George Daniel
Born: 1887 in Scotland
Died: Oct. 9, 1969 in Lorain, Ohio
Wife: Margaret (died, 1957). They had no children.
Athletic highlights
Lorain High School (1901-05)
Four-sport varsity athlete in football, basketball, track and baseball.
Ohio Wesleyan University (1905-10)
1910: Set the Ohio college/university state 440-yard dash record (48.8) that stood until 1925.
Lettered in varsity sports of track, baseball and basketball. As a senior he was team captain for track and baseball.
Coaching, athletic administrative highlights
1910: Hired as Lorain High’s second athletics coach.
1910-63: Daniel’s sports career was divided into many chapters. He served as Lorain High football coach, track coach and athletic director.
1912, ’14 and ’16: Coached the Lorain High varsity football team to first-ever undefeated season in 1912. The 1914 and ’16 teams were also unbeaten.
1915, ’23: Coached state and field track champion Norris Sinclair (120-yard high hurdles, 16.4; 220-yard low hurdles, 26.4.) in 1915. Sinclair was Lorain County’s first-ever state track and field champion. Sinclair was inducted into the Lorain County Track Hall of Fame in 2010 and Lorain Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. Daniel was athletic director for Lorain High when Dick Sanford (220-yard low hurdles, 26.1; long jump, 22-2 ¾) and Howard Ross (javelin, 143-5 ½) when both won state titles in 1923. As a team, Lorain finished third at both the 1915 and ’23 state meets.
1929-62: College commissioner and secretary treasurer, Ohio Athletic Conference. Secretary of four high school leagues. Instrumental in forming the Little Big Four League, which consisted of Lorain, Elyria, Sandusky and Norwalk. The league later expanded to include Fremont, Bellevue and Oberlin. The name was changed to the Little Big Seven.
Career milestones
1958: On June 5, Lorain’s recreation stadium was named in Daniel’s honor – George Daniel Field. He retired on June 12 after serving 48 years as coach and athletic director.
1964: Ohio Wesleyan University Athletic Hall of Fame
1970: Lorain Sports Hall of Fame (inaugural class)
Education
1905: Lorain High School
1910: Ohio Wesleyan University