Bowling Green State University Athletics
Mel Brodt Passes Away
December 18, 2002 | Men's Cross Country
Dec. 18, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Former Bowling Green State University track and cross country coach Mel Brodt passed away Tuesday (Dec. 17) at his home in Venice., Fla., after a lengthy illness. He was 76.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Hospice of Southwest Florida at the following address:
220 Wexford Blvd.
Venice, FL 34293
Brodt, one of the finest distance running coaches in the country, retired in 1984 after 25 years at BG's cross country coach and 20 seasons as head men's track coach. During that time, he coached 53 Division I All-Americans, one Olympic Champion (Dave Wottle), one world record holder, three American event record holders and 92 MAC Champions.
His most recent accolades came on Dec. 7, 2002, as Brodt was inducted into the U.S. Track Coaches Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Ohio Association of Track Coaches Hall of Fame in 1970, and entered the Ohio Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1984. Brodt also was the recipient of the Ed Baker Memorial Award for outstanding contributions to track and field in Ohio, and was inducted into the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988.
Brodt's career included four straight top 10 NCAA Championship finishes (1969-72), the 1969 Mid-American Conference Cross Country Championship, and runner-up finishes seven other times.
Under Brodt's direction, BGSU won the NCAA District IV Regional Championship in 1972, and took four Ohio Intercollegiate titles, two Central Collegiate Championships and four Notre Dame Invitational titles.
Brodt's track and field teams won seven major championships, including the 1972 MAC title. BG took second place in the 1972 NCAA Indoor Championship.
Obviously, that 1972 campaign was one of the finest years in BGSU cross country and track annals. And, not surprisingly, Brodt received plenty of credit from his peers in 1972. He was named national and District IV indoor coach of the year and District IV cross country coach of the year just six months apart.
A 1943 graduate of Fairborn (Ohio) High School, Brodt was a four-year letterwinner in track and a two-year letterwinner in cross country at Miami University. After earning his Bachelor of Science degree from Miami in 1949, he received his Master's Degree at the University of Illinois in 1950.
Brodt began his coaching career at John Adams High School in Cleveland in 1950. In 10 years at John Adams, he led his team to many honors, including two state track and field championships and two state cross country championships before moving to Bowling Green in 1960.
In 1970, Brodt took a team of five BGSU athletes to Central America for a three-week tour, sponsored by the United States Track and Field Federation, and the state department.
In 1976, Brodt served as the AAU International Team coach for the United States team that competed against the Russians in Leningrad, and in 1980 was the head coach of the first USA national junior team that competed in the Pan American Games in Sudbury, Ontario. In 1981, Brodt was one of two men on a five-week tour to conduct clinics throughout six countries in Europe under the auspices of the State Department and the US Air Forces in Europe.
The BGSU cross country programs honor him by hosting a meet in his name each fall. The 2002 Mel Brodt Invitational marked the 16th year of the event. In November of 2001, the BGSU cross country course was named after Brodt.
Memorial services are planned for early January of 2003 in Venice. Services are also tentatively planned to be held in Bowling Green sometime in the spring of 2003.
Brodt, born March 11, 1926, is survived by his wife, Jane, and two children; a son, Scott, and a daughter, Susan.
PRONUNCIATION: Brodt -- rhymes with wrote
