TULSA, Okla. – Longtime Oral Roberts Track & Field Head Coach and Oklahoma Sports Hall of Famer Joe Dial will step down at the conclusion of the Outdoor Track & Field season in May 2022, it was announced Wednesday.
 
Dial has spent nearly 30 years with the Oral Roberts cross country and track and field programs as he started at ORU in the fall of 1993 and became the head coach in February 1994. Included in his time at ORU are three NCAA National Championships, including two by Andretti Bain (Indoor 400m, Outdoor 400m) in 2008 and one by Jack Whitt (Outdoor Pole Vault) in 2012.
 
"We are extremely thankful for the many years of service Coach Dial has poured into ORU Cross-Country and Track & Field," Athletic Director Tim Johnson said. "He has accomplished so much in his time here and we are forever grateful for his dedication and sacrifice. His legacy is unmatched in athletic accomplishments, but also in the number of lives impacted. Coach Dial will always be a Golden Eagle."
 
Dial has led ORU to unprecedented success in the Summit League and Southland Conference. In 2002, 2005, and 2006 the men's and women's indoor squads swept the conference title, while the women also took home the Outdoor Championships in '02 and '06. In 2003, the ORU men captured both the Mid-Con Indoor and Outdoor Championships for the first time in school history, while the women finished second in the indoor competition and third in the outdoor event.

There have been 48 Golden Eagle All-Americans during Dial's tenure at ORU, as those athletes earned All-American honors in nearly 30 events. Dial's most recent All-Americans include Madison Reynolds, Justin Estala, Jack Whitt, Marvin Bonde, Andretti Bain, Shaun Smith and Rachel Talbert. Whitt finished second in pole vault at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championships and sixth in the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships. Bonde finished fifth in the 200-meter dash at the 2009 Indoor Championships, while Talbert placed sixth in the discus at the 2008 Outdoor Championships. Smith picked up All-American status in the 800-meters at three championship meets, including an eighth place finish at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships, a sixth place finish at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships and sixth place finish at the 2008 NCAA Indoor Championships.

Dial's most accomplished athlete came in Andretti Bain, ORU's first-ever Olympic medalist in any sport. Bain (Nassau, Bahamas) helped lead his native country to a silver medal in the Olympic men's 4x400 meter relay in Beijing in the fall of 2008. Bain became the first-ever NCAA National Champion in any sport at ORU, as he placed first in the 400-meters at the both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. The four-time All-American also placed eighth in the 400-meters and was a part of the seventh-place 4x400 meter relay team at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships. Overall, Dial has had 70 NCAA Championship Qualifiers (68 individual, two relays) at ORU, along with five others who advanced to Olympic Trials competitions.

A native of Marlow, Okla., Dial attended Oklahoma State University, where he was a four-time NCAA and six-time Big Eight Conference pole vault champion. Dial was the first collegiate pole vaulter to clear 19 feet, as he broke the Big Eight Conference record at the 1985 championships after vaulting 19'01.5". He was inducted into the OSU Hall of Fame in 2002. 
While at Marlow High School, Dial set the current Class 2A state record in the long jump with a leap of 23'05" in 1981. He was the Oklahoma Class 2A state long jump champion in 1980 and 1981, and was a four-time state champion in the pole vault (1978-81). Dial was the first high school pole vaulter to clear 18 feet.

Dial and his wife Shawna, an assistant coach at ORU, have three children: Timmy, Tommy, and Tyler.

Any media requests regarding can be made to Assistant Athletic Director of Communications Jarrett Hardwick (jhardwick@oru.edu).
 
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