Published: Feb. 19, 2016
Germantown to welcome 2 new members to its Hall of Fame
Ceremony is tonight
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
In his last days as an eighth grader, Ron DeLong had the
same aspiration as most young lads in Germantown: to play football for the
Warhawks.
So he signed up.
It wasn’t until his first days as a wide-eyed freshman in
the halls at Germantown High School he realized something: Football practice
had already started.
When he signed up and in the months that followed, he was
never told when practice started.
Disappointed and shocked by the news, he looked for
something else to do.
“It wound up being a blessing in disguise,” DeLong said.
The 56-year-old will be one of two inductees into the
Germantown Athletics Hall of Fame tonight. Joining him is Tracy Howard (nee
Tesch), Class of 1983.
DeLong earned eight varsity letters while competing in
cross-country and track for the Warhawks — four in cross-country and four in
track. He set several school records, including the 3,200meter run in track
with a 9:28.4 in his final race in 1977. It’s a record that stands today.
DeLong also led the Warhawks track team to a conference
championship in 1974.
Howard earned seven varsity letters in track and gymnastics.
She was also the gymnastics coach at Menomonee Falls from 19892003, then
continued as coach with Menomonee Falls combined with Germantown in 2004.
She retired from coaching in 2013.
“I’m very humbled and honored,” Howard said. “It’s very
nice.”
As coach, Menomonee Falls won the 1991 regional title and
the Menomonee Falls/Germantown co-op won the 2007 sectional title. She led
three conferencechampionship winning teams, helped 18 individuals advance to
state in 52 events and coached Kristi Kitzman, who won the floor exercise state
titles in 1996 and 1997, and the balance beam title in 1997.
“I enjoyed the camaraderie with the kids,” Howard said. “It
was fun to help them perfect high school gymnastics.”
DeLong will join former classmates in the school’s Hall of
Fame.
“It’s quite a privilege and honor to be included with the
other athletes that have been inducted, including Lew Potter and Wilbert
Henry,” DeLong said. “I had the privilege of being on same track team as Lew
Potter.”
Potter (Class of 1975) was a member of the first induction
class in 2007. Henry (Class of 1972) was a member of the 2013 Hall of Fame
class.
“It’s been a flattering and humbling experience,” DeLong
said.
Football was DeLong’s first choice. Football was in the
family blood. His father played football at Glenwood City High School in
northwest Wisconsin.
“Like most kids, we all dreamed of being the star,” DeLong
said. “If you wanted to be a star, you had to be in the spectator sports —
football and basketball.”
So when it came time to get ready for football practice his
freshman year at Germantown, he got the news he never expected.
“When I went to the first classes of the year, some of my
friends who were out for the football team said that I already missed
practice,” DeLong said.
So what now?
“I saw a post on the wall inviting students to try out for
the cross-country team,” he said. “I always liked running.”
After the first several practices, that’s not what he
thought. He wondered what he got himself into.
“Practices were grueling,” DeLong said. “I don’t know if I
had ever worked so hard in my life.”
He stuck with it.
“I’m not a quitter,” DeLong said. “I wasn’t going to quit
because it was difficult or challenging.
“It didn’t take long for me to realize that I was good at
the sport.”
After three weeks or so on the junior varsity team, DeLong
surged onto the varsity team and, in his sophomore year, the accolades piled
up.
As a sophomore, he was second at the cross-country
conference championship meet. The next year, he was third, which was a
disappointment. He believed he was the heir apparent to win the title as a
junior.
“I had my sights set on winning the championship my senior
year,” DeLong said.
That’s what he did.
On his biography for the Hall of Fame, DeLong is described
as a “focused and determined competitor known for his sharp elbows, jack rabbit
starts and ‘DeLong Stride.’” That determination and focus led him to the
conference championship and an eventual Hall of Fame tenure with the Warhawks.
From 1974-76, he was in the top-10 in all invitationals,
including a three-time invitational champion, and a state qualifier in 1976.
When he graduated, he was the school record-holder for best time by a sophomore,
a junior and a senior.
In track, he set school records in indoor mile run, two
individual meet mile run and two-mile run.
The two-mile run time of 9:28.4 was set in his final race as
a Warhawk — the sectional. He finished third at the sectional, which was short
of qualifying for state.
However, the two runners ahead of him at the sectional went
on to be 1-2 at state.
“It’s brought me a lot of pleasure,” DeLong said of the
school’s two-mile or 3,200-meter run record. “All records are meant to be
broken. I hope the next person who has it enjoys holding it as much as I have.”
Despite football being at the forefront in the family
household growing up, there was always a curiousity with running.
“I always had a fascination with numbers,” DeLong said. “Running
is about numbers and it’s about competing with not just against other people,
but also against times, numbers.”
He also never drifted far from the possibility of being a
runner. And the same went for him putting together a Hall of Fame resume at
Germantown.
“I enjoyed it quite a bit,” DeLong said.
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