Ex-NIU men's track coach Morris dies in Colorado

Former Northern Illinois head track and field coach Hal Morris (center) was buried Monday in Colorado. Morris is shown with his 1971 co-captains Dan Jaques (left) and Craig Clendening (right). NIU Sports Information Archives Photo

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DeKALB - Funeral services and a "celebration dinner" in memory of former Northern Illinois University head men's track coach and physical education professor Harold "Hal" Morris were conducted Monday in Bloomington, Ind. Morris, who ushered the Huskie thinclad program into the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I ranks and produced national caliber Northern Illinois student-athletes such as shot putters Rich Bilder and George Tyms, plus sprinter Gerry Krainik during his five-year tenure during 1968-73, passed away Thursday (Jan. 22) at age 65 in Keystone, Co., only months after his retirement from Indiana University. His untimely death was a shock to the Bloomington community where he served as the chair of the Indiana department of kinesiology for 18 years (1983-2001) and 25-plus years on the IU faculty. "I'm very sorry to hear that," said Tyms, a 2000 inductee into the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame and a three-time United States Olympic Trials weightman qualifier in 1972, 1976, and 1980. "Hal Morris was the guy who recruited me. He saw something in a small, squat shot putter. He had confidence in me and was the only one who actively recruited me. "He pretty much was responsible for building the Northern Illinois weight program at that time. He loved data and early computer information. Hal was a researcher, a scholar. That's what I admired most about him. That's probably why he got out of coaching and went into academia. "Remember the classroom in Chick Evans Field House? That's where he'd give the track team our pep talks. One of his favorite expressions was 'gents, you've got to put your jocks on tight this week' or he'd remind our runners 'not to be afraid to pass anyone wearing a Southern Illinois uniform.' That's really sad news about his passing," Tyms added. At Northern Illinois, Morris founded the NIU Invitational Track and Field Team Championships in 1969, a major spring event that featured top-level Midwest competition and one that the Huskies won on two occasions. In addition, he upgraded the Northern Illinois scheduling and entered the program into the top relay events in the region. Morris was hired by Huskie athletics patriarch George G. "Chick" Evans in May, 1968. Prior to his arrival in DeKalb, Morris served as a teacher and coach at West Liberty High School in Iowa and at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. A native of Atchison, Kan., Morris received his bachelor of science degree in education and a master's degree from Fort Hays State, where he was a standout track performer for four years. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1960, his master's in 1961, and was awarded his doctorate by Indiana in 1972. As a prep at Horton High School, Morris specialized as a miler in track and starred in cross-country. He competed in eight consecutive Kansas Relays - four as a high schooler and four at Fort Hays State. In college, Morris captained the cross-country team as a senior in 1959 and contributed to an unbeaten dual-meet track string that ran from 1946 to 1960. In 1973, Morris left the Northern Illinois track program to concentrate on the classroom and research at Ithaca College in New York. "Instead of investing his considerable energies and talents into the coaching of athletes, Hal turned his focus to research on topics of motor control, including single motor-unit control, and reaction time as a function of sensory modality," said David L. Gallahue, the dean of the Indiana school of health, physical education, and recreation. "It was at this juncture that Hal developed a well-deserved reputation for excellence as a teacher and excellence as a researcher. His accomplishments did not go unnoticed and he was promoted to the rank of professor in 1977. Morris returned to Indiana in 1978 where his primary teaching responsibilities were in the area of applied statistics where he taught inferential statistics, correlation and multivariate analyses and experimental design. As department chair, he expanded the academic major offerings and designed IU's Human Performance Laboratories that opened in 1989. Morris was elected president of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance in 1990. After his tenure as president of AAHPERD, he received the Sagamor of the Wabash award by the governor of Indiana. Due to his extensive scholarship, Morris became an elected Fellow in the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education. In 2002, he was the recipient of the Luther Halsey Gulick Medal - the highest award given by the AAHPERD. Perhaps the most coveted honor on the Morris resume was the Indiana School of HPER Outstanding Teacher Award in 2001. Born on Dec. 21, 1938, he was the son of Homer and Margaret Morris. Survivors include his wife, Theresa, four sons, John of California, Mark and wife Beth of South Carolina, Eddie and wife Lisa of Bloomington, and Michael of Indianapolis; five grandchildren, one brother Robert, and one sister Mary Green. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Indiana University Foundation to support student scholarships in the memory of Dr. Harold H. Morris. The address: Indiana University Foundation, Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind. 47405.