Dan Cloeter
Dan Cloeter (born May 16, 1952) is a retired athlete and current pastor in Osceola, Nebraska. While attending Concordia University Nebraska, Cloeter was forty-eighth at the 1972 Amateur Athletic Union Cross Country Championships and seventh at the 1973 NAIA Men's Cross Country Championship. Between 1973 and 1981, Cloeter competed in American marathons including multiple appearances at the Chicago Marathon. Cloeter won the 1977 event, then known as the Mayor Daley Marathon, and was third in 1978. He won again in 1979, the year the marathon's name was changed to the America's Marathon-Chicago.
Apart from Chicago, Cloeter was twenty-fourth at the marathon during the 1976 United States Olympic Trials and eighteenth at the 1978 New York City Marathon. Outside of running, Cloeter began his religious career working for Lutheran churches in 1978. Between the 1980s and 2010s, Cloeter primarily held pastoral positions in Nebraska while working in various cities of Midwestern United States. During this time period, Cloeter was chosen to hold the opening ceremonial prayer at the 1999 USATF Junior Olympics.
Early life and education
Cloeter was born on May 16, 1952, and grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, until he was ten years old.{{cite web |title=Runner: Dan Cloeter |url=https://more.arrs.run/runner/9165/1/distance/asc |website=Association of Road Racing Statisicans |accessdate=17 June 2020}}{{cite news |last1=Svoboda |first1=Gary |title=Lincoln Marathon farewell run by Cloeter |work=The Lincoln Star |date=April 11, 1982 |page=5C}} During his high school education in Seward, Nebraska, Cloeter began running.{{cite news |last1=Svobada |first1=Gary |title=Norfolk minister solid favorite in Marathon |work=The Lincoln Star |date=May 10, 1979 |page=25}} For his post-secondary education, Cloeter attended Concordia University Nebraska between 1970 and 1974.{{cite web |title=Athletic Hall of Fame |url=https://www.cune.edu/athletics/hall-fame-inductees#Cloeter |website=Concordia University, Nebraska |accessdate=17 June 2020}} During this time period, Cloeter competed at cross country championships held by the Amateur Athletic Union and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. In these championships, Cloeter was forty-eighth at the 1972 AAU Cross Country Championships and seventh at the 1973 NAIA Men's Cross Country Championship.{{cite news |title=Cloeter Named All-American |work=Lincoln Evening Journal |date=November 20, 1973 |page=16}}
In 1975, Cloeter continued his post-secondary education at Concordia Theological Seminary in Springfield, Illinois, and worked at J. C. Penney.{{cite news |last=Valla |first=Elizabeth Anna |title=Pastor of all trades |url=https://columbustelegram.com/news/local/pastor-of-all-trades/article_8ea9bea5-4524-5dfd-a924-7f16fcfa1ccf.html |accessdate=17 June 2020 |work=Columbus Telegram |date=July 3, 2014}} During the late 1970s, Cloeter went to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where the seminary had subsequently relocated, to complete additional studies and worked as a gym teacher.{{cite news |title=Hoosier Wins Marathon |work=The Muncie Star |date=September 26, 1977 |page=12}}{{cite news |last=Reichel |first=Aubree |title=Runner looks back at first Chicago race |url=https://www.journalgazette.net/sports/rec/20171008/runner-looks-back-at-first-chicago-race |accessdate=17 June 2020 |work=The Journal Gazette |date=October 8, 2017 |location=Fort Wayne, Indiana}}
Athletic career
From 1973 to 1982, Cloeter ran primarily in American races ranging from the ten kilometers to marathon. When the Mayor Daley Marathon premiered in 1977, Cloeter won the event with a time of 2:17:52. The following year, Cloeter was third at the event.{{cite news |title=Ex-East Chicagoan 6th in Marathon |work=The Times |date=September 25, 1978 |location=Munster, Indiana |page=31}} When the event was renamed to the America's Marathon-Chicago in 1979, Cloeter won the event in 2:23:20.{{cite news |title=Norfolk's Dan Cloeter makes it two out of three |work=Sioux City Journal |date=October 23, 1979 |page=A12}} After the event, Cloeter received medical treatment for dehydration.{{cite news |last1=Svobofa |first1=Gary |title=Norfolk's Cloeter relishes challenge of meeting the best |work=The Lincoln Star |date=October 23, 1979 |page=16}} The following year, Cloeter stated he would not compete at the 1980 Chicago Marathon due to leg injuries he had sustained from a dog.{{cite news |title=Cloeter to run in Norfolk race |work=The Lincoln Star |date=September 9, 1980 |page=12}}
Outside of Chicago, Cloeter was 18th at the 1978 New York City Marathon.{{cite news |title=New York Marathon |work=Salt Lake Tribune |date=October 23, 1978 |page=C5}} Competing in the 1976 United States Olympic Trials, Cloeter was 24th in the marathon event.{{cite news |title=Burke Wins Marathon |work=The Terre Haute Tribune |date=June 5, 1976 |page=8}} Four years later, Cloeter qualified to participate at the 1980 United States Olympic Trials.{{cite news |last1=Svoboda |first1=Gary |title=Record-breaking effort lifts Cloeter |work=Lincoln Journal |date=May 14, 1979 |page=13}} After the United States decided not to attend the 1980 Summer Olympics, Cloeter pulled out of the Olympic Trials.{{cite news |last1=Svoboda |first1=Gary |title=New champions assured in 3rd Lincoln Marathon |work=Lincoln Journal |date=May 9, 1980 |page=23}} Apart from the United States, Cloeter appeared at racing events in Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and The Bahamas before his last marathon in 1981.
Religious career
While competing in running, Cloeter began working at Lutheran churches in 1978.{{cite news |last1=Hersh |first1=Philip |title=Remembering ex-winners |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2002-09-19-0209190355-story.html |accessdate=17 June 2020 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=September 19, 2002}} Between the late 1970s and early 1980s, Cloeter was a minister and assistant pastor at a church in Norfolk, Nebraska.{{cite news |title=Cloeter will speak, run here Saturday |work=Sioux City Journal |date=January 30, 1981 |page=C1}} In 1982, it was announced that Cloeter would continue his religious career in Racine, Wisconsin. During this decade, Cloeter initially stayed in Wisconsin until he took a pastoral position in Hutchinson, Minnesota, in the late 1980s. At the beginning of the 1990s, Cloeter remained in Hutchinson.{{cite news |title=Installation service set for new teachers |work=The Journal Times |date=September 7, 1985 |at=sec. Community p. 8}}{{cite news |last1=Ziehm |first1=Lee |title=Cloeter Still Running After All These Years |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=October 29, 1993 |page=4}} By the end of the 1990s, Cloeter had moved to Omaha, Nebraska, to continue his pastoral experience.{{cite news |last1=Heffelfinger |first1=Shannon |title=Pastor's Goal Is to Inspire Jr.Olympians |work=Omaha World-Herald |date=July 27, 1999 |page=19}} While in Omaha, Cloeter was selected to give the opening ceremonial prayer at the 1999 USATF Junior Olympics.{{cite news |title=Athletes Get Head Start on Tonight's Grand Opening 1999 Junior Olympics Opening Ceremonies |work=Omaha World-Herald |date=July 28, 1999 |page=1}}
In the 2000s, Cloeter stayed in Omaha until he began pastor at a congregation in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2002. After he stepped down from his senior pastor's position in 2004, Cloeter worked for a San Antonio, Texas, financial company until 2006.{{cite news |last1=Reeves |first1=Bob |title=Minister has his own redemption story |url=https://journalstar.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/minister-has-his-own-redemption-story/article_a2befb11-fc1b-5f20-8dae-83fec675c50d.html |accessdate=17 June 2020 |work=Lincoln Journal Star |date=May 18, 2007}} In 2007, Cloeter and his wife moved to Lincoln, Nebraska, to open up a church.{{cite news |last1=Reeves |first1=Bob |title=New church to hold first service at SouthPointe Cinema |work=Lincoln Journal Star |date=March 24, 2007 |page=1C}} For the majority of the 2010s, Cloeter continued to work in as a pastor in Osceola, Nebraska, after starting there in 2012.
Honors and personal life
In 1994, Cloeter was inducted into an athletic hall of fame for Concordia University Nebraska. Cloeter is married and has four children.
References
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{{Footer Chicago Marathon Champions Men}}
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Category:American male marathon runners
Category:Armenian religious leaders
Category:Chicago Marathon male winners
Category:Concordia Bulldogs men's track and field athletes