At a public ceremony Sept. 27 at 11 a.m. the new track at Austin High School’s Wescott Field will be dedicated in honor of Larry Gilbertson, former track and cross country coach at AHS for more than 30 years.

Gilbertson’s coaching career started in 1959 as junior high track coach at AHS. He started the cross country program in 1961 and later became the head track coach in 1965. While at Austin High, he also coached girls track and cross country. Gilbertson was inducted into the 1994-95 Austin High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004 and in 2004 was inducted posthumously into the Minnesota State Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame.

In 1967, Gilbertson’s cross country team won the Big Nine Conference and State championships. In 1979, his track and field team took Big Nine honors.

Gilbertson grew up in Erwin, S.D. and later moved with his family to Vermillion, where he graduated from high school. There, and at his alma mater University of South Dakota, he was a decorated middle distance runner.

Jeff Jirele, one of Gilbertson’s former athletes and fellow AHS Athletic Hall of Famer, is coordinating the festivities surrounding the dedication.

“Larry Gilbertson is one of the reasons, if not the main reason, I was inducted to the Hall of Fame,” Jirele said. “He insisted that I go out for the team, and it changed my life.”

A half-time ceremony will take place Sept. 26 during the Austin vs. Owatonna football game at Wescott Field. Family, friends and former athletes will gather at George’s Pizza post-game to share stories. The formal dedication of the Larry Gilbertson Track will take place at 11 a.m. with an invocation by family friend and former pastor, G.C. Knutson.

The all-male quartet, Forte, will perform. Following the dedication will be a noon luncheon at Our Saviors Lutheran Church.

For more information, or to RSVP your attendance, call or e-mail Jeff Jirele at (480) 893-3585 or thebluegoose@qwest.net.