DES MOINES, IOWA -- Two-time Olympic medalist Fred Newhouse and Dana (Pounds) Lyon, who combined to win seven Drake Relays titles, will be inducted into the Drake Relays Athletes Hall of Fame during an April 27 luncheon at the Courtside Club in the Shivers Basketball Practice Facility on the Drake campus.
The induction of Newhouse and Lyon will increase membership in the Drake Relays Athletes Hall of Fame to 223. The Athletes Hall of Fame was established in 1959 during the Golden Anniversary of the Drake Relays with 72 charter members, including Jesse Owens, who was named the outstanding performer during the first half-century of the Drake Relays.
Newhouse becomes the sixth athlete from Prairie View A&M to be inducted into the Drake Relays Athletes Hall of Fame, joining Felix Johnson, middle distance and relays (1985); Kelly Washington, middle distance and relays (1986); Debra Melrose, relays and 400 hurdles (1989); Pat Jackson, relays (1989) and Easter Gabriel, 400, relays (1990).
He was an eight-time NAIA national champion (outdoor 440 in 1969 and 1970; outdoor mile relay in 1968, 1969 and 1970; indoor 440 in 1970; indoor mile relay in 1968 and 1970). Newhouse capped his collegiate career in 1970, when he set an NAIA record of 48.6 in winning his indoor 440 title and ran 48.2 in anchoring the indoor mile relay victory.
Running the first leg, Newhouse led Prairie View A&M to four Drake Relays titles— all in relays.
He was on the winning college sprint medley relay team at the 1968 Drake Relays and also ran the first leg on the second-place mile relay, third-place 880 relay and sixth-place 440 relay. He led the Panthers to 1969 Drake Relays titles in the college division mile and sprint medley relays.
Newhouse ran a 47.4 opening leg on the winning college mile relay team at the 1970 Drake Relays which completed a Texas-Kansas-Drake sweep in the event for Prairie View A&M. He also ran the third leg on the second-place 880 relay and third-place sprint medley and 440 relays, running a 44.9 leg in the medley.
Newhouse captured the gold medal for Team USA in the 4x400 relay and was a silver medalist in the 400 at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. His time of 44.40 in the Olympics was the second-fastest fully automatic time in the 400 during the entire decade of the 1970s.
He also was a gold medalist in the 4x400 relay and silver medalist in the 400 at the 1971 Pan-American Games.
Newhouse earned a degree in electrical engineering from Prairie View A&M and a masters in international business from the University of Washington. He has served on the board of directors for the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Track and Field.
He was the team leader for the U.S. men's track and field team at the 2000 Olympics.
Lyon is the only athlete ever to win three titles in the Drake Relays women's university-college javelin dominating the event from 2004-06 when she competed for the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Competing as a post-collegian in the 2007 Drake Relays, she threw 182-0— three feet farther than the winner of the university-college event.
Lyon, who graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 2006 with a degree in systems engineering management, captured back-to-back NCAA titles in the javelin in 2005 and 2006 and finished fourth in 2004.
She was a three-time Mountain West Conference champion and was named the outstanding performer of the 2005 Mountain West Conference outdoor meet. As a senior, she registered an Academy and conference-record throw of 195-8 — the best collegiate throw in the nation during the 2006 season.
Lyon also captured a pair of titles at the North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Championships during that span.
Following graduation, Lyon served two terms on the Air Force World Class Athlete Program (2006-08, 2012-14), where she developed into one of the nation's top throwers, ranked No. 2 in the U.S. from 2005-08.
She claimed the national title in the javelin at the 2007 USA Outdoor Championships and capped that year with a fourth-place finish at the Pan Am Games and a spot on the World Championship team in Osaka, Japan. She was runner up in the 2005 and 2006 USA Championships.
Lyon was the runner-up at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials but missed the Olympic qualifying standard by two inches.
Lyon was inducted into the U.S. Air Force Academy Hall of Fame in 2015. She was an assistant coach with the Air Force Academy from 2017-22, overseeing the Air Force throwers as well as managing the strength and conditioning program for the full squad.
