Former Coach Sam Bell Named George Dales Award Honoree
Former Coach Sam Bell Named George Dales Award Honoree
December 15, 2011
Track and Field contact - Kyle Johnson (krj@indiana.edu)
Former Coach Sam Bell Named George Dales Award Honoree
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana Athletics Hall of Famer and legendary coach of track and field and cross country at Indiana, Sam Bell, has been honored by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association with the George Dales Award. The award is presented for a lifetime commitment to the promotion of the sports.
Bell has a long and successful record of service to track and field and cross country. He served his fellow coaches as president of the United States Track Coaches Association from 1997-2002. He previously served as president of the Division I Track Coaches Association from 1979-80. He was also one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Athletics Congress, which replaced the AAU as the governing body of track & field in the united states.
In addition to a successful 40-year coaching career in the college ranks, with stops at Oregon State and California before his tenure in Bloomington, he enjoyed a fruitful international coaching career. He served as an assistant coach for the 1976 U.S. Olympic team, and he was head coach of the 1979 U.S. World Cup team.
In 29 years at the helm of the Indiana track and cross country programs, Bell's teams won 11 Big Ten indoor track and field titles, eight outdoor league titles and three cross country crowns. At the national championship level, Bell directed the Hoosiers to top-10 finishes in cross country (five times), outdoor track (three times) and indoor track (twice). Bell coached 141 Big Ten outdoor individual champions, 92 Big Ten indoor champions, 69 outdoor All-Americans, 63 indoor All-Americans, 15 cross country All-Americans, 11 Olympians and two cross country national champions.
Sam is a member of the class of 2000 of the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003. He still resides in Bloomington.
The award is named in honor of longtime Western Michigan coach George Dales for his relentless pursuit in the growth and development of track and field and cross country over more than half a century. The award is presented annually by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association to a distinguished individual who, through their efforts, has enhanced the profession of coaching track and field and cross country.
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