CONVENTION UPDATE: The Late Ralph Lindeman Honored With George Dales Award

Ralph Lindeman is this year’s recipient of the George Dales Award.

Lindeman was posthumously feted on Tuesday during the USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame Dinner and Induction Ceremony Presented by REKORTAN. He passed away in March 2022.

The George Dales Award is named in honor of longtime Western Michigan coach George Dales for his relentless pursuit in the growth and development of cross country and track & field over more than half of a century. This award is presented annually to an individual who, like Dales, enhanced the profession of coaching cross country and track & field.

Lindeman started his coaching career in 1973 as an assistant coach at Carl Hayden High School in Phoenix, Arizona, where he worked with the football and track & field teams. Over the next 11 years, he maneuvered his way through the prep coaching ranks in the Grand Canyon State until he broke into collegiate coaching at Arizona State in 1980. Two years later, Lindeman was hired by USTFCCCA Hall of Famer Dave Murry at the University of Arizona, where he’d stay until he left for his first head coaching position at Long Beach State in 1984.

His path eventually led to the Air Force Academy, where he’d spend the last 33 years of his legendary career. Under his direction, the Falcons soared to great heights. Air Force won nine Mountain West team titles, captured more than 200 individual conference titles, and earned nearly 90 All-America plaudits at the NCAA Championships. Lindeman, himself, was an 18-time MWC Coach of the Year and a six-time USTFCCCA Mountain Region Coach of the Year.

Lindeman paid it forward, speaking at coaching clinics in 25 states and four countries, and penned several articles that were published in several professional journals. He also served as President of the Division I Coaches of the U.S. Track & Field Coaches Association from 2000 to 2003 and during that time, started up various award programs, including the Assistant Coach of the Year and All-Academic, among others.