Larry Parker
For over 50 years Track and Field and Cross Country have been a big part of Larry Parker’s life.
From his days as a state qualifier and school record holder in Track and a state Mile Team Race and state meet qualifier in Cross Country while at Grinnell High School; to being a 4 year letter winner at Central College, Larry was an outstanding athlete who went on to become an outstanding teacher and coach, and now a Hall of Fame official.
Larry retired from Nevada High School in 2005 after 27 years as a Life Science teacher, 26 years as the Head Boys Track coach and 25 years as the Head Cross Country coach.
Larry is still involved with Nevada Track and Field and Cross Country, working as meet manager of their home meets.
At the urging of IATC Hall of Fame coach, Denny White, Larry became a member of the IATO and began officiating indoor and outdoor meets around the state after he retired.
Larry has been an official at the Drake Relays and the state track and field championships since retiring; officiates at indoor and outdoor meets at Iowa State and the University of Iowa on a regular basis and has worked at several Division 1 and Division 3 regional or championship meets across the state.
Larry is a Past President of the IATC and currently serves as a Regional Representative for the IATO.
Larry and his wife Deb recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They have 3 children, Christi, Mike and Craig and 7 grandchildren.
Roger “Jack” Parker
Graduated from Lamoni High School in 1933 and from Sacramento Junior College, Sacramento, California in 1935. He was a two year letter winner in track and football in college. He received Honorable Mention by the Des Moines Register for High School Honor Role in Football in 1933. He single handedly placed his team to the second place finish in the State Track and Field meet by scoring 18 points. He placed 2nd behind Jesse Owens in the Long Jump at the National Interscholastic Track and Field meet at Soldier’s Field in Chicago his junior year with a leap of 23’1.25″. In 1936 he qualified for the Olympics in Berlin as a member of the Decathlon. At the Berlin Games he won the Bonze Medal, this completed the American’s sweep of the event. Roger died in May of 1964.
Gary Paulsen
Gary Paulsen was born in Rock Rapids Iowa, as he stated, “before WWII, so you know he isn’t a youngster anymore!” Gary attended and graduated from Hills, Minnesota. While there he participated in football, basketball, track, baseball, and fine arts. He received his undergraduate degree from Westmar College.
He began teaching and coaching at Floyd Valley, serving there from 1962-1969. Following the completion of his school administration degree from the University of South Dakota, Gary became middle school principal and athletic director in Ogden in 1969 where he served until his official retirement in 2002.
Gary has been an active official for the IHSAA and IGHSAU, as well as NAIA, NCAA and NJCAA in the sports of baseball, basketball, cross-country, football, and of course, track and field. He has officiated many state meets as well as the Drake Relays and NCAA meets in Des Moines and surrounding states.
Leonard Paulu
Badly wounded one September night in France 1918 during World War I a German shell ripped into his body in four places. In 1919 at age 23 he entered Grinnell College. During a physical education class Paulu ran a sprint and won. The Grinnell coach suggested he come out for Track. He became a national star for the Pioneers twice winning the National Collegiate 100 and added the 220 1922. Leonard taught and coached in Cedar Rapids from 1925 until 1964. His best time was 9.6 at Drake, and won the NCAA 220 with a record-setting 21.8 Leonard ran as an amateur as much as time and finances would allow, often going against Eric Wilson. A year later, at Stagg Field in Chicago at the first NCAA meet ever, the dark horse from Grinnell won the 100 in :10. He finished third in the 220, won by Eric Wilson, the future sports information director at Iowa. Eric never beat Leonard at 100 and took only two of their five 220 duels. Leonard taught chemistry, physics and math in Oskaloosa until moving to Cedar Rapids in 1925.
Tiffany Pedersen
Hall of Fame Coach Bruce Henderson thought he had a good one when she came out for track her freshman year, but when she won her first of four state titles in the 100 hurdles, he knew he had a great one.
Tiff Pedersen, now Tiff Maliszewski, helped to put Atlantic on the Iowa High School Girls Track and Field map. She was never beaten in a Hawkeye 10 Conference meet, winning 16 gold medals in her career, and was nearly as dominant on the blue oval at Drake Stadium. Tiff won 15 medals at the state meet, 12 of which were gold, and helped lead the Trojanns to 4 straight team titles, and four times she was an elite all state selection. At the Drake Relays, Pedersen was named the meets Outstanding High School Female performer her senior year, 2001, after winning the 100 M hurdles and the Sprint Medley relay.
It was in track and field that Pedersen would shine above all, but she was dominant in other sports as well. She also earned all conference and all state accolades in Volleyball, Basketball and Softball. Her overall athletic prowess led to her selection into the IGHSAU Hall of Fame. When asked what set her apart from her teammates, other than athletic ability, Coach Henderson said it was “Her attitude and her smile. Her parents saw to it that she was never spoiled or let her success go to her head. It was never about her, but always about the team.”
After graduating from Atlantic in 2001, Tiff headed to the east side of the state and the University of Iowa. It was at Iowa that she put all of her athletic ability to use in one sport and became an All Big 10 Combined Event performer. She ended her career as a four time letter winner and a five time Big 10 medalist in the Pentathlon and Heptathlon. She ranks in the Hawkeye’s top Ten in six events; 60 meter Hurdles, 100 meter Hurdles, Indoor Long Jump, Outdoor Long Jump, Pentathlon and Heptathlon.
Tiffany was born and raised in Atlantic. Her parents are Larry and Dixie and she has a sister, Nicole and brothers Troy and Corby. She graduated from Iowa in 2005 and married Iowa baseball pitching Coach Chris Maliszewski in 2007.
Randy Peters
Girls state track and field meets in Iowa began in 1962. In the 56 years that we have had state meets for both boys and girls, only one head coach has led a team to state titles in both genders. That is an accomplishment that only Randy Peters has on his resume. Peters coached the Davenport Central girls to state titles in 1982 and 1984 and the Central boys to the state crown in 2005.
Randy Peters was an outstanding athlete at Grundy Center High School, graduating in 1964. He excelled in football, basketball and track and learned a great deal from his coaches Greg Bice and Marv Ott. After graduating from high school, Randy went on to Wartburg College where he played basketball for 2 years and was a high hurdler on the track team for 4.
His years as a college athlete made the transition to coaching those sports a natural.
Randy coached track for 35 years, basketball for 33 and cross country for 16. Randy has also coached at Nevada, where he worked with Hall of Fame football coach Cecil Rhoads, Davenport North High School and St. Ambrose University. His accomplishments during 26 years at Davenport Central is the focus today. At Central, Randy was the Girls head track and field coach from 1975-1988, the Boys head track and field coach from 1996-2006 and both the boys and girl’s cross-country coach from 1995-2003. During his time at Central he could learn from longtime Blue Devil coach and IATC Hall of Famer Ira Dunsworth.
When asked what he would attribute his team’s successes to, Randy said, “we had hardworking, tough young men and women who could perform under pressure”. “I could talk them through things and let them draw on my years of personal experiences both in competing and coaching. I also tried to make it fun”.
While at Davenport Central, in addition to 3 state track titles, Peters coached teams won 12 MAC conference titles and 4 district crowns.
Randy was named state coach of the year twice in girls track and field, and once each in girl’s cross country and boys track and field.
Randy and his wife, Marilyn, continue living in Davenport where he sells real estate, runs a painting business, volunteers at Davenport Schools track meets, and both are active in their church. Marilyn and Randy have 4 adult children and 10 grandchildren.
Todd Peverill
He didn’t think of himself as a miler, even though he finished as the state runner-up in that event in 1978. He says he was known as a “relay guy” because relays were worth more points back in the day. He would run 48 second quarters and sub 2 minute halves while anchoring some pretty impressive Waterloo East quartets during his high school career.
Running the mile at the 1979 state meet was something that really came along by accident for Todd Peverill.
This was before co-ed meets, so East Coach Jim Miller moved personnel around at the district meet to keep Todd fresh and still score as many points as possible. The district schedule did not allow enough recovery time for Todd to run the 4×8, medley and 4×4, so they entered him in only the mile and the 4×4. The state meet schedule, however, would allow for that to happen so the plan was for him to run those three relays at state, for maximum points, and scratch out of the mile. Peverill had anchored East’s medley and 4×4 teams to Drake Relays titles just a month earlier.
Things don’t always go as planned and neither the medley nor the 4×8 qualified to make the trip to Drake Stadium; but Todd did qualify in both the mile and the 4×4.
They say things happen for a reason, and that seems to have been the case in the spring of ‘79.
Once Peverill knew he would have only 2 events at state he became very focused on the mile, not only wanting revenge for his photo finish loss the year before, but because the Des Moines Register did not mention him as a contender; siding, instead, with defending champion Mike Diment of Hoover and Matt Trimble of City High.
At the end of the first lap, Peverill moved from 5th to 2nd and settled in on the shoulder of leader, Mike Cupp from Valley. He surged a couple of times in the next 880 yards, trying to take control of the pace, but Cupp would have nothing of it. His coaches had told him to wait until 100 to go before executing his final kick, but Todd couldn’t wait that long. With visions of the 1978 loss still in his mind, he threw it down as he approached the 3rd turn and the field had no answer. The mile run, in the 1979 state meet, is the event Todd Peverill became known for. His winning time of 4:13.65 was the 4A state meet record until getting broken some 35 years later.
Todd was a team player. Rather than basking in the glow of being a state champion, he came back 30 minutes later to anchor East’s 4×4 to the 4A state title with a 48.1 split. Their winning time of 3:18.09 is #6 all time and was the 4A state meet record for a number of years.
Oh, and for icing on the cake, Waterloo East also won the 4A team title.
Peverill had a very successful cross country career at East as well, finishing 3rd in the state meet as a junior and 8th as a senior.
Todd started his collegiate career at UNI and finished at Nebraska-Omaha. At one time he had all of the UNI freshman records in Cross Country and the distance races in track. In 1980 he led off UNI’s winning distance medley at the Drake Relays. He was conference runner-up in Cross Country in 1979 leading UNI to a team title. UNI went on to finish 4th in the Division II national championships and Todd just missed garnering a medal, finishing 26th, while the top 25 earned All American honors.
Not all athletes make good coaches, but Todd Peverill has proven he could do both with great success.
He has been the Assistant Boys Track coach at Glenwood for 20 years and has coached a state champion in the 3200 along with 2 state champions in the high jump and 3 Drake Relays champions. In 16 years as the Head Cross Country coach he has had 5 conference championship teams, 5 state qualifying teams, 9 state qualifying individuals, 3 state medalists and 1 individual state champion.
Todd has won a number of IATC awards during his coaching career and is very active in our organization coordinating the individual cross country rankings and helping to recruit for the IATC Senior All Star teams.
Todd has been married to his wife Lu, a former UNI track manager and his long time assistant cross country coach for 31 years. They have 2 sons, Kelsey and wife Amanda and Collin and wife Diamond. They are the proud grandparents as well.
Al Pierce
Our inductee into the Hall of Fame was born and raised in Anthon, Iowa. He graduated from Anthon-Oto High School in 1970. During his high school career he participated in Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Track. He served as the team captain in Football and Baseball and was selected to the All-Conference teams in both sports. After graduation Al attended Buena Vista College receiving his Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1974. He began his teaching career at Marathon Consolidated Schools teaching K-12 P.E., and U.S. History. He later became the K-12 P.E. teacher at the Laurens-Marthon High School. During his tenure at Laurens-Marathon, Al had an outstanding record in both Football and Girls Track and Field. In football some of the highlights were the 1989 Class 1-A State Championship, a Class 2-A Semi-Finalist in 1993 and a Quarter-Finalist in 1995. His career record is 109-19. In girls track our inductee was exceptional. His teams won 3 consecutive State Championships from 1985 to 1987. They were the state runner-ups from 1990 to 1991. Al also had two squads finish 3rd in 1982 and 1983. Laurens-Marathon became one of the premier teams in Iowa Girls Track and Field under Al’s guidance. They won 118 major titles and have had numerous state individual and relay champions. Coaching Honors won during his time at Laurens-Marathon include in Football, District 2-A Coach of the Year, Toyota Class 1-A Iowa High School Coach of the Year, Twice Storm Lake Pilot Tribune Coach of the Year, and the Northwest Iowa Sports Banquet Coach of the Year, twice the Storm Lake Times Coach of the year, and is a member of the Northwest Iowa Coaches/Officials Association Hall of Fame. In Track and Field, six times Northwest Iowa Regional Coach of the Year, four times Class 1-A Coach of the Year. He was nominated for National Coach of the Year by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches in 1991 and 1996. Al served as the Girls High School Referee at the 1989 Drake Relays. He was inducted to the IGHSAU Honor Team Hall of Fame in May of 1999. Al and his wife Carol have been married for 27 years. They are the proud parents of two sons Clinton age 17 and Cody age 13. Al and Carol now reside in Spencer where Al serves as the Head Football Coach and will be the Co-Head Girls Track & Field Coach.
Marty Pillers
ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Started running track at an early age in Gary, Indiana. Competed in Cross Country and Track. Continued running for seven years after competing for Drake University. Won several City and Conference 880yd championships and ran on several City and Conference Mile Relay teams. Placed 2nd twice and 3rd once in the 880yd run at the State Meet in Indiana. Ran on three State Championship Mile Relay teams. His school record in the 880yd run still stands today. Ranked in the top 10 Internationally for three years during his post graduate competition specializing in the 400 meter hurdles. He coached High School Track, both in Iowa and Indiana, where he had several competitors qualify for the their State Meets. He won over 50 dual and triangular meets in the eight years of coaching. HONORS: Officiated his first meet in 1959 at the Pan Am Games as an Umpire. Worked several meets at Notre Dame, Purdue and Valporaiso University as an Umpire from 1960 thru 1963. Joined the Drake Relays staff in 1964 as an Umpire Was named Assistant Chief Umpire 1970 and was elevated to Chief Umpire in 1971 served in that capacity until 1998. Was named Supervisor of Officials for Drake in 1996. He has officiated at both the Boys and Girls High School State Meets for many years. Other Meets; 14 NCAA National Outdoor Championships, numerous Missouri Valley, Gateway, Central Collegiate Championships, Big 8, Big 10, Big 12 Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Worked at three Olympic Trial Meets and the 1984 Olympics.
Richard “Dick” Pollitt
Born in Canton, Illinois and grew up in Birmingham, Iowa. Completed his graduate and post-graduate woork at Northwest Missouri State. Coached 5 years at Central Lee, 4 years at BGM, 1 year at Urbandale and now at Waverly – Shell Rock. Boy’s Cross Country – State Meet runner-up at Central Lee. State Champions in 1970 at BGM. Fourth or better at all meets as a Boy’s Cross Country Coach. Girls’ Cross Country – Started the programs at BGM and at Waverly-Shell Rock. Three time State Meet Champions at BGM – 19969 – 1970 – 1971. At the time of his induction he has won 7 conference titles, one district title, and two State Meet runner-up finishes at Waverly-Shell Rock. The first Iowa coach to win both the Boy’s and Girls’ State Meet in the same Year, 1970. While being in two places at once. The Boys in Marshalltown and the Girls in Adel. Yes, he made it to both meets. Girls’ Track & Field – While at BGM he won the indoor, outdoor and State Pentathlon. His Waverly-Shell Rock team won the State Meet in 1983, 5 district championships, and 9 consecutive conference championships. “I take pride in having emphasized the TEAM concept of Track & Field although I may have sacrificed some individual honors”.
Robert Prince
Attended East High School in Sioux City, Iowa. High School accomplishments – State indoor 880 Champion as a sophomore. National Junior Olympic Champion – 1:52.5 Runner-up at the Prep All-American Meet at a junior – 1:52.3 State Mile Team Individual Champion – 4:23.0 All-Time 880 record holder – 1:52.3 Anchored four relay teams to Drake Relays and four State Meet titles. At Kansas State University – Three time Big 8 indoor Champion – meet record in 1977. Double Champion in the 600 and 880 – 1976. 1976 – Team Champions at the Big 8 indoor meet, Ran leg of the mile relay team, Named the meet’s Most Valuable Athlete. Twice NCAA 880 indoor Champion. Best Times – 800 – 1:47.1 at the Drake Relays – 1977. Mile – 4:07 at Missouri – 1977 400 – 48.1 and 46.1 relay splits. Robert Graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering and a 3.97 grade point, along with being named to the Dean’s List all four years.
John “Raff” Raffensperger
J
ohn “Raff” Raffensperger is a very modest person who has been coaching Track & Field since 1963. John graduated from the University High in 1958. While in High School he was the State Class “B” Champion in the 220, in a time of 22.3, ran on the 440 Championship Relay Team and was selected 3rd team All-State in Football, as a quarterback. After High School John attended the University of Northern Iowa and had great success in Track and Field. He was the conference Champ in the Low Hurdles, won the small college NCAA 220 Hurdles in a time of 23.7, set the University of Northern Iowa’s indoor school record in the 440 in a time of 50.9 as well as running on several relays, and served as captain of the Track and Field team. Aside from his Track and Field performance John participated in Football and received All-Conference recognition two times as a receiver. Following college John began his coaching career at Mid-Prairie High School in Wellman, for one year, four years as an assistant at Davenport Central, two years as an assistant at City High before becoming Head Coach in 1970. John is the first to say that good athletes can bring success to any program, but it takes leadership to mold great teams. As of 1997 these are his coaching accomplishments {with many more to come]: 6 State Team Championships 14 Mississippi Valley Conference titles 90 major meet titles 38 Individual and Relay State Champions 5 Drake Relay’s High School Division MVP Athletes 30 Drake Relay’s Individual and Relay Champions Coached 2 Iowa All-Time State Record Relays Coached 2 Iowa All-Time State Record Individual bests John has been awarded 6 State Coach of the Year Awards 12 Mississippi Valley Coach of the Year Awards He has served as the Meet Director for the National Junior Olympics in 1985 The High School Boys Division Referee at the Drake Relays in 1997 A Big Ten Official since 1988 A person very concerned about the well being of Track and Field in Iowa, John has served the IATC as a regional representative, Vice-President, President and Newsletter Editor. John and his wife Sharon were blessed with two sons – Mike and David who both competed in Track and Field. Mike is a volunteer Assistant Coach at City High.
Jon Reimer
George High School/University of Iowa
To qualify for the Iowa High school state Track and Field championships is a big deal. To win an event at the Track and Field state championships is a dream for most. To be on a state champion Track and Field team is something very few ever experience. For a single athlete to accomplish all the above is so close to impossible it is rarely, if ever talked about…….. Well, we are going to talk about it today.
On May 18,1963 John Reimer of George High School, in the northwest corner of the state, accomplished something that had not been done in any of the previous 57 state meets…….and to this day, has never been repeated.
He scored all 21 of the Mustangs points to win the Class B Title, in the single day State Meet, hosted by Des Moines East at Duke Williams Stadium.
In just over 4 hours, Reimer took third in the long jump, with a best of 20 feet 9, then won the 220-yard dash in a Class B record time of 22.4, set a new Class B record in the 120 yard high hurdles of 14.9 in the prelims then ran 15.2 to win the final, and took gold in the 180 yard low hurdles, running 20.1. State runner-up in Class B in 1963 was shared by Emmetsburg and Underwood each with 20 points.
After his outstanding high school career, Jon went on to compete for the University of Iowa and was inducted into their Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014.
As a Hawkeye, Reimer earned Big 10 titles and All American status in the 440 yard hurdles and Mile Relay.
Jon, along with 2 other former Iowa preps was on the Iowa Mile Relay team that won the 1967 NCAA Outdoor title in 3:05.70. That same quartet also finished 3rd at the NCAA Indoor championships in ’67. He was also a 2-time NCAA meet finalist in the 440 yard hurdles, placing 7th in 1965 and 6th in 1967.
In Big Ten championship meets, Jon ran on 3 winning Mile Relays. The 1967 team ran 3:08.70, setting what was the Big Ten outdoor meet record. He also won gold in 1965 in the 330 yard hurdles setting a conference record of 36.1 and in 1967 in the 440 yard hurdles. At the 1967 Drake Relays, Iowa won the Mile Relay in meet record time of 3:07.40 with Reimer on the anchor.
After 55 years and converting marks from yards to meters, Jon Reimer still finds himself on the University of Iowa All Time lists in the 400 meter hurdles, at #10 in 50.74 and the Outdoor 4×4 also at #10 in 3:04.10.
Jon is now retired from Inland Steel Company and he and wife Nancy live in Crown Point, Indiana. They are the proud parents of Stephanie and Melissa and grandparents to Ashley.
Jeff Richards
Athletic competitions need officials who are calm and collected and someone athletes and coaches can trust and have faith that they will do a good job.
When it comes to track and field, Jeff Richards is one of those officials.
Jeff got started in track and field officiating in the early 80’s when his 11 year old daughter was competing at the Club level. He began as a clerk and now works as a clerk and a starter at meets of all sizes in Iowa and many major ones around the country, including the Drake Relays, our state championships, NCAA championships and USATF championships.
Jeff lives in Polk City and spent many years on the road traveling the country working in sales for manufacturers of industrial products.
When asked why he has continued to be involved in track and field Jeff’s answer was, “It is great to see some our athletes grow and succeed in the sport. Being part of that experience and working with officials at all levels is very rewarding and keeps me coming back”.
Jason Ringena *NEW! 2022 Inductee
In the spring of 2019, one week prior to the Drake Relays and 2 weeks before his passing, I visited with IATC Hall of Fame Coach, and IATC Hall of Fame Committee member John Raffensperger.
As I was leaving, Raff said to me, Mike, please do me a favor and ask the committee to someday consider Jason Ringena for the induction into the Hall of Fame.
Our Hall of Fame is beyond exceptional, and the list of worthy candidates seems to grow longer and more talented each year.
I remembered Jason Ringena from his days at City High, but not to the degree I needed to.
It didn’t require a lot of time researching his accolades to realize this was just not a favor to Raff, this was something that needed to happen. This young man had achieved more great things on the track in 4 years than many schools ever do.
When Ringena was a Little Hawk in the mid 90’s, athletes could not compete in more than 3 running events per meet and relays were worth more points than individual events. He qualified to state 12 times and medaled 12 times, 9 of them gold. He was a 9 time Drake Relays qualifier, 9 time medalist and 7 time champion. At Drake in 1997 he won gold in the 100 meters, the 4×200, 4×400 and was awarded Male Athlete of the Meet honors.
He ran on a 4×1 in 1996 that still holds the Iowa All Time best of 41.33. His 21.57 in the 200 is #19 All Time and he has been on a 4×2 that ran 1:26.40 and a 4×4 that clocked 3:18.30.
I asked Jason what a few of the highlights of his track career at City High were, and this is what he came up with:
As a freshman he got to lead off the state winning 4×2 with another decent sprinter by the name of Tim Dwight, on the anchor.
As a sophomore at the ’95 Drake Relays he ran the 2nd leg in the 4×4 prelims, and after running well, Raff put him on the anchor in the final. Ames countered with their ace, Dustin Avey.
It was as close as it could be with Avey making up 5-6 meters. After 10 minutes or more of meet officials studying the finish photo, City High was awarded the win.
At the state meet in ’97 he was the anchor on the 4×4. They had trouble with the 3 to 4 exchange and ended up dropping the baton: he had to run a 48 second split to go from last to barely qualifying for the final. He anchored the final in 47 and change and they won by 2 seconds.
Jason played a key role in City High winning the state team title all 4 of his high school seasons, and was also an outstanding football player, helping the Little Hawks win it all in the fall of 1996. He attended Missouri State University on a football scholarship, was an All Missouri Valley performer and graduated with a degree in Industrial Management.
He is the son of Sue and Eric and a younger brother to Ben and Ethan.
Jason works at Terracon, a construction consulting company in Des Moines. He and Jessica, his wife of nearly 20 years have 3 daughters, Evyn, Graysen and Logan and live in Urbandale.
Gary Roberson
Coach Gary Roberson dedicated much of his life to helping others achieve beyond their natural talent and what they may have perceived as limitations. Gary graduated from New Hampton high school and Iowa Teachers College, now UNI. He taught both French and English at Bettendorf high school for 27 years, retiring from teaching in 2000. In addition to making sure his students received a quality education, for over two decades Coach Roberson embodied all that is right in track and field.
Gary started his track coaching career in 1973 as the boys’ assistant coach at Bettendorf. In 1976 he ventured out on his own and headed up the Bulldog girls program and what a successful 18 year run that turned out to be. Before hanging up the stopwatch, after 21 years, in 1993. Coach Roberson and his teams left their mark on our great sport.
His teams won 16 Mississippi Valley Conference titles, 7 district crowns and 3 state championships. Among the aforementioned team accolades, Bettendorf earned 17 event championships at the state meet and 1 Drake Relays title. Nine Roberson coached relays or individuals are still listed among Iowa’s All Time bests.
In addition to producing outstanding track and field teams at Bettendorf, Roberson’s cross country squads and individuals could most certainly hold their own during his 7 years at the helm. Gary coached his daughter Sara to an individual state championship in 1986. His Bulldog girls’ teams won 3 conference titles along with the 1987 state title and a 1988 state runner-up finish.
During his career he was honored with 8 IATC Regional Coach of the Year Awards and was chosen, by his peers, as the Mississippi Athletic Conference Coach of the Year 7 times. Gary was one of the honorary coaches for the IATC Senior All Star cross country meet in 2013.
Along with track and field and cross country, Coach Roberson started the girls’ softball program at Bettendorf in 1976, leading them to the state tournament in 1980. He has also had an outstanding career as a football official, being elected to the IHSAA Officials Hall of Fame in 2005 and honored for 35 years of service in 2012. He and his crew officiated numerous state playoff games and 6 state championship match ups over the years.
Gary and his wife Kay have 3 daughters.
Dean “Judge” Roe
A graduate of Lenox High School. He lettered in Football, Basketball, Track & Field and Baseball. He attended Simpson College and graduated in 1949. Some of Dean’s accomplishments: Records: Football – 132 – 41 19 seasons Girls Basketball – 552 – 232 36 seasons Boys Basketball – 129 – 73 10 seasons Track and Fiels accomplishments: State indoor and outdoor Champions – 1963 to 1968 State Runners-up indoors in 1967 & 1968 State indoor – 1969 3rd State Cross Country Mile Team Race – 1968 & 1969 2nd His list of individuals and team championships is tremenduous. Dean likes to mention Norman Johnson when he talks about his great individual performers, along with Joe and Mike Henderson, and Rex Harvey. Dean is a member of the Iowa Football Coaches Hall of Fame. Awarded the Golden Plaque of Distinction. The Boy’s High School Referee for the Drake Relays in 1982.
Orville Rust
In the spring of 1926 discussions were held about starting a junior college in Webster City. By fall, the Webster City Junior College officially opened. Orville Rust, Director of Athletics & Men’s Physical Education
Steve Rutz
Steve Rutz has spent his entire professional career working with students and student athletes in one way or another.
Steve spent 6 years at Western Dubuque as a Math and PE teacher followed by 33 years in Administration, 28 of those at Cascade.
He became a registered track official in 1972 and is a charter member of the IATO. He began a 29 year run as a wrestling official in 1973.
Steve has worked track and field meets at all levels and in many different capacities. He has officiated at the Iowa High School State Track and Field meet for 18 years and the Drake relays for 16, working as one of the starters last April.
Steve has been a starter for 140 college Track and or Cross Country meets since 2005 and has officiated at 13 college championship meets. Steve has been selected as the IATO Official of the Year for track 3 times and cross country twice.
