing to a third place-finish in the 5000 meters at the 1972 NAIA Outdoor Championships in Billings, Montana.
- Set the Loras record in the one-mile (4:08.8), two-mile (8:56.4), three-mile (13:56) and six-mile runs (30:15). His record in the mile still stands.
- Won three district indoor titles as a senior in 1973 and set the Loras indoor records for the mile (4:14) and two-mile (8:56.4) events.
- Qualified for the United States Olympic Marathon trials in 1980 and 1984.
Stories
“Only win over a middle distance icon”
In February of 1971, the Loras track team made a trip to Champaign, Illinois, to compete at an open indoor track meet at their new indoor fieldhouse. At that time, it was one of the largest indoor ovals in the U.S. at 264 yards, which translated to a fast track.. I was competing in the open two mile event. This was open to all athletes. Unknown to me was a 16 year old high school student from Illinois by the name of Craig Virgin. Having no indoor facilities at Loras, this was an opportunity to run in optimal conditions in the middle of the winter and indoor season.
The race went out fast and I was alternating leads throughout. We passed the halfway in around 4:26, which was my fastest pace ever. I hung in there and was able to win in a time of 8:56.4 which still stands as a Loras record. Later on I was told that the second place runner by the name of Craig Virgin had set a world age group record for a 16 year old at that distance in just under nine minutes. Later on he competed at world class levels in all distance races including the Olympics.
“Best days as a Duhawk”
In April of 1973, my senior year, we went to Eastern Illinois University for one of our first indoor meets of the year. The track was new tartan, but the day was cold with snow still on the ground!
My first race was the mile and I had been running well indoors prior to this meet. My splits were on and I went out in 2:05 for the first half and I finished well! I won in 4:11.3! This was a personal record. Despite the time, I had to stay focused as I was to anchor the distance medley in just 80 minutes.
We had a great team that year, and the relay went out fast. I was to anchor. When I got the baton, I sensed they knew “I was coming” at some point. Remarkably, the splits were almost identical to my prior open mile and we won again. This time my split was 4:10.9. Two nearly identical times, and both personal records. Later that year at the nationals in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, I ran my personal best at 4:08, but the “back to backs” truly was my best day on the track as a Duhawk.
“The ultimate workout!”
When I was a sophomore at Loras, Coach Dan McClimon had a way of keeping our interest in workouts, and did a marvelous job in providing variety. But for one fall afternoon this was the ultimate. By the middle of the week we were normally doing “interval” workouts, or repeats of quarters, half-mile runs, or other. But this was over the top.
At that time in the fall of 1970,
Track and Field News was the “Bible” of track and field, well before
Runner’s World or other publications. That fall they were having a “postal competition” where collegiate teams could send in results of a “two-man ten mile relay” competition. This was a timed relay, where two runners exchanged a baton every 440 yards, for a total of 40 quarter mile laps, or 20 laps apiece. The “rest period” for each runner was the relay time of their team-mate. Total distance was ten miles. This obviously was on the honor system, but Dan McClimon was truly credible.
My teammate was Will Chatham. Will was a senior that year, and obviously as an upperclassman was driven, as I was, to be our number one middle distance runner. Our teammates sensed the impending competition between us.
The day was overcast and I remember the track, which was cinder at that time, was not in the best shape and it was cold. We began the relay with several clocks on each of us. Each split was accurately and individually recorded. We heard our splits, and it seemed Will and I continually focused on the other’s split. Around and around we went for 20 laps each. The differences in our splits were indecipherable during the running. Each time it seemed around 63 or 65 seconds. Finally we finished! Our average was around 64 seconds for 40 laps. Our individual splits were within tenths of a second despite all that distance. We both were totally spent! This was not even an official meet but a workout!
Later that year we heard that we had placed second in the postal competition. The winner was none other than a Jim Ryan and a teammate from Kansas University. I believe it was the only time I had my name in
Track and Field News. Out total time was around 42 minutes and 30 seconds for ten miles, or we each ran five miles in around 21 minutes and change!
That workout was a “breakout” event for my career. Early in 1971 I ran personal bests indoors. Likewise, I think it was a milestone for Dan McClimon, in that he knew he had quality runners and a tremendous team. Workouts like this solidified his confidence to instill challenges and achievement in his runners. In the summer of 1971, he was selected as the coach of the University of Wisconsin track team.
