Richard Harring

1. Richard Harring Central Dewitt Hall of Fame Induction Class 2013

2. Inducted for Outstanding Contributions as an individual of Central High School

3. Biography Dick was an outstanding student-athlete.  He graduated 4th in the Class of 1955 and was in the FFA, Mixed Chorus and Drama.  He was an All-Illowa football player on an 8-1 team and led Class A State in Receiving.  He was an All-Illowa, All-Area and All-State Basketball player on two great teams and has 6 records that would still be #1 today.  He placed 2nd in the Discus and High Jump at the 1955 State Track meet.  He went to the University of Iowa on the Nile Kinnick Scholarship playing both football and basketball.  He earned his Juris Doctor in 1962.  He joined the Iowa Bar in 1962, Colorado Bar in 1963 and has been in private practice since.

4. Article from the Observer Despite all the accolades Richard “Dick” Harring has received over the years, “he’s first and foremost, a good person and a nice guy,” says his long-time friend John Hinck. “He’s never let his success get in the way.” The two were teammates on the DeWitt DeHawks football and basketball teams in the 1950s and have kept in touch, not only with each other but also with an entire group of classmates that, for the past nine years, has returned to the community each September for a week of togetherness and golf at Springbrook Country Club. They meet again in Arizona each March. “It’s quite a tradition,” Hinck observes. Harring graduated from DeWitt High School in 1955, having been a member of the football, basketball and track teams, FFA, mixed choir and several plays. Classmate Roger Christiansen adds Harring also was the senior class president and received an award for being the person involved in the most activities. Harring went on to the University of Iowa on a Nile Kinnick scholarship based on his academic and athletic achievements. He received a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics and entered law school, receiving his juris doctor degree in 1962.

5. The Observer (cont.) For the past 50 years, Harring has maintained a private law practice and has served on a number of committees of the Colorado and Denver bar associations. He also has served several terms on the Columbine Valley Town Council and as a municipal judge for the town. Although Harring was recruited to play football at Iowa, it was the basketball court where Harring and his teammates found the most success. Hinck says the DeHawks should have gone to the state tournament during Harring’s junior year, but warming up for a sub-state game at the Field House in Iowa City, he fell and sprained an ankle. “He was a leader and the focal point of the team,” Hinck explains. “Without him, we lost. We probably would have been the first DeWitt team to play in the state tournament.” DeWitt High School had many good track teams in the 1950s, winning most of the meets in which they competed. Harring insists he was not very good at any event, but Coach Harold Birney would enter him in whatever events he needed another competitor. “I knew very little about the high jump, but Coach Birney entered me in that event for the conference meet.” It was dominated by jumpers that used a technique called the western roll, but Haring opted to

6. The Observer (cont.) jump in a fashion that better suited him, and — to his and Coach Birney’s surprise — he won the event at 5 feet 11 inches and just missed at another inch or two. He doesn’t remember if he ever competed in the high jump again, “but I do know I never figured out how I jumped (so high) that one evening,” he says. During his senior year, Birney entered him in the 50-yard dash at the indoor meet in Iowa City. As Harring crossed the finish line in first or second place in the first qualifying heat, several Iowa football coaches were waiting with Birney to congratulate him. That led to his being recruited to play at end for Iowa, he believes. Among Harring’s most vivid memories is the boys’ locker room at the old DeWitt High School. In the 1950s, it would have had a fire department capacity rating for about 10 players, but the entire team managed to dress, shower and store its gear in that tiny space. “In August with 90-plusdegree temperatures and no ventilation, the locker room was something to behold,” he remembers.

7. The observer (cont.) But “add to that the camaraderie, unmerciful teasing and cajoling, the joys and pains of victory and defeat that only happen in a locker room, and one has one of those great memories of high school,” Harring explains. Another was of the team bus literally scraping the side of the narrow, old Hwy. 30 bridge over the Mississippi and an oncoming truck as the team traveled to play Illowa Conference rivals in Futon, Morrison, Savanna or Sterling. Each sport provided memories, both good and bad, says Harring, but many of them remain crystal clear in the mind of this deserving DeHawk athlete, who is being inducted into the Central Hall of Fame Thursday evening.

8. Induction speech Inducted for Outstanding Contributions as an Individual Dick was an outstanding student-athlete and the reason we want to keep recognizing graduates from our pre-Central eras. He graduated 4th in his Class of 1955 and besides being an outstanding student-athlete was a known leader in the FFA, Mixed Chorus and Drama. He was also an outstanding 3-sport athlete. As a football player, he was an All-Illowa first team selection on Hall of Fame Coach Harold Birney’s 1954 team that went 8-1. That year he led the State in Class A Receiving with 487 yards and 7 TD’s. Those record still stands as #3 & #1 All-time. Dick was an outstanding track athlete as well and placed 2nd at the 1955 State Track meet in the Discus and High Jump.Basketball is where Dick shined. This 6’4” Center was a 2X All-Illowa, 2X All-Area and All-State Honor Roll Basketball player on two great DeWitt teams. He was Captain his senior year and was thought by many to be DeWitt’s best ever at the time. The 18-5, 1953-54 team, was coached by HOF member Howard Ehrler and was also known as one of the best ever. They were Illowa Co-Champions and lost a tough Sub-state game with an injured Richard Harring. His game, season and career records are staggering. He averaged 22 & 26 points per game his junior and senior years. Today, his 923 career points would be 3rd All-time just behind Kale Peterson and he has 7 records that would still be #1. 132 & 112 Free Throws

9. Speech (cont.) & video in a Season...482 & 434 Points in a Season…41 Points in a Game…16 Field Goals in a Game…25 Points in a Half… all still #1. His 175 Field Goals in a Season is #2 just behind tonight’s HOF inductee Brig Tubbs. He went to the University of Iowa on the Nile Kinnick Scholarship and played BOTH football and basketball. Freshman, were not allowed to play Varsity football but he started on the 1955 Freshman team which was the only season he would play. In talking with Dick he joked about his decision to play only Basketball considering his early Football success. The Hawks would later go on to win Big Ten titles in 1956 & 1958 and the Rose Bowl in 1958 under legendary Head Coach Forest Evashevski. He instead played Basketball for the Hawkeyes for all 4 years. He graduated from the U of I in 1959 and earned his Juris Doctor in 1962. He joined the Iowa Bar in 1962, Colorado Bar in 1963 and has been in private practice since. He has been a member of numerous committees and clubs including serving as the town council municipal judge in the town of Columbine Valley, CO.Please help me welcome the newest member of the Central High School Hall of Fame, 2013 inductee… Richard Harring