Hall of Fame
Former Maquoketa High School star Don Flagel excelled in two sports during his athletic career at Coe College. He made his mark as a running back, earning All-Conference recognition in both his sophomore and junior years. Playing under head Coach Wayne Phillips, Flagel was named Most Valuable Player on the 1972 team. In 1972, when he was a junior, the team won the Midwest Conference crown with an 8-1 overall record. Flagel scored 16 touchdowns for 96 points, and rushed 196 times for 976 yards. Those numbers rank Flagel third on the list of all-time single-season rushers. This hard-driving, fleet-footed back compiled 1,928 yards in just two years at Coe. Freshmen were not eligible for varsity action in the seventies and Flagel received a Jackson County Scholarship to continue his education in the Physical Therapy Program at the University of Iowa in his senior year. His accomplishments on the track team were equally outstanding. The mile relay team of Hugh Cooper, Fran Rohlman, Flagel, and Kip Korir set a school and a conference record of 3.20.0 in 1972. The track team won Midwest Conference titles in 1972, '73, and '74 and Flagel was an integral part of those teams. He ran a leg on the record-setting sprint medley and distance medley teams in 1972. In 1973 his teams won conference championships in the outdoor mile relay and the indoor sprint medley. The 440-yard relay team of Bill Kelly, Flagel, Korir and David Garibay set a school record of 42.5 in 1974. That relay won the conference title, as did the mile relay team. Flagel was an outstanding athlete and a credit to the Coe teams he represented. Today, he is a partner in a thriving physical therapy practice in Phoenix, Arizona. We congratulate Don Flagel on his athletic and career accomplishments as we induct him into the Hall of Fame.
