Bill Bergan

Bill came to Ames, Iowa and lowa State University as head cross country and assistant track coach in 1971 and became head track coach in 1976. Bergan's teams won 10 Big Eight Cross Country team titles and claimed the 1989 and 1994 NCAA Cross Country National Championships. Bergan's ISU track teams captured 15 conference titles, including 10 of the last 15 Big Eight outdoor track crowns. lowa State was second at the 1990 and 1991 NCAA meets and third in 1993.

The list of athletes who excelled under Bergan include 16 Olympians from six different nations. Bergan's student-athletes achieved All-America honors 110 times and captured 163 Big Eight Conference individual titles. Honored as both an NCAA cross country and track and field coach of the year, he earned district coach-of-the-year honors 19 times. Bergan is a member of the ISU Cardinal Key organization recognizing outstanding leadership, character, scholarship and service to ISU. The Drake Relays Hall of Fame member was named to the lowa Association of Track Coaches Hall of Fame in 1984, the University of Northern lowa Hall of Fame (for his athletic accomplishments) in 1997, the ISU Hall of Fame in 2001 and the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame in 2006.

In November 2012, lowa State University unveiled a life-sized statue of Bill to honor the accomplishments of Bergan-coached teams over his tenure as head track and cross country coach at the new lowa State University Track and Field Facilities.

Championship Productions, the leading producer of coaching and athlete instructional videos and DVDs in the world, was founded by Bergan in 1976. In 2007, Bill Bergan was awarded the 'Entrepreneur of the Year award (Ames Chamber of Commerce) for the consistent success and growing employment opportunities the company has brought to Ames and Central lowa region.

For several years, Bill was the volunteer Track & Field director for the lowa Special Olympics and also volunteered his time to be the Track & Field Director for the first ever National Special Olympics Games in the summer of 2006.

Bergan resides in Ames with his wife Karen. They raised four children and now have ten grandchildren; Bill and Karen are also known as the "parents" of Marc Kitchen, a long-time Bergan family friend and former Special Olympian. With Marc Kitchen, Bill& Karen Bergan were named the 'Outstanding Family of the Year at the 2001 lowa Special Olympics.