Outing, scholarship honors former coach

FORT WAYNE — This time, Barrie’s Boys won’t have to run the golf course the way they used to in the old cross country days. Instead, they’ll all be in carts.

The inaugural Peterson Golf Outing, in honor of longtime Northrop track and cross country coach Barrie Peterson, will be July 7 at Autumn Ridge Golf Course, beginning with a 1:30 p.m. shotgun start. The event was formed to raise money for the Barrie Peterson Scholarship Fund, a $1,000 gift to a graduating Northrop boys track and field athlete who intends to attend college, beginning with the class of 2013.

“It means a great deal,” Peterson said of the scholarship to be presented in his name. “Northrop, in fact, in itself, means a great deal to me. I bleed brown and orange.”

Peterson, now retired, led the Bruins to the 1997 boys state track championship.

In 1974, he was the Indiana Cross Country Coach of the Year, and in 2001, he was named to the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame.

To show appreciation for Peterson’s long-term commitment to the Northrop track and field and cross country programs, a group of “Barrie’s Boys” – former Northrop runners – established the scholarship fund. This will be the first year that a golf event has been scheduled to raise money.

“All the kids have meant so much through the years,” Peterson said. “To decide to do something like this is pretty awesome.”

Through a release that announced the golf outing, a couple of Peterson’s former runners paid tribute.

“For us, it’s an opportunity to give back to coach Peterson and to recognize him for the hand he had in our lives,” said Doug Ford, a 1973 Northrop graduate.

“He was, and is, like a second father to me as far as his influence in my life,” said Wayne Assistant Principal Chuck DeFord, a 1977 Northrop grad.

“We were all Barrie’s Boys, and he taught us about doing the right thing – about perseverance and what to do in life when things don’t go your way.”

Deadline to register for the event is today. Forms are available at Autumn Ridge and Cherry Hill golf courses, the Northrop Track and Cross Country alumni Facebook page, or by emailing Doug Ford at doug.ford@midwestpipe.com.

stwarden@jg.net