Bio

From the old cinder track of old Gowans Stadium to the state-of-the-art facility that is the new Gowans Stadium, Hutchinson Community College head track and field coach Patrick Becher has seen the complete transformation of the Blue Dragon track and field facilities.

He’s also coached his share of great track and field talent in Blue Dragon uniforms over his 34 seasons as Blue Dragon head coach.

Becher had coached 23 individual NJCAA national champions and 27 NJCAA national runners-up and has coached more than 800 track and field All-Americans in his tenure at Hutchinson. The most famous Blue Dragon track and field athlete under Becher’s watch is 1988 NJCAA decathlon national champion Steve Fritz, who placed fourth in the decathlon at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

The 2018 season had its share of highlights with both men’s and women’s teams ranked in the indoor and outdoor NJCAA Top 20 from the start of the season to the finish. Adriana Janic repeated as NJCAA Indoor Women’s 60-meter hurdle national champion and was the 2018 NJCAA Indoor Pentathlon national champion. High jumper Richard Newman was the indoor national runner-up and won the national outdoor championship in leading the Blue Dragons to a ninth-place men’s finish.

In 2017, Becher coached Janic to the first of her three career national titles when she captured the 2017 60-meter hurdle indoor championship.

HutchCC track has also produced more than 120 Academic All-American's in the past 10 years, including two No. 1 Women’s Academic All-America teams of the year and one men’s Academic All-America team of the year and five more teams in the top five.

In addition to his successes on the track, Becher was one of the championship directors of the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017 NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Gowans Stadium.

In 2003 and 2007, Becher was named Men’s National Track and Field Coach of the year. He has served as President of the NJCAA Track Coaches Association and has served as the group’s vice-president three times. He has been president of the Region VI Coaches Association three times.

He has been named Region VI Track Coach of the Year seven times, and nominated three times previously for National Coach of the year.

In 2014, Becher was inducted into the Quarterback Club Hall of Fame and in 2017, he was inducted into the NJCAA Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Becher has coached four Region VI championship teams, winning the Region VI men’s title in 1996, 1997, 2011 and 2012.

The 2012 Blue Dragon men’s outdoor team captured both a second-straight Jayhawk West championship and the program’s first Region VI championship since 1996. The 2011 Blue Dragons won the conference for the first time since 1996.

The 2011 NJCAA Championships may go down as one of Becher’s favorites as he watched John Talbert capture national championships in the hammer throw and discus. Talbert captured the hammer national championship on his final throw.

Becher received his AA degree from Eastern Oklahoma State Junior College in 1975. He was a NJCAA All-American, Region II Cross Country Champion along with being the outstanding graduate in Liberal Arts. He received his bachelors’ degree from Oklahoma Christian College in 1977 where he was an NAIA All-American and Academic All-American in cross country and track his senior year and graduated with honors.

Becher started teaching and coaching at Watonga, Okla., for two years then on to Ponca City for two years as assistant cross country and track coach. In 1980, he got his first head coaching chance at Moore High School, where he led his boys cross country team to a state runner-up finish in 1983, four conference championships, two regional championships and fourth place at the Oklahoma State Championships in 1984. He also served one year as the President of the Oklahoma State Track Coaches Association.

In addition to coaching at Hutchinson, Becher worked at Quivira Scout Ranch for seven summers, five of those as camp director.

Becher has been married for 44 years to the former Jan Sorrells, whom he met in junior college and married after graduation from Eastern Oklahoma State. The couple has three children: Chad, Trisha, who is a former Hutchinson athlete and assistant coach; and Lynsey, who is also a graduate of HutchCC and winner of the Young Kansan Award in 2010. The couple has two grandchildren, Jerimiah, and Benjamin.