Published: June 18, 2009 10:49 am      

Special honor for Ray Streit

Ray Streit may have felt like he reached the pinnacle of his track and field career in 2005 when he was honorary referee for the Goshen Relays.

The retired Goshen Community Schools teacher, who has been a longtime advocate of the sport both as a coach and an official, received an even more prestigious award when he was named the Top Track and Field Official at the boys state meet at Indiana University in Bloomington on June 6.

“It was really a surprise when I got the letter back in September or October,” Streit said. “I had talked to Lou Brown who is the head of the state association and he told me he was submitting my name for the award.”

Each year, the Indiana High School Athletic Association, in cooperation with the National Federation of Interscholastic Officials Association, recognizes and honors an outstanding official in each of 11 sports during the school year.

Streit was selected by a committee representing the official’s associations. In Indiana, there are 265 officials associations and more the 8,000 licensed officials in 11 IHSAA sports.

“I coached track for about 18 years,” he said. “I began at Towncrest Junior High and spent three years as an assistant to Dean Slavens at the high school.

“After my coaching career ended I wanted to stay involved in the sport. I had been working as a volunteer at the Goshen Relays and officiating seemed to be a continuation of that.”

During his officiating career, Streit has worked 14 sectionals, four regionals and 10 state finals on the clerking crew and one as an assistant starter.

“The two biggest highlights are being the honorary referee at Goshen and the assistant starter at the state meet,” he said.

“The clerking crew is the group giving instructions to the athletes and makes sure they are at the right starting line. We also have to check uniforms and batons to make sure they are legal.

“One of my bigger worries as an official is a disqualification. An athlete can be disqualified for wearing a piece of jewelry. You have to wonder about that one at times, but it’s a rule and you have to enforce it.”

Streit has completed 25 years of officiating in track and field and cross country. He has been a member of the Northern Indiana Officials Association since 1995.

This year during the state track tournament series he worked the girls sectional at Lafayette Jefferson and boys at Marion. He worked the girls regional at Indianapolis Ben Davis and the boys at North Central.

“The association tends to keep you away from home in the tournament series,” he said.

Streit has also kept the scorebook for Goshen High School varsity boys basketball team for the last 20 years.

He attended Manchester College where he earned a B.S. in Health, Physical Education, History and Driver Education. He also has an M.S. from the University of Saint Francis.

He taught in the Goshen School system for 35 years, retiring in 2000.

Ray and his wife Sandy have been married for 43 years. They have two children, Tracy and Andy, and three grandchildren, Lauren, Aaron and Carter.