Karl Schlademan

Born in Seafield, Indiana, Schlademn's ancestry traced back to the Plymouth Colony on his mother's side. His father ran a merchantile and grain business in Seafield, and Karl graduated from Monticello High School, where he was a four-year letterman in both track and basketball. He was captain of the track team.

Schlademan attended DePauw University in Greencastle; he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and played football, baseball, and was again a "star trackman." Not having taken up football in high school, Schlademan did well to earn four letters in the sport, and was named on the "All-Western" at the end position. Schlademan was also made captain of the track team, also earning four letters, and added two letters in baseball.[2] Following DePauw, he briefly attended Harvard University Law School between 1912 and 1913. In 1913 he wed Nell Ramsay, whom he met while at Missouri Wesleyan.

After graduation, Schlademan went to Missouri Wesleyan College at Cameron, and became head coach. He stayed there two years and coached a championship football team. He returned to DePaul University in 1914 to serve as track coach. He next coached track at Arizona in 1916. From 1916 to 1919 Schlademan was the athletic director at Baker University in Baldwin. He served as the head coach and produced a championship track and basketball team, winning the Kansas Conference.

In 1919, he took a position at University of Kansas at Lawrence and stayed for seven years. He first took the position as head track mentor and coach of the freshman football team. After the second year, he was made head line coach for the varsity football team, and after his third year at this position the university won the Old Missouri Valley circuit. As the head track coach, his team won two championships. The conference that KU was in at that time is now known as the "Big Six" conference.

While at Kansas, Schlademan worked alongside John H. Outland and Phog Allen to start the Kansas Relays. At the direction of Allen, Schlademan worked with student managers to organize the first event 0 years ago in 1923. Over the years, the Kansas relays have attracted runners, throwers, and jumpers from all over the United States, with athletes ranging from Olympians to high school runners. Olympians such as Marion Jones and Maurice Greene competed in the Gold Zone portion of the meet, which attracts thousands of spectators to the relays every year.[3] At the first relays, Schlademan's team, taken together, was sufficient to make the hosting team "the big feature of its own affair" and to secure the inaugural Kansas Relays' title.[4]

In the fall of 1926, Schlademan departed for Washington State College in Pullman, and was also the head coach in basketball for the first two years. He steadily built the Cougar track team of the Pacific Coast Conference into a national contender. Washington State had four top-10 finishes at the NCAA championships, including a pair of fourth-place finishes (1937 and 1939). The Cougars won seven consecutive Northern Division titles and had a 39–14 dual meet record under Schlademan; his Cougar relay team set a world record in June 1937. Washington State sprinter Lee Orr, a 1936 Olympian for Canada, won a national collegiate title in the 440-yard dash in 1940, Schlademan's final season in Pullman.[5] While in Pullman, Schlademan also served as the sixth President of the coaches association from 1939-40. He resigned his position in September 1940 when he took the position at Michigan State.

After fourteen years on the Palouse of southeastern Washington, Schlademan went east in 1940 to Michigan State College in East Lansing. Some consider Schlademan the Spartan's greatest coach.[6] Schlademan's son, Karl, surmised his father accepted the job for a number of reasons including a close relationship with Athletic Director Ralph Young, the attractiveness of the newly completed Jenison Fieldhouse, a deep respect for the track programs of the Midwest, and an increase of salary from $4,000 to $7,500.[7]

He became track coach in 1941 and took over cross country in 1947. From then until his retirement in 1959, Schlademan led the Spartans to seven Big Ten championships and 11 national championships—six NCAA and five IC4A (1948–49, 1952, and 1955–56)--in cross country. The Spartans also finished as runners-up in 1950 and 1957. In track, he expanded the Michigan State relays and coached 25 individual Big Ten champions and 4 NCAA individual champions. He won three IC4A titles and produced a number of Olympian distance runners. Schlademan coached olympians such as David Lean, a silver medalist in the 1956 Olympics.

After retiring from Michigan State, Schlademan sold Adidas footwear in Lansing, Michigan. In his later years, he moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana where he resided until his death.

Schlademan married Nell Ramsay in 1913. They met while he was at Missouri Wesleyan, where she was a student. They had two children, Karl Ramsay and Sarah. He and Nell were married for over 67 years.

• U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame – Karl Schlademan
• Karl Schlademan at Find a Grave