News

Former Carmel High School cross country and track and field coach Chuck Koeppen is one of 13 individuals who will be inducted into the NFHS National High School Hall of Fame on Thursday (June 27) in Denver, Colorado.

Koeppen, the current head coach for men’s cross country and track and field at IUPUI, is one of five coaches in the group to be honored in the 2013 Hall of Fame class which is headlined by Joe Theismann and Chauncey Billups. The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is the closing event to the 94th Annual NFHS Summer Meeting.

Koeppen, who retired from Carmel in 2008, spent 37 years as head coach of the Greyhounds winning 23 IHSAA state titles, the most by any head coach in all sports in Indiana high school history. He led the boys cross country teams to 11 state championships, the girls teams to 11 titles and the boys track and field team to the top spot in 2000. His son, Charlie, won the 3,200 meter race that year helping to seal the championship. His boys and girls cross country teams swept the team titles in the same year five times and accounted for 60 sectional, 52 regional and 29 semi-state titles during his tenure.

Koeppen has coached five boys track and field individual champions and two girls state cross country champs. In addition, he’s coached numerous relay teams to state titles. His 1987 girls cross country team still holds an IHSAA state record, winning the championship with just 19 points.

Koeppen, also a Valparaiso High School graduate, becomes the 12th individual and fifth coach from the state of Indiana to be inducted into the NFHS National High School Hall of Fame. Others that have been inducted from Indiana include:

Oscar Robertson, Athlete, 1983.
Rick Mount, Athlete, 1986.
Robert “Fuzzy” Vandivier, Athlete, 1986.
John Campbell, Coach, 1989.
John Wooden, Athlete, 1991.
Terry Dischinger, Athlete, 1995.
Bob Marcinek, Official, 1996.
Dave Krider, Sportswriter, 1997.
Ken Schreiber, Coach, 1999.
LaTaunya Pollard, Athlete, 2005.
Richard “Dick” Dullaghan, Coach, 2009.
Chuck Koeppen, Coach, 2013.

The 13-member 2013 Hall of Fame Class was chosen after a two-level selection process involving a screening committee composed of active high school state association administrators, coaches and officials, and a final selection committee composed of coaches, former athletes, state association officials, media representatives and educational leaders. Nominations were made through NFHS member associations.

The National High School Hall of Fame was created in 1982 and is comprised of 411 members with the addition of this year's class. The original NFHS announcement from Feb. 26 may be read here.

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About the Indiana High School Athletic Association, Inc. (IHSAA)
Founded in 1903, the purpose of the Indiana High School Athletic Association, Inc. (IHSAA) is to encourage, regulate and give direction to wholesome amateur interschool athletic competition between its 410 member schools. The Association provides state championship tournament series in 20 sports, 10 for girls and 10 for boys. Approximately 160,000 student athletes participate in IHSAA sports on an annual basis.