Lane graduated from Northfield High School in 1974, where he played football, basketball and competed in track and field. He received high-caliber coaching from Dick Lemming, Mark Coppler and was positively influenced by the summer AAU track meets at Northfield in the late 1960s. There, he saw the likes of Larry Highbaugh, Mike Hanna and Northfield state high jump champion Gary Haupert.

While attending Purdue and student teaching at West Lafayette Junior High, Lane volunteered to coach football and track at West Lafayette High School. After one year coaching at Lebanon, he was back at West Lafayette as an assistant coach in football and track. In the 1981-1982 school year, he took over head coaching duties in track, a position he continues to hold. In 1997, he took over girls head coaching duties and also continues in that position.

Purdue Coach Mike Poehlein recruited Lane and Rensselaer’s Gene Edmonds in 1982 to resurrect indoor high school track in Lambert Fieldhouse. Lane and his West Lafayette staff have continued to host practices and meets in Lambert ever since.

Those combined 62 seasons as head coach (39 boys and 23 girls) have collectively produced 53 Hoosier Conference team championships, 56 individual all-state performers (four state champions) and 27 all-state relays (seven state champs) from a school with an enrollment of about 750.

Lane has been nominated as girls IATCCC 2A coach of the year 13 times since 2002 and has won five times. He has been nominated boys IATCCC 2A coach of the year 14 times since 2001 and has won five times.

Coach Custer has also been in charge of the Purdue Area Track Club for over 30 years.

Becca (Williams) Podojil

Tri High School

If greatness in athletics is measured by the ability to compete against the best, then Becca (Williams) Podojil surely is one of the greats. In the history of Tri High School, she was a competitor who combined natural talent, hard work and a will to overcome obstacles. A multiple sport competitor early in her career, she fought through rehabilitation, conquered the injury, then left her lasting mark on the record books. A holder of seven of 14 Lady Titan records in track and field, she focused her final two seasons on the 100-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles, making it all the way to the state finals in both her events her senior year. Becca finished runner-up in both events. She was also presented the Mental Attitude Award, given for excellence in attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability.
Given a scholarship to Miami University of Ohio, she competed as a top Division I performer. During her time at Miami, she was a two-time All-American, placing fourth at the 1996 NCAA Championships and fifth at the 1997 Championships. Twice named the Most Valuable Performer of the Mid American Conference Championships, Becca also was an eight-time MAC champion (indoors and outdoors), capturing the 100-meter hurdles title in 1995, 1996 and 1997, winning the 400 meters and the 400 hurdles in 1996, plus three indoor titles in the pentathlon and 60-meter hurdles. She was a U.S. Olympic trial qualifier, becoming the first alternate for the Olympic team in 1996. Her personal record in the 400 hurdles of 54.98 is still the fastest ever by a female MAC performer. Additionally, she was a United States Track Coaches Association Scholar All-American and was a three-time Academic All-MAC selection.
Becca lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and three children.

Ellie Tidman

Batesville High School

Ellie Tidman was born in France and arrived in Batesville while in early elementary school, when her father found employment with the Hillenbrand Company.
She and her two younger sisters became very active in volleyball and track and field. Much of her athletic career was participating on a traveling volleyball team. Finding time for track and field, she had great success winning every competition throughout her high school career, four county championships, three conference championships (she did not participate in her senior year due to a back injury), four IHSAA sectional, regional and state championships. She found time to help her team as a sprinter and is the school record holder in the long jump.
Tidman won the Midwest Meet of Champions and was named Miss Indiana of Track and Field in 2010.
Her accomplishments attracted the intention of the coaches of Vanderbilt University to award her a track and field scholarship.

She set personal records in both the 2013 and 2015 outdoor season (5-9 1/4) and placed in the 2015 Southeastern Conference indoor championships during an injury-plagued collegiate career.
After college, Tidman spent time as a voluntary coach for Vanderbilt University while starting her business career.

Jan (Eichenauer) Gappa

Wabash High School

Jan (Eichenauer) Gappa began her freshman year at Wabash High School with a difficult decision to make between her love of two spring sports, track and field or tennis. Her choice to pursue a career in track paid immediate dividends, as Jan burst onto the Indiana state track and field scene with a state championship in the long jump (18-6 ½) and a third-place finish in the 200-meter dash during her ninth grade year in 1997.
While a serious knee injury derailed her sophomore year and limited her ability to compete in track and field in 1998, Jan was not finished. With the support of her family and coaches, she trained even harder and returned to the highest level of state competition as a junior. At the state finals in 1999, Jan leapt a high school personal best in the long jump of (19-0) to finish as runner-up, while also capturing third place in the 200 (25.35) and sixth place in the 100 (12.28).
Capping off an amazing high school career as a senior in 2000, Jan won her second state title in the long jump (18-10) and placed fifth in the 200 (25.37). Jan placed in seven individual finals track events in her high school career, including the two state titles, helping her to become the 26^th all-time state finals scorer with 51 points. Later that summer, Jan earned All-American status in three events (long jump, 200 and 4x100 relay) at the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics in Buffalo, New York.
Jan was a four-year member of the Purdue women’s track and field team, highlighted by a 2001 indoor Big Ten team championship. She served as team captain during her junior and senior seasons, while competing in the long jump and heptathlon.
Jan resides in Indiana with her husband and three children.

Andrew Shields

Fishers High School

Andrew Shields excelled at both track and Cross Country at Fishers High School 2006-2009. He started his success as an All-Hoosier Crossroads Conference cross country runner in 2006 and followed with additional ones in 2007 and 2008. Shields’ IHSAA results began with 13^th place in 2006, fifth in 2007 and finished with a state championship in 2008, adding a team championship in 2007. He became an All-American in both national high school championships (Nike seventh and Footlocker fourth). In 2008, Drew became Indiana’s Gatorade cross country runner of the year.
His track success followed much the same as cross country, starting with a seventh place finish in the 2007 1600-meter state championships. He added three championships: both the 800 and 1600 meters in 2008, followed up with another 1600-meter championship in 2009. He ran the anchor leg on both the 2007 and 2008 state runner-up 4x800 relays.
Again, Drew ran in the Nike Outdoor National High School meets becoming an All-American in 2008 as a member of the runner-up 4x800 relay and fourth in the 2009 mile.
His outstanding senior season brought an invitation to run in the prestigious Penn Relays boys high school championship and a runner-up finish again placed him among the best of the best.
Drew started his collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin as the 2010 cross country Big 10 freshman of the year and an USTFCCCA All-Academic. He was a participating member of the NCAA national championship cross country team.
In 2014, he graduated with honors from Wisconsin majoring in economics.

Matt Terrell

Ben Davis High School

Matt Terrell was born in Champaign, Illinois, and moved to Indiana at the age of 11. He didn’t get into the sport of track and field until after seeing his older brother running on the junior high team and he wanted to prove that he could also run and be somewhat good.

Eighth grade was his first competitive season indoors. He can recall his first 200-meter race indoors like it was yesterday and remembers that it seemed a long way to the finish. The coaches yelled at him to cut in and he couldn’t hear so he looked around while continuing to run. He finished first and everyone was amazed that he was able to win after looking around at the coaches!

The following outdoor season was a success, gaining fundamentals and additional skills. He didn’t really fall in love with track until his freshman high school season. After meeting with Ben Davis varsity Coach Mike Davidson, he knew he wanted to be a part of something greater than himself. He asked Coach Davidson on the first day of practice how he could attain varsity status and, after the seemingly long list was described, Matt was determined. A varsity sprinter was injured during spring break and Matt was selected to take his place. That day, he ran varsity and went on to win the state 200-meter championship three years in a row and the 100-meter championship his senior year in 2009.

Matt went on to attend Ohio State University, where he placed in the Big Ten championships in the 100 meters and the 4x100 relay. He continues his career coaching at an Ohio high school and also runs an extermination business.

Lee Aldridge

Lee graduated from Indiana University in 1959, where he attended on an athletic scholarship and earned a B.S. in physical education. He played basketball on two Big Ten championship teams. In 1969, Lee earned an M.S. in business education from Ball State University. Lee has been married to his wife Ruth Nash Aldridge for 58 years. He spent 36 years in public education, the last 30 at Pioneer High School, where he served as athletic director for 20 years.
For 48 years, Lee served as an IHSAA official in football, track and field, cross country and swimming. Notable involvement includes being a part of the starting crew for the state finals for 13 years and officiating five 5A football championships. Lee also served for several years as an IHSAA rules interpreter for track and field and football.
Lee was the head starter for Division I or Division II NCAA indoor track championship meets for 23 consecutive years, traveling to Indianapolis, Boston, Houston, Albuquerque and Mankato, Minnesota. He also worked nine years at the NCAA cross country championships. Lee was the head starter at several Big Ten track and cross country championships. Likewise, he has been the head starter for championships at the Missouri Valley Conference, the Summit Conference and the Heartland Conference. Lee has officiated meets in 17 different states.
Lee also officiated at the World Indoor Championships, the Pan-Am Games, the World Police and Fire Games and three Olympic Trials (1988, 1992 and 2000). Other honors include the Meredith Payne Official of the Year Award in 1994, along with the National Federation of Interscholastic Officials Association Award in 1996.
Lee has enjoyed his many years of service as an official and would like to thank all of the co-workers and athletes for their support and participation.

4 x 100 Relay 1982

Gary Roosevelt High School

The 1982 4x100 Gary Roosevelt relay team still holds the IHSAA state finals record some 38 years later in 41.02. It was a historical group that made up this relay: Don Young who at this writing holds the number #2 spot on the 100-meter all-time list at 10.19, Glenn Moore third in 10.22, Jeffrey Patrick fifth in 10.25 and Alan Price, who might have been among the list of great sprinters had he not been running with such great dashmen.

Three of the relay members would become the only athletes from a school to place first (Jeffery Patrick), second (Don Young) and third (Glen Moore) in an IHSAA state championship. They all had to meet the qualifying standard in the IHSAA regional meet to qualify to the state meet (only two automatically qualify in each event).

All went on to outstanding collegiate careers: Jeff Patrick, University of Iowa; Don Young, Pasadena Junior College; Alan Price, Southwest Michigan and Glenn Moore, Pasadena Junior College.

That quartet ran an even swifter 40.92 a few days earlier in the regional that year!

Indiana’s Lost Olympian – Orval Martin

Orval Martin was the second of ten children born to Edith and Preston “Dick” Martin near Ferndale, Indiana, (just east of Rockville in Parke County) and attended Bellmore High School.
He would win the mile at the 1926 IHSAA state finals and place second in the National Interscholastic Meet.
Martin’s years at Purdue would produce nine Big Ten championships. He won the 880-yard run indoors in 1928 and 1930 and outdoors in 1929. He also won the mile indoors in 1929 and 1930 and outdoors in 1928, 1929 and 1930. He also won the cross country championship in 1929. During that time, Orval also won five Indiana Intercollegiate championships.
Record-setting times were established by Martin at the Drake Relays in the two-mile run and the 1500-meter run, as well as in the 1000-yard run at the Illinois Relays. Orval won the half mile at the 1930 NCAA Championships at Stagg Field in Chicago in record time (1:54.2), his greatest thrill since it was set in his last collegiate meet. As a result of these performances, Martin earned Purdue’s first All-American honors.
In his sophomore year in 1928, Martin ran in the United States Olympic Trials at Harvard, winning a place on the United States team that would participate in Amsterdam. At that time, four runners qualified for the Olympic team and he had placed fourth. Martin was then fitted for his official United States Olympic uniform and told where and when to meet the ship to Amsterdam.
He learned just before the ship left that Olympic Coach Lawson Robertson of Pennsylvania and the selection committee had replaced him with the 800-meter winner Lloyd Hahn from the Boston Athletic Club. College coaches all over the country were up in arms and American Olympic Association president Avery Brundage cited this case as a reason not to give star athletes any special treatment at the next Olympic Trials.
After graduating, Martin ran for the Los Angeles Athletic Club and trained for the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. He never retained his conditioning, though, and paid to see the Olympics of Los Angeles as a spectator.
Martin would return to Purdue as their track coach from 1932-1937. Shortly after leaving Purdue University, Martin was hired at Lafayette Jefferson as a teacher of agriculture and biology, in addition to his work as director of the track program. He would remain in that position from 1937 until his retirement in 1971. Martin’s Jefferson teams had much success, especially in the relay events.

Homer Thomas

Marion High School

Homer Thomas was educated in a small one room schoolhouse in Grant County, Indiana, before entering Marion High School. His time in Marion allowed him to excel both in the classroom and on the athletic field. He became a national high school record holder in the 12-pound hammer throw, an all-state halfback in football and an excellent bowler.
His 12-pound hammer throw was well ahead of his competition. In 1902, his winning throw was 144-3, with an improvement in 1903 of 160-5 at the state finals at Indiana University. His dominance was reported to have come from his development of the three-turn delivery. Before Thomas’ participation in the event, winning throws rarely surpassed 120 feet. It was reported that with an injured arm in 1902, he threw a winning record with only the use of one arm.
During his freshman year at Purdue University, Thomas was on the Big Four Railroad train wreck while traveling with the football team to Indiana University. It was reported that he had been killed. However, he fell onto soft soil and rolled down a hill away from the wreck.
In 1904, Thomas set the Western Conference (now Big Ten Conference) record defeating the great Michigan thrower Ralph Rose, who was a six-time Olympian medalist. It was reported in the Detroit Free Press that he joined Chicago Athletic Association teammates to participate in the 1904 St. Louis Olympic Games. Homer continued setting records through the next three years.
Thomas captained the 1905 Purdue football team and signed to play professional football for Massillon, Ohio.
On July 5, 1907, Thomas married Lillian Arnold in a Plainfield Quaker ceremony. While honeymooning in Chautauqua, New York, he took a six-week course to prepare him to become the physical director for Manual High School of Washington University, St Louis.
After the 1917 school year he moved to Birmingham, Alabama, for a 36-year stay as their director of physical education and coach of many sports. However, he nearly left in 1918 for the University of Alabama football coaching job.
His aggressive fighting spirit and love for the outdoors allowed him to open a wilderness camp near the Canadian border in 1911 and continued directing it until his death in 1960.
Thomas was characterized as a leader who always promoted and protected the welfare of the youth.

John Nunn

Evansville Harrison High School

John Nunn is the only Olympian in Evansville Harrison High School history. John was a four-year letterman in track and field and cross country. He won the city championship in the 3200 meters and qualified for the regional in the event both his junior and senior years. John qualified for the IHSAA State Cross Country Championship during his junior and senior years.

After high school, Nunn accepted a race walk scholarship at the University of Wisconsin – Parkside and won the United States 10k Junior National Championship in 1997 in the race walk by setting the all-time course record. He then placed fifth in the 10,000 meters at the United States Pan American Championships in Cuba.

John won the United States National Championship in the 10K race walk in 2001 and the U.S. National Championships in the 15K race walk in 2002. In 2004, John became the first, and still the only, Harrison High School alumni to compete in the Olympics. He also became only the second EVSC alum in the last 50 years (joining Andy Benes, Central 1985) to participate in the Olympics by competing for the U.S. team in the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, placing 26^th in the race walk event. Nunn has been ranked in the U.S. top 10 in professional race walking every year since 2000. In 2010, John Nunn placed first at the U.S. National Championships in the 20,000 meters in Des Moines, Iowa. On March 30, 2011, he was named U.S. Track and Field (USATF) Athlete of the Week. In 2012, John would again qualify for the Olympics and competed for Team USA once again in the London Olympic Games, placing 42^nd in the world in the 50,000-meter race walk.

John has appeared on the “Today Show,” ESPN and many other media outlets, both national and international, at the highest possible level.

John Nunn and daughter Ella currently live in San Diego, California, where he serves as a soldier/athlete for the U.S. Army, as well as in the World Class Athlete Program.