Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Hall of Fame Inductee: Bill Huyck

[Editor's Note: Here, finally, is the first of six profiles of the most recent inductees to the Minnesota Track and Field Hall of Fame. We'll kick things off with former Carleton College coach Bill Huyck (pictured). We'll post profiles of the rest of the Hall's 2010 inductees in the next two weeks.

The story we wrote on the Hall of Fame ceremony last November is HERE.]

Bill Huyck

Bill Huyck, one of three coaches inducted to the Minnesota Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2010, is a 1953 graduate of Carleton College who returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach after four years in naval aviation. By 1958, he was the Northfield school's head track coach.

In his tenure as head coach at Carleton, which lasted until 1984 when he became the athletic director at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, he lead the Knights to 12 Midwest Conference indoor and outdoor track titles and another dozen cross country crowns.

His 1980 Carleton cross country squad won the NCAA Division III title -- one of eight Huyck-coached harrier squads to finish in the top-10 at D3.

Notable individual athletes that had the honor of Huyck's tutelage include miler Mike Steiner, the fastest college division miler in the NCAA in 1969; Dale Kramer, a four-time Division III champion at 5000-meters and cross country; and Rick Bollin, a two-time D3 runner-up in the decathlon.

Huyck was a frequent contributor to track and field technical journals. He also served as the chairman of the NCAA Division III Track Committee, as well as president of the D3 cross country coaches association.

Huyck continues to coach javelin throwers at Carleton.

Photo by Charlie Mahler.

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