Newly inducted Hall of famer Larry Williams 'blessed to be in a great place'

Larry Williams is a product of his community.

Growing up as an athlete in football and track at North High School. Becoming a head coach at 23. Still on the job almost 40 years later. Bloomington and its people helped shape Williams' notable, hall of fame worthy career.

As a result, he was added to the fold by the Indiana Track and Cross Country Coaches Association's Hall of Fame at last week's annual banquet.

"I'm blessed to be in a great place," said Williams, 60, who just retired from teaching. "Monroe County has a great love for track and cross country. Part of that is IU and also the community itself. There's rich tradition between high schools.

"The other thing is the guidance I had early on. John McNichols, who came to North my junior year, Ralph Sieboldt and Charlie Warthan."

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With Marshall Goss in charge of a strong program at South, McNichols wanted to bolster his team's numbers and Williams was one of his targets.

"He convinced me to stay with track and I did," Williams said. "When I graduated, he convinced me to come help out with the team when I was a freshman and sophomore at IU."

From North to South

His decision to become a PE teacher was strongly influenced by McNichols, Terry Thompson and football coach Wayne Nichols. He also soaked up the way McNichols and Siebolt coached and they made sure he was involved in the state coaches association and its inner workings.

"Ralph had a gentle way of working with people," Williams said. "I learned watching those two that this is something special."

Start of his junior year at IU, Marshall and McNichols began a cross country program for middle schoolers and Williams was among those asked to run it on a voluntary basis.

He got so involved in coaching it took him five and a half years to graduate from IU. Then he nearly ended up leaving town for a job teaching PE and coaching track and cross country at Pioneer.

But the principal at South asked him to hang on for a year, that a teaching opportunity might open up.  It did when Fred Huff retired.

"Things fell in line," Williams said. "I got to take over a program that was already established and I already understood how things worked around here. We could use IU's facilities back then in the winter.

"Now, I'm coaching children of my former student-athletes."

Getting started at South

When Marshall left for IU, McNichols pointed Williams to South and a paid assistant position under new coach Tom Alwine in the spring of 1983.

When South started a girls' cross country team that fall, Williams became a head coach, albeit unpaid, starting off with six runners. When Alwine stepped down, Williams began his run with the Panthers boys track and cross country programs.

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Almost immediately, pole vault became one of Williams' specialties out of necessity when he was tasked with guiding one Danny Burton, who was second in the state as a sophomore in '83.

"I remember watching those VHS tapes, holding that big camera on my shoulders and taping his runs," Williams said.

Marshall was always an ear he could bend. IU's Sam Bell as well. He also worked with former Olympian/Panther Dave Volz, who he got to know through Volz' wife Marci, a North kid like Williams.

From there, a string of many strong athletes, wins, team titles and state medals have followed.

"I've had great athletes and great support from the town," Williams said. "And I've had great coaches, not just the paid ones, but those who stepped forward to volunteer. And both high schools have made each other better, pushing each other and sharing resources."

Hall of Famer

Williams' track athletes have earned 66 state medals, including 12 state champions, won 19 sectional and 11 regional titles and seven top-10s at state. His cross country teams have won nine sectionals, seven regional and five semistate titles to go with five top-10 finishes at state.

Williams, like most coaches, certainly didn't have getting into a hall of fame as a career goal. But, like most coaches, wanted to build the kind of resume it would take to be so honored. Because it would mean touching hundreds, thousands of lives in a positive way.

"I was blessed to be in the right place and have great mentors," Williams said.

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Years later, Williams has made friends and colleagues all over the state, many of whom voted him into the hall. He had tables full of familiar faces in front of him at the ceremonies last Friday.

"I'm very, very humbled," Williams said. "Many people reached out to me. It was special. It's not a goal, but you get that stamp, that people did recognize what you did.

"You run into some of your kids and see what they're doing in life. They introduce you to their wives and kids. It's special. You hope you had made an impact on some kids. That's special stuff right there."

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Hall of famer Larry Williams 'blessed to be in a great place'