Southwestern College grad Ron Helmer has announced he’s retiring after 15 years as the track and field coach at Indiana University. The school announced this week that he would depart following the 2022-23 season.
Helmer, 74, has spent more than 50 years as a track and field coach. At Indiana he directs both men’s and women’s programs.
In his time at IU, Helmer has coached five teams to Big Ten championships in track or cross-country and had 11 more that finished second. He is a four-time conference coach of the year.
Helmer is a native of Lyons, Kan. and attended Southwestern in 1970. He was inducted into the Southwestern Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004.
Helmer is the brother of former Southwestern cross country coach Jim Helmer who himself had a highly successful coaching career before retiring in 2017.
The track at Southwestern’s campus in Winfield was renamed the Helmer Family in 2011. Numerous members of the Helmer family have attended the college.
Ron Helmer (Courtesy photo)