He came out of Crystal Lake, Illinois as a “sprinter with some potential.” He left Augustana as a school record holder, NCAA All-American, team captain and multiple conference champion. He also became the standard bearer of what an anchor man should be, the measure against which all who came after him would be judged. Like those whom he ran against in his college career, few have been able to measure up to Meyer’s prowess.
From his very first indoor meet as a freshman in 1977, it was obvious that Mike Meyer was fast. While the speed was measurable by a stopwatch, what nobody could judge during those early days was that inside that skinny body, supported on match-stick thin legs, beat the heart of a young man who absolutely refused to lose. A common joke on the Augustana track team in those days was “When the going gets tough, the sprinters leave.” That phrase did not apply when Meyer stepped on the track.
He did it all while wearing the Blue & Gold, running the 100, 200 and 400 and anchoring every sprint relay team for four years. Even now, 25 years after he last pulled on his spikes, his name is still plastered all over the Vikings record book. He holds the school record in the 400 with his time of :47.84 that placed him sixth in the 1980 NCAA Division III national meet. He also still has a share of the 400 relay school record when he anchored the team of Terry McMillan, Kofi Osei and Tom Sparkman to a sizzling time of :41.00 in the semi-finals of that same national meet. In the finals, a botched handoff cost Augustana a shot at first place but his scintillating anchor leg brought his team from last to fourth while running against the fastest “pure” sprinters in the country.
He remains in the school’s top ten in the 200 (fifth at :21.7 in 1979) and the 100 (ninth at :10.7 in 1978) and the 1600 relay (eighth at 3:15.60 in 1979 with teammates Randy Davidson, Sparkman and Jim Wimmerstedt).
A multiple national meet qualifier, Meyer won a total of seven College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championships (four relays and three individual events) during his career. As a junior he won the 200 in a photo finish against North Central’s great All-American Don Milkent and he anchored both the 400 and 1600 relay teams to victory.
It was at the CCIW meet his senior year that he enjoyed perhaps his finest hour. Less than two weeks before the conference meet he suffered a hamstring pull, a dangerous injury for a sprinter. Meyer and head coach Paul Olsen got together and decided not to enter him in his specialty, the 400, because of the toll the longer sprint could have on his tender leg. Instead he opted for the 100 and 200 along with both relays, if the leg could hold out.
He ran in the preliminaries on Friday with his leg heavily taped but he breezed into the finals. On Saturday his confidence was back, the wrap was not. A team captain who led by action rather than word, he won the 100 and the 200 and anchored both the 400 and 1600 relay teams to victory. His performance helped the Vikings win what would be the first of five straight CCIW titles.
Meyer currently lives in Midland, Michigan where he has been a purchasing agent for the city of Midland for the last 10 years after similar stints in Lincoln, Nebraska and Davenport, Iowa. Mike and his wife Tori have a pair of daughters – Jordan and Jenna. A business administration and psychology major at Augustana, he was very active in helping with the Mississippi Valley Special Olympics when he lived in the Quad Cities.
