Bill Bergan: Iowa State has a Mount Rushmore for head coaches. Bill Bergan will definitely be included. The Cyclones’ head coaching icon, the former men’s track and cross country coach, died Monday. He is 80 years old. Bill Bergen is recognized as the most successful coach in Iowa State history.
Bill Bergan is one of the most compassionate, competitive, and compassionate people I have ever met. Iowa State Athletics Director Jamie Poulter said. Athletic Department Magazine Announcement Bill remains a legend in our industry. He still has a strong influence on our program.
From 1971-1995, Bergen was a powerful coach in the running, bringing Iowa State’s 1989 and 1994 NCAA cross-country team titles. His teams also won 28 Big Eight team titles. He has coached 16 Olympians, including Danny Harris and Sunday Anti, who achieved feats in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Harris also won a silver medal in the 400m hurdles at the 1987 World Championships and became the first man since 1977 to beat Edwin Moses at a track meet in Madrid in 1987. Other Bergen athletes who have won individual NCAA championships include Gareth Brown (800 meters), Jon Brown (5,000 meters), Scott Crowell (discus), Jonah Koch (5,000 meters and cross country), John Nuttall (cross country), Brian Tietjens (high jump). , and Bob Verbeek (1,500 meters).
Bergen, a native of Cedar Falls, graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 1965. He coached at Water Columbus from 1965-71. Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson begins his 50th year writing sports for the Des Moines Register in December 2021.
Contact him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, 515-284-8132, and on Twitter @RandyPete. Bergen is survived by his wife, Karen, and children, Jody, Dan, Mike, and Amy. Bergan was able to get many medals in the world… He became the most famous person in the world.
He also continued as a coach in some universities. He is said to be remembered as an unforgettable person. He continued to stand as a good master in the Olympics. And so this man continued.
