In his own quiet way, Karl Lerum has continued the long tradition of track and field success at Seattle Pacific.
Entering into his sixth year at the helm in 2011, Lerum has been named the West Region women's Coach of the Year for four straight years. The Falcons have won all seven GNAC indoor women's team championships, and Lerum has been in charge for the last five of those.
Last winter, Seattle Pacific followed up on its conference crown by placing sixth at the NCAA Division II meet. A total of nine Falcon women posted a combined 10 NCAA automatic qualifying marks and 14 provisional marks.
Then in the spring of 2010, SPU's women added a fourth GNAC outdoor title to their collection and placed 17th at the national meet. Lerum subsequently was named the West Region Women's Outdoor Coach of the Year. Altogether, the Falcon women had four NCAA automatic qualifying times and 10 provisional marks; the men had two NCAA provisional qualifying times.
Lerum took over the Falcon coaching reins from Jack Hoyt in October 2005, and is just the fifth head coach in the long history of the program. He worked as an assistant to Hoyt in 2000 and again in 2003. In between, he spent two years as an assistant coach at Trinity College, an NCAA Division III school in Hartford, Conn.
As an athlete, Lerum made his mark in two sports at Pacific Lutheran University in nearby Tacoma. On the football field, he set -- and still owns -- the school career records for receptions and receiving yards. On the track, Lerum has the Lutes record in the 400 meters and is among the school's top 10 in the decathlon, 110 hurdles, long jump, 100 meters, and javelin. He was an All-American in the decathlon, finishing third at the NAIA nationals in 1996 and second in '97 and '98.
After college, Lerum was on the San Francisco 49ers roster for the 1998 and 1999 preseason, and played with NFL Europe's Amsterdam Admirals. In 2003 and 2004, he was the head coach of the Oslo Vikings football program in Norway.
Lerum is a graduate of Franklin Pierce High School in Tacoma. He has a bachelor's degree in history from PLU and a master's in history from Trinity.
He and his wife Yvonne and son Lucas live in Seattle.