Photo ID: Jeff Jirele

Jeff Jirele

Austin native Jeff Jirele says: "I'm real big on finding your heroes and overcoming your fears."  Jirele heroes are people who helped him find his way in life, inspired him, cajoled him into doing what he wasn't so sure he wanted to do.

Larry Gilbertson, Jirele's coach at Austin High, is near the top of that list.  In a testimonial to Gilbertson, who passed away in 1998, the Austin Daily Herald's Laura Helle wrote: "Gilbertson was known for motivating his athletes by believing in their skills before they did."

Jirele ran a "little bit in junior high, but I wasn't very good."  So, his freshman year, instead of going out for cross country, Jirele quit.  He was in the band, the orchestra, and he dabbled at golf, but running didn't attract him.  Gilbertson didn't attempt to give Jirele a big motivational speech, instead "he cornered me" and told Jeff he wasn't going to quit.  

"I told him, OK, I'll run," said Jirele.  "And I'm very grateful that I did." It wasn't until his junior year when he ran 1:57 for the half "out of nowhere," said Jirele, that his talent began to show.  In 1973 Jirele finished second in the MSHSL 880 yard run behind "my great nemesis in high school," Mike Newman of Rochester John Marshall, who won in 1:58.7 to Jirele's 1:59.0.  While his times were not blazing fast, Golden Valley Lutheran junior College coach Sev Legred liked what he saw in Jirele and recruited him.  

"I owe so much to coach Legred(who, along with  Jirele are members of the Minnesota  Track & Field Hall of Fame) "He brought me to another level."  Jirele won the National Junior College Cross Country Championship in 1974, and the NJCC mile championships in 1974 and 1975. 

That caught the attention of  the University of Illinois' coach Gary Wieneke, who Jirele said: "was almost a father figure. You always strived to please him, always wanted to do well for him. I think most of us did."  Jirele finished second in the Big 10 1500 meters in 1976 and third in 1977. He was a three-time All-American and won a National Indoor Championship as a member of the Illinois 2-Mile relay team. 

After graduating from Illinois, Jirele returned to work at Golden Valley Lutheran for several months until he saw an ad in Track & Field News from the Santa Monica Track Club(SMTC).  Their coach, Joe Douglas, who would later gain notoriety for developing the SMTC into a sprint power with a stable of Olympic medalists and world recordholders, such as Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrell, Joe DeLoach, Kevin Young, Steve Lewis, Mike Marsh, Danny Everett, Kirk Baptiste, Johnny Gray, and Earl Jones saw Jirele's resume and told him to come out to California.

"Joe Douglas was so good to me," said Jirele."Although I didn't realize it at the time, those years(running for SMTC) were some of the best years of my life."  Douglas got Jirele places in races on the European circuit, where in in 1978 in Stockholm, Sweden, Jirele ran 3:58.3, breaking four minutes for the mile. While that was a signature accomplishment for a middle distance runner, Jirele knew he was not destined to be the next Steve Scott.

Instead he headed back to Minnesota and enrolled in the seminary at Luther College.  Being a clergy member was not in his future either, Jirele discovered.  In his search for what was next he was directed by a friend of his in California, Dennis Watson, who was a State Farm Insurance agent on the West Coast.  Watson is another of Jirele's heroes because Watson helped him get his start in the business he's continued to be involved with for over three decades.  You can see Jeff in action, through the wonders of modern technology, by clicking on his web site HERE.

As our conversation wound down, the topic naturally landed on the weather.  Told of the recent cold front, Jirele noted that the winter weather was not something he missed about Minnesota.  "It's 60 and sunny here," Jirele said, and you could "hear" the smile on his face in his voice.  

NOTE: We didn't forget the others featured in the Photo ID quiz in 2103 that have stories coming. Put this one up early for meteorological reasons.