Dean Fogarty

2023 Inductee

Most of us have known a kid or two we thought just might have enough athletic ability to be successful, but just needed someone to give him or her the guidance and love needed to achieve that success.

At Marshalltown, in the 70’s, it was Junior High Track and Field Coaches Stan Wooster and Sonny Finch, who went above and beyond to persuade young boys to get involved and believe in themselves enroute to becoming young men.

Little did they know that one of the kids they helped mold into a man, by honoring him with a special meet day T-shirt, would become a state champion, a Drake Relays champion, and an NCAA qualifier.

Dean Fogarty was that kid.

Fogarty had an immediate impact on the Marshalltown high school program as a sophomore in 1977. He ran both the High and Low hurdles in his first high school varsity competition, and finished 6th in the Highs for the Bobcats at the conference meet. Although revered as an outstanding young hurdler, a lingering hamstring injury kept him from running well enough to advance to Drake or state.

1978, his junior year, was the breakout season for this future Hall of Famer. At the Drake Relays he was runner-up in the 400 hurdles and 7th in the 110 highs.

On a return trip to Drake Stadium for the state meet, Fogarty was 4th in the 110 highs and 4th in 165 meter lows. 1978 was our first year for both Fully Automatic Timing and Metric distances and 1979 was our first year for the 400 hurdles at the state meet.

In 1979, Fogarty was in a class of his own. He went undefeated and led all classes in both hurdle races for the entire season.

He won the highs and lows at both the Drake Relays and the state meet and is still 1 of only 5 to accomplish that feat. Fogarty’s winning efforts of 14.34 and 53.63 produced new Drake Relays records and he was selected as the High School Male Athlete of the Meet. His 14.34 in the highs stood as the Relays record until 1992.

At the state meet, in pouring rain, he won the 110 Highs, in 14.33 and the 400 lows in 53.32, setting new state All Time bests in both.

He edged should be NFL Hall of Famer, Roger Craig of Davenport Central, in all 4 of those ’79 finals, by a total victory margin of 1.02 seconds.

After the High Hurdle final, at state, Fogarty said of his race with Craig: “every time we crossed a hurdle, we touched hands”.

Some 45 years later, his 14.33 is still #28 on Iowa’s All Time FAT list and he is the only High Hurdler from the 70’s or 80’s in the FAT Top 50.

His handheld time of 13.9, also in ’79, stands as equal the 2nd fastest handheld time of All Time in the highs, trailing only Carlisle’s Bill Betterton who ran 13.8 in 1992.

When his outstanding career as a Marshalltown Bobcat came to an end, Dean accepted a full ride scholarship to the University of Missouri.

As a Tiger, he was a Drake Relays Champion in the Shuttle Hurdle Relay, a 2 time Big 8 champion, and a 2-time NCAA qualifier in the 400 hurdles, and a team MVP award recipient.

After stints as an Assistant Coach at Fort Dodge and Marshalltown. Dean now stays in touch with the sport as a fan.

While at Marshalltown, in 2007, he coached his son Kellyn to Drake and State titles in the 400 hurdles. They are the only parent/child duo to win Gold in the same state and Drake individual running event, plus they did it for the same high school.

Kellyn also attended Mizzou and both he and Dean are on the 400 hurdle All Time top 10 list there. Dean at #4 in 51.17 and Kellyn at #9 in 52.17.

Today, Dean and his wife Cindy call Marshalltown and Lake Ponderosa home and they have 3 children: Jeremy, Whitney, and Kellyn.