Macalester College Athletics

Dick LaBree was one of the greatest distance runners ever to compete at not only Macalester, but in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Dick led both Macalester’s cross country and track teams to three conference championship, while winning individual conference championships in cross country and in the two-mile race in track.

Following graduation in June of 1962, Dick was drafted into the Army and entered basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., where he earned the highest score in the Regiment for the Combat Proficiency Test (CPT). As a part of the test, he won the Regiment one-mile race in 5:24 while wearing combat boots and fatigues. After being assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Training Regiment at Fort Polk in Louisiana, Dick won a marathon in 2:34:11 at a track meet for enlisted men and officers.

After assisting Coach Doug Bolstorff with the Macalester cross country and track & field teams in the late 60s, Dick earned Master’s degrees in English and Psychology. He was the successful and long-time cross country and track coach at nearby Rosemount High School and has been an active member of the Big Brothers organization. Dick also led wilderness survival courses and mountaineering excursions in South Dakota (Devil's Tower) and Wyoming (Teton Range, Wind River Wilderness and Gannett Peak) in the 1970s and 1980s.