Dave Skelton receives the Horace Crow Award

Greg Mohl, Montana Association President presenting the 2023 Horace Crow award to Dave Skelton at the 2024 BTC All-Comers indoor meet. The Horace Crow award is given every year at the USATF Annual Meeting by the Associations Committee for lifetime committment to keeping the organization running. Known through out Montana as simply "Dave", Dave Skelton has been a fixture of Montana Track and Field, Cross Country, and Long Distance running. Whether it be a college track meet, youth cross country, or a waterstation on top of the Bridgers, Dave is one of those people behind the scenes that do the work necessary to have the event happen.

He joined the Board of Directors for the Montana Association in 1996 as the Youth Chair, a position he held at various times through the next nearly 30 years. Later on as Vice President and most recently as Clubs Chair and SafeSport Coordinator he seems to pitch in where his experience and talents can help out the Association the most. On the National level he currently serves on the Associations Committee as the Northwest Region Representative assisting the seven Associations in our area with their administrative tasks and was previously the Vice Chair of Administration of the USATF National Youth Committee. 

Always a coach, he founded the Bozeman Track Club in 1989 with only six athletes and his wife Linda for help. That club has grown to have more that 200 participants in indoor and outdoor track and cross country. In 2009 the BTC youth girls cross country team took second place at the National Championship just missing first by one point. in 2018 he was recognized by the USATF Youth Coaches Association as the Western Zone Coach of the year. 

As an athlete Dave Skelton was primarily a miler in the golden days of distance track but also did a few turns in the 800 (880 in the day) distance medley, and steeplechase. In 1967 before his running career was interupted by a letter from the Army he ran with the cross country team and returned to be the cross country team captain from 1971 to 1973. As a former athlete and frequent official with Bobcat Track and Field he was a founding member of the Bobcat Track and Field Association (BTFA) which supports not only Bobcat Athletics but also many of our youth athletics.

Next time you are at an event think about all it takes to put that event on and be thankful that we have the Dave Skelton's out there willing to do what it takes so people can run, jump, and throw.