Rick Gaal had a nice career for the Otterbein Track and Field program around the turn of the century, earning All-Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) honors in the 4x4 relay during the 2000 and 2001 indoor seasons.

Gaal, a graduate of Amanda Clearcreek High School, finished second at the 2001 All-Ohio meet in the 400-meter hurdles and ranked as Otterbein’s second-leading scorer that year with 132.5 total points. He still sits amongst the top-10 list in the 400 hurdles.

Rick also achieved consistent results in the classroom, eventually earning third team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors following the 2001 campaign.