By Patrick Mader, of Minnesota Athletes
Jerry McNeal has had two distinct professions and two distinct running careers.
Professionally, Jerry had a 35-year career as a Dayton’s executive, then a 25-year career as an educational paraprofessional.
In athletics, Jerry was a member of Minneapolis Southwest High School’s 1952 and 1953 state championship cross country teams coached by the legendary Al Halley and then a multiple-time All-American at Kansas University.
After a ten-year pause from competitive running, Jerry resumed the sport and achieved a top ranking in US Masters marathon running.
Born on Dec. 7, 1936 in St. Louis, Missouri, the McNeal family moved to Minneapolis when Charles “Dean” McNeal accepted a job at Pillsbury (the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred on his 5th birthday, but Jerry cannot recall it). A Kansas State University graduate, Dean lettered in football as a lineman, cross country, and track during his varsity eligibility years (1932-34). In recognition for his service to his alma mater throughout his lifetime, he was one of three recipients of the Alumni Medallion in 1973.
Dean was also honored as one of 25 people for his professional and athletic achievements in a Special Holiday issue of “Sports Illustrated” in 1958 as an executive vice president at Pillsbury after previous employment at Ralston Purina Company and in the Office of Pricing Administration during WWII in Washington, D.C. (he set up a food rationing program and was instrumental in the effort to prevent price gouging). He married Harriet Shrack—“the true strength behind us all,” states Jerry–and the couple had five athletic children: Jerry (his official birth name), Jim, Pat, Kathy, and Peggy.
Jerry must have exhibited some talent which was brought to the attention of Al Halley, then an assistant principal as well as the cross country and track and field coach at Southwest High School. Halley had heard Jerry had a paper route and evidently zipped around speedily.
“I had dreams of being a NFL tight end,” says Jerry, then a slight 9th-grade student, “but Al Halley became a guiding light in my life. He gave this skinny 99 pound guy a chance and some life lessons to go along with it.”
The promise Halley saw in Jerry soon materialized on cross country courses with Jerry as a sophomore member of the 1951 team which qualified for state, finishing second to Duluth Central. The Lakers claimed the city and state titles for the next two years as Jerry led the team with a 5th place finish at the state meet in 1952 and a runner-up finish in 1953. Teammates on the championship teams included Jim Bittner, John Reichert, Larry Johnson, Morgan Clarity, and Dave Remington in 1952, and Armstrong, Clarity, Ray Lessard, Dick Duxbury, Gary Roam, and Bill Borovsky in 1953. Rudy Arechigo of Moorhead won the 1953 meet.
“I saw a lot of the back of Rudy over the years,” says Jerry, laughing. “He was the strongest runner and a good guy.” Another notable runner was junior Leonard “Buddy” Edelen of St. Louis Park who would later star at the University of Minnesota, set a world record in the marathon in 1963, and compete at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.
In track, Jerry placed 3rd individually in the mile at the state track meet in 1953 as a junior and runner-up as a senior in 1954, again trailing Arechigo both times, but one spot ahead of Edelen in 1954.
Jerry’s brother Jim proved to be an accomplished wrestler while the youngest brother, Pat, duplicated Jerry’s triumph at the Swain Invitational and his runner-up finish at the state cross country meet in 1958, running for Mound High School due to a family move and then running collegiately for Kansas State.
Weighing his college options, Jerry narrowed his decision down to the University of Minnesota, his father’s alma mater of Kansas State, and Kansas University –the defending national cross country championship team.
“Coach Bill Easton had a dynasty going. All the schools had the programs I wanted academically, a blend of engineering and management,” Jerry said. “Al Halley asked whether I wanted his opinion, and, of course, I did. He said, ‘It comes down to this. If you go to Kansas State or Minnesota, you’ll be top dog. At Kansas, you’ll learn how good you can be.’”
Jerry accepted the Kansas University scholarship offer, never having seen the campus.
“I felt at home right away,” Jerry reports.
Kansas was indeed a powerhouse. Track and field teammates during Jerry’s tenure included four-time discus Olympic gold medalist Al Oerter, 1964 gold medalist in the 10,000-meter run, Billy Mills, Wes Santee, “who was duking it out to be the first to break the four-minute mile,” recalls Jerry, Bill Nieder, an Olympic gold medalist in the shot put, future NBA Hall of Fame athlete Wilt Chamberlain starred in the high jump, and Cliff Cushman, a 1960 Olympic silver medalist in the 400-meter hurdles.
The cross country team was also loaded with Mills: Al Frame, the 1954 NCAA cross country champion and All-American Jan Howell. Previously, Olympian Glenn Cunningham, the great miler who overcame tremendous adversity from injuries suffered in an explosion yet won a silver medal in the 1500-meter run at the 1936 Olympics, had competed for the Jayhawks during the era Jerry’s father ran at Kansas State. In fact, Cunningham made a presentation at Southwest High School due to Dean’s connection and had dinner at the McNeal home.
During Jerry’s varsity years from 1955-58 at the national cross country championships, he ascended from 17th in 1955 to 11th when the team was runner-up in 1956 to 7th his senior year, earning All-American honors twice. In track and field, his most memorable feat was anchoring the four-mile relay team which set a college/university record by more than 10 seconds in a time of 16:57.8, the first collegiate quartet to break 17 minutes.
“We were four average kids who came together for a day,” Jerry says of the race, teaming with Hal Long, Tom Skutka, and Howell at the 1957 Kansas Relays. The record-breaking achievement was reported in “Sports Illustrated.” Also impressive is Kansas University going undefeated in the four-mile relay at the Texas, Drake, and Kansas Relays all three years Jerry ran. He also won several Big 7 Conference titles.
Earning a degree in industrial management, Jerry landed a job with Scott-Atwood Outboard Motor Company back in Minnesota and had the Dayton’s account—a connection which soon led to his first prolonged career. Eventually, Jerry became the head of Employee Relations for the famed department store.
After 35 years in human resources, Jerry became a human resource himself as an educational paraprofessional for 25 years and an assistant cross country and track coach under Jeff Renlund with Minnetonka Schools for many years.
“Being around kids keeps us young,” he says of his experiences as a parent, educator, and coach.
Jerry launched a second career in running, too. After a prolonged absence, Jerry had remarkable success in long-distance running, gaining national attention in 1978, the year he took 3rd place in 2:29.6 at age 41 in Grandma’s Marathon.
“Half marathons and up were my prime races,” he says. In the early 1980s, Jerry was often atop the leader board of master’s runners in Twin Cities’ long-distance races.
Married to Shirle (pronounced Shĭrl) Bridges, the couple had five children, two of them adopted grandsons: Michael, Kimberly, Gillian, Justin and Kristofor.
“All of them are helping others,” Jerry says with pride of their professions in education and the health field. Now widowed, Jerry lives with his daughter Gillian in Duluth.
Jerry was inducted into the Minneapolis Southwest Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017 and the 2007 US Track and Field Minnesota Hall of Fame with All-American runners Carson Hoeft, Donovan Bergstrom, Sara Renk Thorsett, and coaches Gary Wilson and Dick Mulkern.
