If Darwin Dumonceaux had any apprehension about his ability to compete at the college level, his high school track and field coach helped ease those fears with one simple gesture.
It came immediately after Dumonceaux had captured the Class A state title in the shot put as a senior at Saint John's Prep High School in June of 1995.
"My head coach (the late Pete Froehle) must have known something I didn't," Dumonceaux recounts. "Because he brought a college shot put with him down to the state meet. And after the award ceremony was over and everything was wrapping up, he had me throw it.
"I did just fine. I didn't throw it quite as far as I did with the high school shot earlier that day (61-feet-1 ½), but I still threw far enough to know that this was a passion I could continue to pursue."
And did he ever.
After moving just down the road to Saint John's University, Dumonceaux earned All-MIAC honors in the shot put five times and All-American honors twice – including as a senior in 1999 when he won a Division III outdoor national championship with a throw of 57-10 ¼ (17.63 meters).
That made him the first SJU track and field athlete to capture a national title since Jim Gathje won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in both 1985 and '86.
"It was really an indescribable moment," Dumonceaux said. "There was an incredible sense of satisfaction to see all the hard work I'd put in all those years pay off."
The national championship capped a season in which he'd finished fourth in the shot put at the Division III indoor meet, then won the MIAC outdoor title after having finished as conference runner-up three times (1997 outdoor, 1998 indoor and 1999 indoor).
He had previously won a conference indoor title in 1997.
"He'd been dominant all year (in 1999)," recalls SJU head football coach
Gary Fasching, who was then an assistant in track and field working with the Johnnie throwers. "I remember the week before the (outdoor) national meet, we were practicing and we talked about how he had a great chance to win a championship. He was pretty confident heading into that meet and he ended up throwing his best when he needed to."
Dumonceaux came from a family with a long connection to SJU. His father Robert played football for the Johnnies and was a longtime math professor at the school before his retirement in 2014. He was also once the head wrestling coach and long helped run the chain crew at home football games.
Older brothers David and Duane were football standouts at SJU as well, while younger brother Damien started for three years on the defensive line and earned All-American honors. He is now the program's defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator.
Darwin excelled in football too, starting two seasons on the defensive line. He ranked among the team's leading tacklers and blocked two kicks as a junior in 1997.
"I learned a lot from all of my siblings, but Darwin and I were really close because of our proximity in age," Damien said. "He was still at home and I was the little brother who tagged along with him when he'd go do stuff. I saw first-hand the work he put in and what it took to become a great college athlete."
A computer science major at SJU, Darwin has gone on to a long career with IBM. He now resides in Northfield, but maintains a close connection to Johnnie athletics – including carrying on the family tradition by working on the chain crew at home football games, something he started doing back in 1991.
"I never even thought of going anywhere else," said Dumonceaux, who also volunteers with the track and field coaching staff at Northfield High School. "This was where I always knew I'd end up. Saint John's has been a part of my family since before I can remember.
"It's a place that means a lot to all of us."
