A graduate of Laurens High School and Buena Vista College, he started his coaching career at Manilla where he had teams that placed third and second at the state outdoor meet. He coached Manilla to the Iowa Federation Outdoor Championships in 1964 and 1965. He has coached at Missouri Valley where his teams were conference track champions 5 straight years and runner-up the sixth. In 1966 he was the coach of the Iowa Girls’ Track Club which won the National Federation Women’s Track and Field championship held in Carvallis, Oregon. He was also the coach of the Iowa Girls 440 year Relay Team that defeated Texas in the Drake Relays. Harlan has most recently coached Girls Basketball and Track in the LeMars Community School system.
