Lester Belding had a wealth of experience before his arrival at North Central College in 1945 and used his skills as an administrator and coach over a 20-year tenure to set the stage for the Cardinals’ many successes to follow.
A native of Mason City, Iowa, Belding played football at the University of Iowa and was the first player in Hawkeyes’ history to earn All-America honors in 1920. After graduation in 1922, he held coaching positions in football, basketball and track and field at schools in Colorado, Iowa and North Carolina before taking over as the football, basketball and track and field coach at Dakota Wesleyan University (SD) in 1933.
In 12 years at Dakota Wesleyan, his teams won four conference championships in basketball and another in football. He also served on a planning committee to establish the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball, the forerunner to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).
In fall 1945, Belding joined the North Central staff as professor of physical education and director of athletics as well as the coach for football and track and field. He led the Cardinals’ football team to a 3-3 record in his only season as head coach, the second season for North Central after the program went on hiatus during World War II.
During the 1945-1946 academic year, Belding was instrumental in the planning and formation of the College Conference of Illinois (CCI), which later became the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW). North Central was a charter member of the CCI in fall 1946 and remains a CCIW member today.
He stayed on as offensive line coach for the football team after stepping down as head coach, helping the Cardinals win their first two CCI Conference Championships. He was also North Central’s head basketball coach during that time, compiling a 23-13 record in two seasons, including a 13-7 mark against conference opposition.
In 1961, Belding’s track and field team won its first CCI Championship, and his cross country squad did the same in 1962 before adding subsequent titles the next two years. Belding also presided over the Cardinals’ first appearance in a national cross country championship, a 12th-place finish in the 1961 NCAA College Division Championships.
Under Belding’s watch, the Cardinals’ swimming program came to national prominence. The program achieved four team national championships in 1958, 1961, 1962 and 1963, in addition to 44 individual and relay national titles. North Central athletic teams won a total of 27 CCI team championships during Belding’s tenure as athletic director.
Belding passed away on May 27, 1965, at age 64. He was inducted into the NAIA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1962 and was a posthumous inductee into the University of Iowa Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991.
