RELEASED:  Thursday, August 14, 2008

Former UW-La Crosse Track Coach Mark Guthrie Selected To Hall of Fame

NEW ORLEANS--Former University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men’s track and field head coach Mark Guthrie will be inducted into the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Hall of Fame.

He will be joined in the 2008 class by Charles Craig (California State University-Bakersfield), Kim Duyst (California State University-Stanislaus), Dean Hayes (Middle Tennessee State University), Dave Murray (University of Arizona), Gary Pepin (University of Nebraska), Peter Tegen (Stanford University) and Alex Wilson (University of Notre Dame).

The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is scheduled for December 17th, 2008 at the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa in Phoenix, Arizona - site of the 2008 USTFCCCA Convention.

Guthrie joins current UW-Oshkosh women’s track and field/cross country head coach Deb Vercauteren as the only Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) coaches to earn Hall of Fame status from the USTFCCCA.  Vercauteren was a member of the association’s 2006 class.

Guthrie’s success as a track and field coach at the collegiate level was immediately felt when he first stepped foot onto the campus of UW-La Crosse.  He took the reins as the Eagles head coach in 1985 and spent 19 years at the Division III track and field powerhouse before joining the coaching staff at UW-Madison in 2007.  Guthrie owns 22 Division III national championships and one Division I Championship as an assistant at Wisconsin-Madison.

"It's really a tremendous and humbling honor," Guthrie said of his induction. "You don't start out in this business thinking about halls of fame and that sort of thing, but to be honored by your peers like this is certainly a humbling experience," he added.  

Guthrie, whose coaching career began right out of college in 1975, has won championships at every major level in cross country/track and field.  His first job was at Fennimore (Wisc.) High School where he was the boys’ head cross country and track & field coach, guiding the team to three straight cross country state championships.  After Fennimore, he would move to Naperville (Ill.) High School before taking his first job at the college ranks with UW-La Crosse in 1985. 

He spent 19 years at UW-La Crosse and during that time frame he won an unprecedented 22 Division III National Titles (12 indoor/10 outdoor).  In addition to his 22 titles, his teams swept both the indoor and outdoor titles in the same season 10 times from 1988 through 2006, completing the feat in successive years from 1991-1993 and 2001-2004. 

“A lot of credit has to go to those I've worked with and coached throughout my career. Nothing that I've accomplished would have happened if it weren't for the assistant coaches, administrators and student-athletes I've had the opportunity to work with. I also have to give a lot of credit to all the parents who trusted their student-athletes to me and helped support them throughout their careers,” Guthrie said.

Guthrie’s peers named him the United States Track Coaches Association’s (now USTFCCCA) Division III National Coach of the Year eight times during his career, and he was named a Division III Regional Coach of the Year 11 times. 

Under his direction, Guthrie guided the Eagles to 34 WIAC titles, winning both the indoor and outdoor conference titles in his final year at La Crosse.  Guthrie won 16 WIAC Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year honors during his 19-year stint. 

In 1997, he was selected first vice-president of the USTCA (now USTFCCCA) Division III Track & Field Coaches and served as the Division III Track and Field president from 2000 to 2004.  In 2004, he was awarded United States Sports Academy’s Distinguished Service Award. 

Guthrie has coached five Olympic Trials participants with the most notable being 2004 Olympic gold medalist Andrew Rock.  Rock was a 17-time NCAA Division III All-American at UW-La Crosse.

WIAC All-Americans
NCAA Championship History
Academic All-Americans