Wake Forest Athletics
Ruebel Named Interim Track And Field Head Coach
9/9/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Sept. 9, 1999
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Noel Ruebel, the assistant men's track and field coach at Wake Forest for the last three years, has been named the Demon Deacons' interim head men's track & field coach for the upcoming 1999-2000 school year, director of athletics Ron Wellman announced today.
Additionally, hall of fame coach Bill Dellinger has been hired to lead the Wake Forest men's cross country program for the 1999 fall season, Wellman announced.
A 17-year veteran of coaching on the collegiate level, Ruebel has spent the last three years developing the Wake Forest field and technical event program into one of the best in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Under his direction, the Demon Deacons broke four school records in various field events during the 1999 season alone.
Ruebel is also the personal coach of Wake Forest volunteer assistant track coach Chris Huffins, the bronze medal winner in the decathlon at the 1999 World Championships last month and the two-time defending U.S. National Champion. Prior to joining the Wake Forest program, Ruebel was an assistant coach at Purdue for 13 years and Ohio State for one year.
Dellinger comes to Wake Forest after a legendary 32-year career as the head track & field and cross country coach at the University of Oregon. After retiring from Oregon following the 1998 cross country season, Dellinger was elected into the U.S. Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame last winter. During his tenure with the Ducks, Dellinger's cross country teams finished among the top 10 at the NCAA Championships on 20 occasions, including winning National Championships in 1971, 1973, 1974 and 1977. On the individual front, 23 Duck harriers combined for 41 cross country All-America honors and four NCAA individual titles.
As an Oregon athlete prior to his coaching service, Dellinger enjoyed a distinguished career as a distance runner under the guidance of hall of famer Bill Bowerman. He was a NCAA champion in 1954 and 1956, and he earned placed on three successive U.S. Olympic teams in 1956, 1960 and 1964. He won the bronze medal in the 5,000 meters in 1964, and then rekindled his Olympic experience in 1984 as the assistant coach for men's distance runners as the Los Angeles Olympic Games.
The Wake Forest men's cross country team will open the 1999 season on Saturday, September 18th at the Winthrop Invitational in Rock Hill, S.C. Both Ruebel and Dellinger will assume their new duties immediately.
