Jan. 8, 2007

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -Bob Ehrhart, the longtime Drake Relays director and former Drake track and cross country coach, has died of cancer. He was 75.

Ehrhart, who died Sunday at his West Des Moines home, was the longest-tenured director of the Relays, serving for 31 years before retiring in 2000. He was the track and field and cross country coach at Drake from 1969-92.

During his tenure as director of the Relays, Ehrhart incorporated a women's team division and, in 1976, switched all running events to metric. Ehrhart stepped down as the Bulldogs' coach in 1992 after becoming the first full-time director of the Relays. He was inducted into the Iowa Association of Track Coaches Hall of Fame that year.

Current Drake Relays director Brian Brown said the stability Ehrhart brought to the Relays is a major reason why it's still one of the nation's track events.

Ehrhart was largely responsible for bringing Olympic gold medalists such as Bruce Jenner, Michael Johnson, Carl Lewis and Frank Shorter to the Relays.

"It's a big loss for everybody," Brown said. "You're talking about someone who was off the charts as far as integrity was concerned."

Ehrhart was president of the United States Track Coaches Association from 1983-85. He coached 77 Missouri Valley Conference indoor track and field champions - the most from any coach in the history of Valley indoor track and field - and 43 individual conference outdoor track and field champions.

Ehrhart, a native of Naperville, Ill., was a high school and college coach for 34 years. After graduating from Northwestern in 1954, Ehrhart coached the Wildcats' track program for nine seasons before taking over at Drake.

Visitation is Wednesday at Brooks Funeral Care in Clive. Funeral services will be held Thursday at the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ in Des Moines.