Greyhound sleek and remarkably consistent.
Those would be the attributes that jump out to anyone who had the pleasure of watching Leland Stanford compete as a top-level sprinter for Hall of Fame head coach Paul Olsen’s high-powered Augustana track & field teams in the mid-1980s.
Stanford came to Augustana out of Rockford West High School as a “pure” sprinter but it didn’t take long to figure out that his real strength was in the longer sprints. He was a tenacious finisher and seemed to be at his best with a relay baton in his hand. When counted on by his teammates, Stanford was always somebody who could be counted on to perform well. The bigger the stage, the better he was.
He helped the Vikings win College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin team championships in 1983 and again in 1984. As a freshman he placed fifth in the 200 and ran on the 400 relay team that placed second and the 1600 relay that was third. During his sophomore season he was third in the individual 400 and helped both relay teams record second place finishes.
Ironically, the best individual conference meets of his career came in 1985 and in 1986 when Augustana failed to win the team title. As a junior in 1985 he finished as the individual runner-up in the 100 and 200 and led the 400 and 1600 relay teams to second place finishes as well. As a reward for his effort, he was named the co-MVP of the CCIW.
During his senior year he was the team captain and at the CCIW meet he was at his absolute best. He won the 200 with a time of :21.5 and anchored both the 400 relay (:42.2) and 1600 relay (3:18.4) teams to victory. For good measure he was third in the 100 in :11.24. He was named the MVP of the CCIW after that performance.
When he graduated he was on Augustana’s individual top 10 lists in both the 200 and 400 and in both the 400 and 1600 relays as well. Even now, nearly 30 years since he last pulled on a Viking singlet, he ranks fourth all time in the 200 (:21.74) and seventh in the 100 (:10.82). He is on two 400 relay teams (1986 with a time of :42.04 and 1984 with a clocking of :42.17) that are both in the top 10.
Stanford still owns the 300 yard indoor record with a time of :32.46 recorded in 1986. He is also a part of the school record distance medley team that turned in a time of 9:52.10 in 1985. Joining him on that team are a pair of Tribe of Viking Hall of Famers (Tony VanDeWalle and Eric Volkert) and long-time assistant cross country and track & field coach Doug Sand.
He earned NCAA Division III All-American honors in 1984 as a member of the 400 relay team and in 1986, as a senior, he anchored a pair of All-American teams, the 400 and 1600 relay units.
After graduating from Augustana in 1986 with a degree in political science, he eventually joined the United States Air Force and completed office training school in 1992. He spent seven years in the service and in 1995 he received his Master’s of Business Administration from Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma.
Stanford is grateful for the tutelage of his head coach, Paul Olsen, during his time at Augustana. “No coach or leader that I have ever been around has impressed me more than Coach Olsen,” he said. “My most memorable years and strongest friendships I have are a result of my time at Augie.”
Today he is the strategic account manager at Graybar where he oversees the company’s sales efforts to the United States Air Force and contractors doing business with the USAF. Leland and his wife Philisa live in Grand Prairie, Texas along with daughters Alexis and Kennedy.
