FHSU Athletics

Track & Field/Cross Country (1968-71)
David McLeland, native of Great Bend, Kansas, was the 3000-meter steeplechase national champion in 1971, running a time of 9:26.6. McLeland was the second of three consecutive national champions in the event for FHSU. Larbi Oukada was the national champion in the event in 1970 and Jim Birnbaum won the event in 1972 (both are in the Tiger Sports Hall of Fame as well). McLeland was also the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference champion in 1971 and the runner-up in the event as a freshman and sophomore in 1968 and 1969. He helped the 1970 cross country team to a national runner-up finish and was a member of the 1969 national championship team, contributing to the team scoring in multiple events though he did not run at the national meet. He contributed to a fifth-place finish for the team at the 1967 cross country championships. He was the runner-up at the NAIA District 10 meet for cross country in the fall of 1971. McLeland went on to serve 27 years in the U.S. Army Reserves and was deployed to Iraq in 1990-91. As a high school coach, he has been recognized as the Kansas Class 4A and 2A Girls Cross Country Coach of the Year.