Dales posing with MAC Commissioner Dr. Jon Steinbrecher
Courtesy: Mid-American Conference
George Dales Formally Inducted Into MAC Hall of Fame
Courtesy: WMU
Release: 05/28/2015
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CLEVELAND -- Former Western Michigan cross country and track and field head coach George Dales was formally inducted into the Mid-American Conference Hall of Fame on Wednesday evening as a part of the MAC's Honors Dinner ceremony.
Dales led Western Michigan to the Mid-American Conference’s first and second ever team Division I National Championships. He is responsible for two of three MAC team national championships.
Dales was one of seven charter members inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Hall of Fame in 1995. He is also a member of the Western Michigan University Athletics Hall of Fame (inducted 1984), the Miami University Athletics Cradle of Coaches (inducted in 2006) and the Drake Relays Hall of Fame (inducted in 1985 - first MAC coach ever).
The most prestigious honor a coach can receive from the USTFCCCA is the “George Dales Award.” The award is in honor of Dales for his relentless pursuit in the growth and development of track & field and cross country over more than half a century. This award is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to a distinguished individual who, through their efforts, has enhanced the profession of coaching track & field and cross country.
During his tenure, Western Michigan won back-to-back NCAA Cross Country Championships in 1964 and 1965, and accumulated 12 (out of 13 seasons) MAC titles in track & field and another eight in cross country. His cross country teams finished in the top 10 nationally on 13 occasions. He was the 1970 NCAA Track Coach of the Year.
Dales never experienced a losing season at Western Michigan, compiling an impressive career 113-35 record in dual track meets and 79-13-1 in cross country. Dales ended his coaching career with the winningest record in MAC history from the standpoint of team victories. His teams - both cross country & track - never finished lower than third in the conference.
Dales also directed Bronco athletics to six Central Collegiate cross country crowns (1953, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1966), a pair of outdoor track titles (1962, 1968) and seven indoor championships (1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966).
Among the many athletes he coached was Olympic Gold Medalist Ira Murchison, world record holder in the 100m and 1956 Olympic winner in the 4x100m. Murchison also captured the NCAA 100 yard dash title in 1958 and another Dales’ athlete, John Bork, won the 880m NCAA title three years later.
Dales’ Broncos earned 25 All-American honors, producing 11 in track & field and another 14 in cross country. Dales’ 1964 and 1965 NCAA championship teams were inducted into Western Michigan’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009 becoming the first entire teams - rather than individuals - inducted into WMU’s Hall of Fame.
Dales graduated from Miami University in 1942, where he took cum laude honors, and then served three years in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Following discharge, he coached at East High School in his native Cleveland for three years before attending the University of Michigan for his master’s degree. Dales joined the Western Michigan staff as an Athletics and Physical Education Specialist in January 1953, and it did not take him long to build the Broncos into a national powerhouse.
Dales served as an advisor in both Greece and Mexico and in the latter assignment worked with Christos Papanicolaou, who went on to become the world’s first 18-foot pole vaulter. Papanicolaou also worked under Dales at Western Michigan as a visiting student for several months.
Dales retired as Western Michigan University’s head track and cross-country coach in June, 1970. He continued working at the university on the physical education staff until he retired as a professor in 1987.
Dales continued to serve and advance the sport for several years, holding positions as the commissioner of the Central Collegiate Conference, President of the International Track & Field Coaches Association, Editor-in-Chief of the Track & Field Review Quarterly and held the post of Secretary/Treasurer for the NCAA Division I Track & Field Coaches Association for 25 years.
Dales, age 93, resides in Kalamazoo, Mich.
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Keith Conning: I attended an International Track Coaches Clinic organized by George Dales in Atlanta, Georgia during the 1996 Olympic Games.
Dales led Western Michigan to the Mid-American Conference’s first and second ever team Division I National Championships. He is responsible for two of three MAC team national championships.
Dales was one of seven charter members inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Hall of Fame in 1995. He is also a member of the Western Michigan University Athletics Hall of Fame (inducted 1984), the Miami University Athletics Cradle of Coaches (inducted in 2006) and the Drake Relays Hall of Fame (inducted in 1985 - first MAC coach ever).
The most prestigious honor a coach can receive from the USTFCCCA is the “George Dales Award.” The award is in honor of Dales for his relentless pursuit in the growth and development of track & field and cross country over more than half a century. This award is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to a distinguished individual who, through their efforts, has enhanced the profession of coaching track & field and cross country.
During his tenure, Western Michigan won back-to-back NCAA Cross Country Championships in 1964 and 1965, and accumulated 12 (out of 13 seasons) MAC titles in track & field and another eight in cross country. His cross country teams finished in the top 10 nationally on 13 occasions. He was the 1970 NCAA Track Coach of the Year.
Dales never experienced a losing season at Western Michigan, compiling an impressive career 113-35 record in dual track meets and 79-13-1 in cross country. Dales ended his coaching career with the winningest record in MAC history from the standpoint of team victories. His teams - both cross country & track - never finished lower than third in the conference.
Dales also directed Bronco athletics to six Central Collegiate cross country crowns (1953, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1966), a pair of outdoor track titles (1962, 1968) and seven indoor championships (1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966).
Among the many athletes he coached was Olympic Gold Medalist Ira Murchison, world record holder in the 100m and 1956 Olympic winner in the 4x100m. Murchison also captured the NCAA 100 yard dash title in 1958 and another Dales’ athlete, John Bork, won the 880m NCAA title three years later.
Dales’ Broncos earned 25 All-American honors, producing 11 in track & field and another 14 in cross country. Dales’ 1964 and 1965 NCAA championship teams were inducted into Western Michigan’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009 becoming the first entire teams - rather than individuals - inducted into WMU’s Hall of Fame.
Dales graduated from Miami University in 1942, where he took cum laude honors, and then served three years in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Following discharge, he coached at East High School in his native Cleveland for three years before attending the University of Michigan for his master’s degree. Dales joined the Western Michigan staff as an Athletics and Physical Education Specialist in January 1953, and it did not take him long to build the Broncos into a national powerhouse.
Dales served as an advisor in both Greece and Mexico and in the latter assignment worked with Christos Papanicolaou, who went on to become the world’s first 18-foot pole vaulter. Papanicolaou also worked under Dales at Western Michigan as a visiting student for several months.
Dales retired as Western Michigan University’s head track and cross-country coach in June, 1970. He continued working at the university on the physical education staff until he retired as a professor in 1987.
Dales continued to serve and advance the sport for several years, holding positions as the commissioner of the Central Collegiate Conference, President of the International Track & Field Coaches Association, Editor-in-Chief of the Track & Field Review Quarterly and held the post of Secretary/Treasurer for the NCAA Division I Track & Field Coaches Association for 25 years.
Dales, age 93, resides in Kalamazoo, Mich.
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Keith Conning: I attended an International Track Coaches Clinic organized by George Dales in Atlanta, Georgia during the 1996 Olympic Games.
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