THE CONNING TOWER by Keith Conning: Bibbs, Crousen, Lewis, Maxwell, Strametz and Wilson Inducted Into USTFCCCA Hall of Fame

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Bibbs, Crousen, Lewis, Maxwell, Strametz and Wilson Inducted Into USTFCCCA Hall of Fame

By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA

December 16, 2015

SAN ANTONIO — For more than two hours on Thursday night inside the Grand Oaks Ballroom at the JW Marriott San Antonio Resort and Spa, the spotlight was on those behind the scenes — and rightfully so.
Jim Bibbs, Barbara Crousen, Bob Lewis, Billy Maxwell, Don Strametz and Gary Wilson have more than one century of combined experience turning talented recruits into All-Americans, collegiate programs into national powerhouses and most importantly, dreams into reality.
There was a reason why Bibbs, Crousen, Lewis, Maxwell, Strametz and Wilson were chosen as members of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Hall of Fame Class of 2015. They proved it — and continue to prove it — during their legendary careers and dazzled more than 1200 people in attendance Thursday with their charm and wit.

Bibbs kicked off the proceedings by thanking his family, former athletes and colleagues and told the audience, "Those are the shoulders that I stand on up here today."
Then Bibbs, a longtime Michigan State coach, recalled what his friend Brooks Johnson shared following his induction in 1997.
"He told me, ‘If you can’t be a big dog, rub up against big dogs,’" Bibbs said. "I feel — being here tonight and joining this group — that I have at least rubbed up against big dogs."
Crousen stood behind the podium next and sent the crowd through a gauntlet of emotions, most of which ended in laughter thanks to her colorful sense of humor. The former McMurry coach, who became the first woman to ever coach a men’s team to an NCAA title, admitted she never thought she’d be in a spot to be inducted into a Hall of Fame for coaching competitive running.
"This little girl from Alpine, Texas, who never ran a step of track — had never seen a track meet until she took a group of young ladies to run in it — fell in love with it," Crousen said. "Love at first sight, I guess."
Lewis, one of five coaches in NCAA Division III to lead a men’s track & field team to a triple crown (cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field titles in the same academic year), shared memory after memory from his storied career.
To Lewis, however, it wasn’t about the singular moments — but the impact left.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you will never be forgotten as a coach," said Lewis, the legendary coach from Frostburg State University. "You will be remembered forever."
Maxwell, the current sprints and hurdles coach at the University of Nebraska, never lost sight of what he wanted to do professionally.
"My mother helped me attend college at Florida State University," Maxwell said. "She envisioned me going off to college, getting a degree in some field such as business and being a great financial success in life. Needless to say, that never happened.
"Little did she know that due to what little success I had in track & field as an athlete and because I had one of the greatest track & field coaches in Georgia high school track & field history — a guy named Tommy Taylor as my mentor and idol — all I ever wanted to be in life was to be a track & field coach."
Strametz spoke at length about the former athletes turned coaches he convinced from Cal State Northridge to "plant their roots somewhere else," because he believed in them.
Yet it wasn’t an athlete that left the biggest impression on Strametz. Instead, it was the parents of a former athlete he coached when he was at Locke High School in Los Angeles who was shot at practice and died later that day at the hospital.
"I’m with the parents when the doctors come out and say, ‘He didn’t make it,’" Strametz said. "A couple of minutes later, the parents looked at me and said two things: Do not let his death be in vain and the second thing was, which totally defined my coaching career, ‘Help everyone you can.’"
Then Wilson wrapped up the evening with a 27-minute speech on which he touched on the relationships he fostered, his late friend Roy Griak (Class of 2001), and how his wife Suzy served as his support staff as he followed his career from Wisconsin-La Crosse to the University of Minnesota.
Wilson rivaled Crousen for most laughs and delivered perhaps one of the most impactful lines of the evening.
"If people think track is dead, they should look out in this room," Wilson said. "It’s sure the heck not."