Francis X. Cretzmeyer
Encyclopedia
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
in the 20th century, leading their team the Hawkeyes to multiple Big Ten
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
team titles. Before being a coach, he was a superb athlete
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
, but prevented from claiming individual titles by having the misfortune of being a contemporary of the legendary Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the...
, which meant that Cretzmeyer regularly came in second to Owens at Big Ten track meets.
Early years
He was born January 7, 1913 in Emmetsburg, IowaEmmetsburg, Iowa
Emmetsburg is a city in Palo Alto County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,958 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Palo Alto County. Emmetsburg is home to a campus of Iowa Lakes Community College...
, the son of Francis Xavier Cretzmeyer, Sr., an Iowa physician. He also had an uncle who was a physician in Algona. Cretzmeyer's father had played baseball for three years for the Iowa Hawkeyes before graduating in 1905, but Francis Jr. was expected to follow in the family tradition and become a doctor.
In 1938, he married Marian Cornwall, with whom he had five children: Mary Fran (married to John Niemeyer), Catherine, Margaret, Francis Xavier III http://www.coralvillepubliclibrary.org/Cretzmeyer.htm, and John. Cretzmeyer was well-known and liked in Iowa City social circles, and counted among his friends both Don Ameche
Don Ameche
Don Ameche was an Academy Award winning American actor with a career spanning almost sixty years.-Personal life:...
and his son Ron, owner of the "Ameche's Pumpernickel" restaurant.
Athlete
Cretzmeyer excelled in several track and field events, including long jumpLong jump
The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a take off point...
, high jump
High jump
The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....
, and javelin
Javelin throw
The javelin throw is a track and field athletics throwing event where the object to be thrown is the javelin, a spear approximately 2.5 metres in length. Javelin is an event of both the men's decathlon and the women's heptathlon...
, representing his school from 1934 until 1936, the year that he both graduated and was also an alternate for the Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
Summer Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
, in the hurdles event (the actual team was world recordholder Forrest Towns
Forrest Towns
Forrest Grady "Spec" Towns was an American track and field athlete. He was the 1936 Olympic champion in the 110 m hurdles, and broke the World Record in that event three times....
, who won gold, and Fritz Pollard, Jr., who won bronze).
As an individual athlete, Cretzmeyer never won an individual Big Ten title, but set school records for "points scored in a season" (144½), and also had a career record (355) that is still standing (as of 1993). His 220-meter hurdles were twice listed in the annual "best in the world" lists, but most often he found himself competing against the legendary Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the...
, which kept him off of the winner lists.
Coach
His first coaching job was in Harrisburg, IllinoisHarrisburg, Illinois
Harrisburg is a city and township in Saline County, Illinois, United States. It is located about southwest of Evansville, Indiana, southeast of St. Louis, Missouri. The 2010 population was 9,017, with a township population of 10,790. It is the county seat of Saline County...
in 1938, where he was the hand-picked choice to succeed Drake basketball star Bucky O'Connor
Bucky O'Connor
Frank "Bucky" O'Connor was a college men's basketball coach. He was the head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team from 1949 to 1958. Born in Monroe, Iowa, O'Connor spent much of his early life playing golf, as his parents managed a country club...
. Two years later, he went on to Des Moines North
North High School (Des Moines)
North High School, usually referred to simply as North, is a secondary school located in Des Moines, Iowa. It is one of five secondary schools under the district of the Des Moines Public Schools.The school's mascot is the Polar Bear.-Curriculum:...
, taking over for seven years as a swimming coach from Jack McGuire
Jack McGuire
Jack McGuire, a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, has represented the 86th District since 1995.-External links:* official IL House website** * profile*Follow the Money - John C. McGuire...
, and also as a track coach, helping teams to take three state cross-country titles, before switching to work as track coach for a year at Grinnell College
Grinnell College
Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, U.S. known for its strong tradition of social activism. It was founded in 1846, when a group of pioneer New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College....
.
In 1948, he took over as the head men's cross country coach at the University of Iowa, a job which he held for 30 years. He coached the Hawkeyes to their first ever Big Ten Cross Country team titles in 1963 and 1967, and championed the cause that African-American athletes could excel at more than just running short sprints. He coached seven NCAA Champions (six track, one cross country), 22 all-Americans (18 track, four cross country) and 146 Big Ten Champions (140 track, six cross country).
Some of the individual athletes who he coached included:
Ira James Murchison : Gold medal in the men's 4x100 meter relay, 1956 Summer Olympics
1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in Melbourne, Australia, in 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, which could not be held in Australia due to quarantine regulations...
in Melbourne, Australia.
Ted Wheeler :(1952-53, 1956) Competed in the 1,500 meters at the 1956 Olympics, was all-American in 800 meters (1952) and 1,500 meters (1956). Four-time Big Ten champion, winning both the 880 yards and mile at the 1956 Big Ten indoor and outdoor meets.
Deacon Jones : (1954-58) Competed in 3,000-meter steeplechase at 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, and 1960 games in Rome NCAA Champion and all-American in two miles (1957). First African-American to win NCAA cross country title (1955), eight-time Big Ten Champion, winning indoor mile and two-mile runs twice (1957-58), outdoor mile twice (1957-58), outdoor two-mile run once (1957) and cross country (1958). He still holds the school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Rich Ferguson
Rich Ferguson (athlete)
Richard K. Ferguson was a bronze medal winner and Canadian record breaker in the "Miracle Mile" race at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. He won the Lionel Conacher Award in 1954.-External links:*...
: (1952-55) NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Champion and All-American in two miles (1953), two-time Big Ten Champion in outdoor two-mile run (1952-53)
Retirement
He was a member of the Iowa Track Coaches Association, and in 1978, served as President of the United States Track Coaches Association.
Cretzmeyer died on April 2, 2001 in Iowa City, at the age of 88. The eulogy at his memorial was given by Larry Wieczorek, the current track coach at the University of Iowa.
Awards
- 1935, Finnish AAC
- 1936, Big Ten Medal of Honor (combined excellence)
- 1986, inducted into the Drake Relays Coaches Hall of Fame. http://www.drakerelays.org/coacheshalloffame.htm
- 1993, inducted into the Des Moines Register Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.
- Iowa Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame
Writing
- Bresnahan and Tuttle's Track and Field Athletics, 1969, Western Periodicals, California (co-author with Louis E. Alley and Charles M. Tipton) - Multiple editions, and the book has been translated into multiple languages
- Track and field athletics, 1974, 8th edition, Saint Louis: Mosby
Memorials
- The "Francis X. Cretzmeyer" Olympic-sized track at the University of Iowa was completed in 1986. It cost $2 million, and has hosted the 1987 and 2000 Big TenBig Ten ConferenceThe Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
championships, as well as the annual Iowa Musco Twilight Invitation. - The Cretzmeyer-Keatinge Scholarship