The Big Ten Loses A Legend

I was alerted to the passing of long-time Indiana Coach Sam Bell by our Blog Laureate yesterday.  Most of us realize what great influences a good track coach can be, and the best among them mean even more to thousands of athletes.  Sam Bell was one of those among the best. RIP

Bell was a head coach at Oregon State (1958-65), California (1965-69) and Indiana (1969-98). His 1961 cross-country team at Oregon State won the N.C.A.A. championship. At Indiana, his men’s team won 22 Big Ten titles in indoor and outdoor track and cross-country; his women’s team there won four titles.

He had wide success coaching milers and half-milers. Berny Wagner, who succeeded him at Oregon State, told Track and Field News in 1991, “Sam’s very intense, and middle-distance runners have to be intense.”