Hall of Fame
During the 1937-41 seasons, the University of Idaho Men’s Cross Country team dominated the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), the original PAC-10, to become the best team in conference history.
Lead by Idaho’s legendary coach Mike Ryan, the Vandals won five straight PCC titles and placed first in every meet they attended, except one.
The Pacific Coast Conference in the late 1930s and early 1940s was comprised of dominant West Coast programs, including the University of Southern California, UCLA, UC- Berkeley, University of Washington, University of Oregon, and Washington State College (now Washington State University).
The Idaho team seemed to come out of nowhere in 1937 and started its dynasty by going undefeated and winning the PCC championship. The Vandals also broke the record for best team score at the conference championship meet with a score of 31, (the format is lowest to highest) beating runner-up Washington by 38 points. In a field of 150 runners, the Vandals placed five of their men in the top nine spots.
The Vandals started the 1938 season at the same level they finished by scoring a perfect 15, placing runners in the top five positions, in the first meet of the season against the University of Montana. During the PCC Championship Meet, runner Bill O’Neill lead the Vandals by winning the race in record time as the team took the title for the second straight year.
During the 1939 season, the Vandals continued to dominate the conference. At the PCC Championship meet, the team scored a 22, new conference meet record. Vandal runners finished second, third, fourth, sixth, and seventh in the race on their way to their third straight championship.
The 1940 season brought national recognition to the program. The team won its fourth straight PCC title as Vandal runners took six of the top 10 spots during the race. The Vandals also sent three runners to the national meet – Phil Leibowitz placed eighth, Vic Dyrgall 13th and Bob White 20th.
“With a full team of five they might have won a national title,” said Cecil Hagan of the Spokane Daily Chronicle. “Illness wrecked the team.”
The 1941 season enhanced the legacy of the Vandal team as it took its fifth straight PCC title with six runners finishing in the top 10 and five in the top seven. Vandal Athletics Hall of Fame member Vic Dyrgall led the team during the race and placed first with a time of 20:15. The team scored 19 points during the race, another meet record. Later that same day the Vandals traveled down the road to the Northwest AAU meet where Dyrgall won his second race of the day and broke the meet record with a time of 20:51. The Vandals placed runners in the first seven places to win that title as well.
The performance of the Vandals this day was the first time in modern cross country history that the same team had participated in two meets on the same day and won both, securing their spot in cross country history and in the University of Idaho Hall of Fame Class of 2014.
