Dan Roach

Dan Roach - Athlete Class of 1981

And to all of you who think Southwest never had Cross Country Champions after Al Halley retired, shame on you. Coach Bob Hoisington, who followed Halley at the helm, had a bunch. From the fall of '77 until the spring of '81 he had Dan Roach, and he was a good one.

Dan participated in the State Cross Country meet five times and was a two-time individual State Champion, winning in 1978 and 1979. He received team MVP honors, was Region Champ in '78 and '79 and set the school record at 5,000 meters. He was also captain of the 1980 State Champion Team. In addition to winning the team title in 1980, his teams finished 2nd in '79, 3rd in '78 and 4th in '77. They also won the City Championship four years in a row.

In track and field, Dan was equally swift and successful. He was a state meet participant twice, All-State in the two-mile, and a member of Southwest's All-State sprint medley team which also holds the school record for that event.

Dan was also a two time City Conference champion in both of the above events, Twin City Indoor Meet champion in the mile in both '79 and '81, and a City Conference record holder in the two-mile run and sprint medley relay. Following his successful career at Southwest, Dan ran both cross country and track at the University of Minnesota from 1981 to 1984. He is currently Business Development Manager at Hutchinson Technology. Married for 22 years to his wife Patricia, the couple have five children; John, Mary, Grace, Paul and Daniel.

Dan was one of three Roach brothers to compete for Southwest in sports, the others being Paul and Mike.