Joe Dial (born October 26, 1962, in

Marlow, Oklahoma Marlow is a city in Stephens County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 4,662 at the 2010 census. Geography Marlow is located in northern Stephens County, in the southern part of the state, at (34.643410, -97.958806). According t ...

) is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

er, best known for winning the bronze medal at the 1989 World Indoor Championships in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. His personal best was 5.96 metres, achieved in June 1987 in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma C ...

. While competing for Marlow High School, he was ''

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runni ...

'' "High School Athlete of the Year" in 1981. Since retiring from the sport, Dial has turned to

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

. He was the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the men's and women's

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and cross country programs at

Oral Roberts University Oral Roberts University (ORU) is a private evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, evangelist Oral Roberts. Sitting on a campus, ORU offers over 70 undergraduate degree programs ...

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

from 1993-2022. During his tenure at ORU, he coached 50

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

ns and turned ORU into a powerhouse in the

Mid-Continent Conference The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

. In spite of his coaching a rival school, Dial is still a popular alum of

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

, and was named to the OSU Hall of Fame in 2002. He and his wife Shawna, an assistant coach at ORU, have three sons. In July 2022, Dial was hired as head coach of Jenks High School's boys' cross country, and boys' track and field.

References

External links

*
ORU bio
1962 births Living people People from Marlow, Oklahoma Sportspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma Track and field athletes from Oklahoma Oklahoma State Cowboys track and field athletes American male pole vaulters Oral Roberts Golden Eagles track and field coaches American track and field coaches Oral Roberts Golden Eagles cross country coaches World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners {{US-polevault-athletics-bio-stub