Former UCLA track coach Bob Larsen wins major award
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Hearty congratulations to Bob Larsen, the former UCLA track and cross country coach who on Saturday received USA Track & Field’s Robert Giegengack Award at the Jesse Owens Awards and National Track & Field Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Indianapolis.
The award, named in honor of former Yale University coach and 1964 Olympic Team head coach Robert Giegengack, is given to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the development and success of USA Track & Field and the sport in general. The winner is chosen by the USATF board of directors.
Larsen retired in 1999 as head coach of the UCLA cross country program after 21 seasons and led the Bruins’ track and field program for 15 seasons. But he certainly didn’t retire.
Larsen cofounded the Team USA Running Group, now known as the Mammoth Track Club and based in Mammoth Lakes. Since its startup in March of 2001, the Mammoth Track Club has produced several national champions, set numerous records and has placed a number of athletes on U.S. Olympic and world championship teams.
Larsen’s best-known pupil is Meb Keflezighi, the Athens Olympic men’s marathon silver medalist and U.S. record holder at 10,000 meters. Keflezighi won four NCAA titles as a junior in 1997 -- cross country, indoor 5,000 meters and outdoor 5,000/10,000 meters, becoming the eighth athlete in NCAA history to win this double. He also became the third athlete in NCAA history to win the outdoor double and the cross country title in the same season (1997). Last month, Keflizighi became the first American man since 1982 to win the New York City marathon.
Larsen’s UCLA track-and-field teams won two NCAA Outdoor titles, and he was named national coach of the year in 1987, 1988 and 1995. The nine-time Pacific-10 Coach of the Year, Larsen was named the NCAA National Cross Country Coach of the Year in 1980.
Under Larsen, the Bruins had a remarkable dual meet record of 118-3-1; 12 unbeaten seasons, including five of his last six years (the Bruins were 10-0 in 1998, ’97 and ‘96, 8-0 in 1995 and 9-0 in 1994), with home dual winning streaks of 31 (1971-76), 32 (1979-83), 39 (1984-89) and 51 (1991-99). During his 15 years as head coach, Larsen never lost to archrival USC in dual competition.
‘Bob Larsen is one of the most respected and deserving coaches in our sport,’ USATF Chairman and President Stephanie Hightower said in a statement. ‘I am proud to have this opportunity to recognize him for his many accomplishments.’
All that, and a nice guy, too. Congratulations, coach!
-- Helene Elliott