Lyle Claussen

Lyle graduated in 1965 from Brandon Valley High School and, starting in 1972, coached at his alma mater for fifteen years.

As a Lynx athlete, he compiled nine letters in football, basketball and track and field.  He played on the 1965 basketball team that placed third at the Class B State Tournament and he qualified for the 1965 State Track and Field Meet.

After coaching at Howard High School, Coach Claussen returned to Brandon Valley, where he was the Head Boys Cross Country and Boys Track and Field Coach for fifteen years.  During his tenure, his boys cross country team won nine Big Eight Conference Championships, qualified for, and placed in the top eight, at the State Meet every year.  His track and field team won ten Conference Championships and won the State Championships in 1985 and 1986.  Along the way, he coached twenty-four individual and relay state champions.

Coach Claussen then went on to be the Head Cross Country and Track and Field Coach at the University of Nebraska – Kearney, where he coached several conference championship teams, in both sports, and nationally ranked cross country teams.  He coached a number of All-Americans and had five individual national champions.

Coach Claussen’s favorite memories involve all of the athletes that he coached who had a love for the sport and each other.