The Hall of Famers :: Dean Erhard

There are hundreds of small decisions that we make as humans every day. What shirt to put on in the morning? What to make for lunch? Watch TV or read a book tonight? You never know when one of those small, seemingly inconsequential choices will change the entire course of your life.

For Dean Erhard, who enters the Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame this Friday, the decision wasn't about an outfit or a meal, but rather a haircut.

Erhard's family moved around a lot in the 1960s, the result of a successful father working a job in the oil industry. Every new promotion also meant a new place to call home for Erhard. He began his life in Havre before making a few more stops in Montana. Helena first, then Billings, which is the first place that he remembers.

Then Erhard left Montana behind for Bellevue, Wash. where he attended kindergarten. Next came Tulsa, Okla. and then La Habra, Calif. He stayed in California for a while, living near Los Angeles and constructing a group of friends.

The move from California to Illinois in middle school is when Erhard's life changed. It happened over the summer between eighth grade and his freshman year of high school. The jump to high school is massive for any student, let alone one who had just moved across the country.

"I didn't know anybody. I didn't know a soul," Erhard remembers. "That's an impressionable, kind of rough time in your life to be a new kid."

A new kid in a new world, Erhard looked for some sense of community. He decided to try out for a sport as a freshman. After all, very few things can bring people together in life like athletics. He checked out what fall sports Deerfield offered.

He discovered football and cross country. He hadn't played either growing up and didn't feel strongly either way. Then he saw the requirements to be a member of the football team.

"Football you had to get a crew cut. Cross country you didn't," Erhard said. "So the whole reason for me starting running and going out for cross country was the decision made about whether I wanted to get a crew cut or not. Pretty silly, but that was the rationale."

50 years later, Erhard couldn't be more thankful for that decision.

He didn't know anything about running when he picked it up as a freshman, but he did fairly well from the start. He had a natural running ability, even if he didn't know much about strategy or competing. He just went out and ran.

His times got better and better throughout his high school career, and soon he was competing against the very best runners in Illinois. His senior year he placed fourth in the State Cross Country meet. For someone who had no experience just a few years prior, the quick acceleration in ability had him thinking of an athletic career beyond high school.

When he started to weigh his options, Montana came quickly to his mind. He was, after all, born in the state and had family that had attended the University of Montana. In the pre-internet era, Erhard couldn't just send an instant message to the university, and Montana's coaching staff couldn't find him in any statistical databases online.

The first contact between Erhard and Montana came in the form of a letter. He wrote it personally to Harley Lewis, the head coach at the time. Lewis coached from 1968 to 1978 and served as Director of Athletics at Montana for 14 years after his coaching career ended.

Lewis, also a member of the Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame, still remembers receiving the letter from Erhard. It opened the door to learn more about the runner from Illinois, and he soon had offered Erhard a scholarship.

Lewis recruited far and wide and had built a dominant track and field and cross country program at Montana. His teams won five Big Sky Championships from 1967 to 1972. The allure of a great distance running school caught Erhard's attention. But he also excelled in academics and found something else that he liked in Montana, a forestry school.

Erhard accepted a scholarship and enrolled at Montana in the fall of 1973. He quickly built a strong relationship with Lewis.

"Getting the scholarship I felt like, I'm going to get a chance to go run and I sure don't want to squander this," Erhard said. "I want to make the most of it and do as well as I can. Harley was a great coach for me. A very motivating influence, and I can really vividly remember being a senior in high school and thinking, 'Oh boy, I've got this chance. I don't want to blow it and I'm going to do the best that I can.'"

After a successful high school career, it took some time for Erhard to adjust to the collegiate level. As he said, "The competition level, the intensity, the workouts, everything gets ramped up another degree or two."

His freshman year ended with a fifth-place team finish in cross country. As he switched over from cross country to track, he started to learn a new discipline that he had not seen at the high school level - the steeplechase.

The event had become a strength for Lewis' Montana teams. George Cook won the Big Sky Championship in the event in 1970, 1972 and 1973. In 1974, Erhard's freshman season of track, Doug Darko claimed the Big Sky crown.

Lewis certainly knew what it took to be a successful distance runner, and when he landed Erhard he knew he had the potential to carry on the success of Cook and Darko.

"I was tickled to get him. He had the frame, he had the ability, the speed, he had all the things needed to be a quality distance runner," Lewis said.

There was a certain legacy to the Grizzly steeplechase crew. Lewis, a thrower in his competitive days, learned under Bill Bowerman while in Portland. Bowerman, the Oregon track and field coach who is a co-founder of Nike, shared some tips with Lewis.

Lewis then imparted that wisdom onto the runners at Montana, building a dominant cross country program and a great distance group in track and field. It also led to the long run of championships in the steeplechase. Cook got things started, but it was Darko who carried the torch to pass on to Erhard.

"We had a pretty stout steeplechase history in our school. George ran and before that Howie Johnson placed in conference," Darko said. "George kind of taught me the ins and outs of steeple and I passed what I learned on to Dean."

Erhard watched Darko win the Big Sky Championship in 1974. He finished fourth as a freshman. By 1975, it was Erhard crossing the finish line first at the Big Sky meet for the first of his three conference titles in the event.

Just as Cook had learned from Johnson, and Darko from Cook, Erhard took the lessons learned from his veteran and applied it to great success. Darko remembers having to learn steeplechase. The best way to clear a barrier, how to land in the water – one footed, not with two feet. He said Erhard never had any of those problems. The young kid from Deerfield was a natural, whether he admits it or not.

"I didn't even know anything about steeplechase," Erhard said. "It was Harley Lewis that got me going with that. There had always been steeplers in the past at Montana, Doug Darko being one of them, and really I'm going to give Doug a lot of credit because whatever I was doing in the steeple I was learning from him. We all kind of hand that down to the next person."

Erhard's first two years brought with them plenty of growth. His freshman cross country season saw Montana finish fifth in the Big Sky after winning the previous four titles. Erhard was Montana's top finisher after Darko missed the season due to a medical hardship.

He bumped up his finish to 6^th in the 1974 cross country season and Darko's return helped the Grizzlies regain their conference championship. They would compete at the national meet where Erhard finished inside the top 100. He then went on to win the Big Sky Championship in steeplechase, making it at the time five wins in six years for Grizzly runners.

Part of his success in cross country came from his ability on hills. That ability, Erhard believes, is also what helped make him a good steeplechaser. He continued to work on his maturity and race strategy every year, and it paid off at the 1975 cross country championship.

The event, held in 30-degree weather in Moscow, Idaho, was run on a golf course with plenty of hills. The perfect environment for Erhard.

"That thing was just hilly as can be. I remember it was about a mile to go in that race I had started to take the lead," Erhard said. "I thought, if I can keep pushing I think I can get this thing and sure enough."

He would win the individual title with a time of 25:43 and the Grizzlies repeated as team champions. He improved upon his placement at the NCAA meet that year and entered his junior track and field season more confident.

At the Big Sky meet, Erhard defended his Steeplechase title and again qualified for nationals. But he once again came up short of his goal to reach the finals and finished sixth in his heat.

Erhard left school after his junior year as a three-time Big Sky Conference champion and a four-time NCAA qualifier, an impressive resume. But he felt that he had more to give. He worked at it all summer before his junior season and saw growth. He knew that he couldn't take any time off before his senior year if he wanted to reach the heights he knew he was capable of going.

"As a freshman and sophomore, (Erhard) was a very good runner and very good team member," Lewis said. "Then he learned that if he was going to become an elite athlete, he had to not only do the work he participated in when school was in session. He learned that it was a 12-month job. After his sophomore year, he dedicated himself in the summers to running, training, developing himself by adding strength and endurance. It was through that effort that he really grew."

He still had school, and life after college, to think about. He had been an exceptional student to that time – Darko said that his first impression of Erhard was that "he was really intelligent. He really was very smart and he was very involved with school."

The forestry major took a job with the Bureau of Land Management during the summer before his senior year. The work took him to Dillon where he had long days out in the sun. As his coworkers retreated from the sun to grab dinner, Erhard reached for his running shoes instead of a dinner plate.

"As soon as we got back, I'd try to get an eight or nine mile run in," Erhard said.

It may have seemed strange to his coworkers at the time. But Erhard could sense that there was something special on the horizon. He had been in great shape before. As he entered his final year of collegiate competition, great wasn't enough. He needed to be in the best shape of his life.

"I remember being really focused that summer thinking, this is my last year," Erhard said. "I've been to several NCAA meets and I know I can do this, I just need to buck up and get it done. Get myself in the best shape that I can and go for it. That was my mindset for senior year. Man, it all worked out well."

Boy did it. During his senior year of cross country he broke the UM Course Record during the regular season and headed to Boise, Idaho for the Big Sky Championships to defend his crown. He made a move in mile four of the five-mile race, leading down the stretch and winning his second straight title by 12 seconds.

The team didn't qualify for nationals, but Erhard did as an individual. The Big Sky title was nice, but the goal for his senior season was to leave his mark on the national stage. He traveled to Denton, Texas for his opportunity on a 10,000-meter course against the best that the country had to offer.

He ran a time of 29:15 to finish 26^th, but he was the 16^th overall American in the race. The finish earned him All-American honors, making him just the second Grizzly in program history to achieve the high honor behind Doug Brown. To this day, he's one of just five male Grizzlies to be named a cross country All-American.

The long runs in the summer had paid off for Erhard, but the beauty of running both cross country and track is that there is no time to rest on your laurels. Erhard didn't let up in his training, and knew he had to be prepared for track season. It led to a hard winter of running.

The cross country All-American honor wasn't necessarily a surprise, but he did jump from 71^st overall to 16^th in one year. If he could make that type of progress in cross country, he knew there was a chance to do something very special in steeplechase during his senior season.

He didn't have to wait until nationals to confirm that he was in the best shape of his life. Erhard traveled to Seattle for the University of Washington Twilight meet in early May of 1977. At sea level, facing off against some of the best competition in the country, Erhard had the run of his life.

Eight minutes, forty seconds. The time that he ran on that day in Seattle 46 years ago still stands in the University of Montana record book as the fastest steeplechase in school history. It's amazing to Erhard that his record has stood the test of time, but even now he still thinks back to how he could have improved it.

"I do remember that race and it was one of those races where everything just really felt smooth and almost I guess… relatively easy, I'll put it that way," Erhard said. "There are some races you do and you might do well but it's just hard, hard, hard. That was just one of those instances where it just wasn't very hard. There's been many times where I thought, 'Oh man, I wish I would have put the kick on a little bit sooner and maybe I would have gone under 8:40.' But that's that."

He faced a different challenge in Bozeman at the Big Sky Championships, entering as a two-time defending champion and favorite but facing off against a burgeoning Northern Arizona team that had experience at elevation and a great runner in Jim Trapp.

Trapp led for much of the race, but Erhard was content to run right behind and match his pace. He made his move in the final laps, leaving Trapp in the dust and matching his own Big Sky meet record with a time of 8:58.

Erhard didn't settle for just the one medal. The next day, he won the three-mile with a time of 14:04.5 for his sixth overall Big Sky Individual Championship. The tremendous two days also earned him the Most Outstanding Athlete Award at the meet.

It set him up for another opportunity at the NCAA meet, but before he that he had a chance to compete at the US Track and Field Federations Championship meet. The event was held in Wichita, Kansas, and Erhard ran a time of 8:43.09 to finish third and receive an All-American honor from the USTFF.

It gave him even more confidence heading to the NCAA Championship. Erhard had been twice, and twice had failed to make it out of his qualifying heat. It's a difficult task to run well enough to qualify but also not leave yourself completely spent for the final. Not to mention you are striding with the top athletes from the biggest schools in the country.

The third time proved the charm, as Erhard finished second in his heat to reach the finals. Once there, he ran his second-fastest time ever, finishing in 8:42 to finish fifth overall and earn All-American honors yet again. He was the first All-American for Montana in nearly a decade.

"I was so pleased to bring that back to Montana. I was pleased to give that to Harley because he had given me everything he could and just pleased to bring it back to the University," Erhard said. "When you're running on a scholarship, you do feel some obligation to try to do your best and I just felt like to achieve All-American and to bring it back to the University, I was just tickled. It's really hard to put into words just how proud I was."

Across the country, and most notably in Montana, friends of Erhard's parents took scissors to newspaper and filled envelopes to send of the family. Erhard's mother, Dorothy, collected them all into a scrapbook.

The details of that book certainly reveal an athlete worthy of the Hall of Fame. Six Big Sky Championships. Two All-American honors. The outstanding meet at the Big Sky Championships. Two team Cross Country league titles. A 46-year school record.

Erhard is much more than record times and All-America plaques, though. Darko remembers traveling to Provo, Utah for nationals with Erhard and watching him study in the dorm room for hours in between events. Lewis said that he's one of the most dedicated student-athletes he ever coached.

"I think that he displayed skill sets in athletics, but he also displayed the efforts to become not only a good athlete but a really good student," Erhard said. "He was the total package."

The academic accolades rolled in as he graduated in 1977, piling on top of his already packed trophy cabinet. He was named the Outstanding Senior by the School of Forestry and also earned the Grizzly Cup, a distinguished award presented to the University of Montana's top student-athlete.

He went to graduate school at Oregon State and resumed running, competing in many races across the Northwest with the goal of qualifying for the 1980 Olympics. An injury to his knee derailed his hopes, and he ended competitive running to find a job in his field.

Erhard spent many years with the US Forest Service, working in National Forests in Wyoming and Colorado. He retired in 2011 as the forest ecologist for the Rio Grande National Forest in Colorado.

Lewis knows plenty of Montana history as a Hall of Famer himself. He was involved in Grizzly Athletics for three decades as an athlete, coach, and athletic director. The story of Dean Erhard, to him, certainly reads as a Hall of Fame tale.

"Here is a kid that grew into a nationally competitive runner and to have him at the University of Montana both as a student and an athlete was a rarity," Lewis said. "I feel he certainly belongs in the Grizzly Hall of Fame."

Erhard hasn't been back to Missoula since the early 1980s, but that doesn't mean he hasn't remained connected to the University of Montana. His mother Dorothy established the Dean Erhard Athletic Award in 2002. It's given every year to a student-athlete with at least a 3.0 GPA.

It's made a difference in the lives of many distance runners over the years. Erhard's induction also happens to come the same year that Montana hosts the Big Sky Cross Country Championships. It's the first time since 2007 that Montana has hosted, and Erhard will be out at the golf course on Friday morning, returning to the place where he put in so many miles, to take it all in.

Then comes the banquet, and on Saturday a ceremony on the field of Washington-Grizzly Stadium. It will be the first time that Erhard has seen the facility, which was just a practice field when he last visited Missoula.

He's lived a great life, full of personal and professional accomplishments. His wife Joyce and he have two sons, Grayson and Sumner. It will be a sweet moment for him to return to Montana and stand in front of 26,000 fans inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium, applauding him and his fellow class members. Just the latest accolade for one of the best runners to ever wear a Montana uniform.

"Now the University wants to honor me and three others with this induction, which is just icing on the cake for me."

University of Montana Athletics

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