Francis X. Cretzmeyer

Francis Xavier Cretzmeyer, Jr. (January 7, 1913 – April 2, 2001) was the greatest track and field coach at the University of Iowa in the 20th century, leading their team the Hawkeyes to multiple Big Ten team titles. Before being a coach, he was a superb athlete, but prevented from claiming individual titles by having the misfortune of being a contemporary of the legendary Jesse Owens, which meant that Cretzmeyer regularly came in second to Owens at Big Ten track meets.

He was born January 7, 1913 in Emmetsburg, Iowa, the son of Francis Xavier Cretzmeyer, Sr., an Iowa physician. He also had an uncle who was a physician in Algona. Cretzmeyer's father had played baseball for three years for the Iowa Hawkeyes before graduating in 1905, but Francis Jr. was expected to follow in the family tradition and become a doctor.

In 1938, he married Marian Cornwall, with whom he had five children: Mary Fran (married to John Niemeyer), Catherine, Margaret, Francis Xavier III [1], and John. Cretzmeyer was well-known and liked in Iowa City social circles, and counted among his friends both Don Ameche and his son Ron, owner of the "Ameche's Pumpernickel" restaurant.

Cretzmeyer excelled in several track and field events, including long jump, high jump, and javelin, representing his school from 1934 until 1936, the year that he both graduated and was also an alternate for the Berlin Summer Olympics, in the hurdles event (the actual team was world recordholder Forrest Towns, who won gold, and Fritz Pollard, Jr., who won bronze).

...
Wikipedia