Cromwell, Dean B.
Track and field
b. Sept. 29, 1879, Turner, OR
d. Aug. 3, 1962
Cromwell played baseball and football and participated in track at Occidental College in California. He graduated in 1902 and worked for the telephone company until 1909, when the University of Southern California hired him as football and track coach.
He compiled a 21-8-6 record in six seasons of football, but he made his mark as a track coach. Cromwell spent 39 years at USC and his teams won 12 NCAA championships, including 9 in a row, from 1935 through 1943. They also won 9 IC4A titles. From 1930 through 1948, USC lost only three dual meets.
USC track athletes won gold medals at every Olympic from 1912 through 1948. They won 33 individual events in the NCAA championships, 39 in the IC4A, and 38 in the AAU nationals. In the process, they set 14 individual world records.
Cromwell retired in 1948 after coaching the U. S. Olympic team to 10 gold medals.