Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2004
Lance Harter was Cal Poly women's cross country and track and field coach in the 1980s and early 1990s.
He coached the Mustang women's cross country team to eight consecutive NCAA Division II titles (1982-89) and five national Division II track titles (1982-84, 1989-90). Harter was Division II national coach of the year 10 times.
Harter, now head coach of the women's cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field squads at the University of Arkansas, earned a pair of United States Track Coaches' Association National Coach of the Year awards, which he took for the indoor and outdoor track seasons in 2000.
In 30 years at Arkansas (through 2020), Harter has won five NCAA championships — the only team titles for women’s sports at Arkansas — and 38 SEC championships, and has coached numerous All-Americans and Olympians.
In 2019 the Razorbacks became the third program to ever win the NCAA indoor, outdoor and cross country titles in succession, and Arkansas' 2020 SEC indoor championship was its 18th in the last 20 conference meets.
Harter was selected to lead the United States' women's track team at the 1999 World Outdoor Championships in Seville, Spain. The result was a record performance for Team USA with eight gold medals and the women's first world team title.
He was named the head women's coach for the 2004 World Cross Country Championships for Team USA. Named the SEC's cross country coach of the year 11 times, Harter has coached Arkansas to new heights year after year. From his back-to-back-to-back NCAA runner-up finishes in cross country between 1992 and '94 to the then all-time best school finish in track in 1995 with a fourth-place performance at the NCAA Indoor Championships, he has guided the Lady Razorbacks to improving overall performances each season.
During his career, Harter's teams have earned 22 NCAA team trophies for cross country, indoor and outdoor track, most of them national championship or national runner-up trophies. During his tenure at Arkansas, Harter has brought in seven NCAA team trophies: four national runner-up awards in cross country, a third place for cross country, and a third and a fourth-place finish for indoor track.
Harter's athletes have claimed over 80 cross country and 290 track and field all-America certificates. One of his famous proteges was four-time Olympian Karin Smith, winner of three NCAA Division I and II national titles in the javelin while at Cal Poly. Smith, who made her fifth Olympic team in 1992, still holds the NCAA record in her specialty.
Harter's coaching experience isn't limited to the collegiate ranks. Prior to being the 1999 World Championships coach, he was Team USA women's coach at the 1987 World Championships in Warsaw, Poland, leading the American squad to the world team title. He also coached the 1984 US team at the World Indoor Track and Field Championships in Paris, France. He led the West squad to championships at the 1985 (Baton Rouge) and 1982 (Indianapolis) U.S. Olympic Festival.
In addition, Harter served as an assistant coach for the United States Olympic team at the 1992 Barcelona Games. His 1989 club team finished third at The Athletics Congress (TAC) senior track and field nationals and second at the 1989 TAC senior cross country championships. His junior team won the 1989 TAC cross country championship.
A 1972 graduate of Texas Tech, Harter was also an excellent teacher while working at Cal Poly. During his tenure he earned Cal Poly's Teacher of the Year award twice in nine years.
