Before Alan Hartman led Mount Union to undefeated Friday nights, he helped young athletes build a place to run. In 1978, students worked with rakes, shovels, picks and wheelbarrows, clearing rocks and weeds from a developing track facility. Hartman supervised and worked alongside them; the booster club helped. The story of his career begins as much with that work as with a football scoreboard.[1]
From Huntingdon student to Mount Union teacher
Alan Michael Hartman was born in Huntingdon on November 29, 1948. His 1966 Huntingdon Area High School yearbook called him “Rabbit” and recorded participation in football, baseball, track, intramural basketball and the Varsity Club. He also belonged to the Argus staff. The entry offers a glimpse of a young man whose school life already joined athletics with involvement beyond the playing field. The origin of his nickname remains undocumented.[3], [4]
He earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Lock Haven State College in 1971 and a master’s degree in education and administration from the University of Southern California in 1973. His obituary also records two years of Army service in Germany during the Vietnam War.[4]
A September 1974 newspaper photograph places him among Mount Union’s new teachers. They attended orientation on August 29, ahead of the September 4 opening of school. Hartman would spend 30 years teaching health and physical education at Mount Union Area Junior-Senior High School and six years advising Student Council.[2], [4]
A track built by willing workers
Patti Carlisle’s May 26, 1978 report describes a program growing out of modest beginnings. Track had started through intramural activity. The team had competed the previous year without a proper track, practicing around football bleachers and on the practice field. Coeducational physical education helped introduce girls to the sport.[1]
The new facility demanded labor as well as enthusiasm. Students cleared the ground with hand tools while Hartman helped direct the effort. The report names athletes whose accomplishments gave that work a purpose: Kelli Winfree, Brenda Rogers, Marci Chatman, Tina Martin, Robin Payne and Debbie Chambers among the girls, and Chuck Cox, Jim Gibson, Chris Wilkerson, Mike Kitting and Roger Christoff among the boys. Martin qualified for the state meet in the triple jump. These are some of the athletes named in the article, not a complete team roster.[1]
The article also discussed proposed summer invitational meets. Their inclusion shows the ambition surrounding the facility; it does not establish that those meets took place. What is documented is a coach, students and community supporters making a school athletic program possible together.[1]
Ten seasons beside Russ Quay
According to Jeff Gill’s 2000 Hall of Fame profile, Hartman joined Russ Quay’s football staff in 1976. After ten seasons as an assistant, he became Mount Union’s seventeenth head football coach in 1986. His first tenure lasted through 1998 and produced a 68–63–3 record. Contemporary coverage identified him as the program’s winningest coach at that time.[5]
The strongest years included a 9–1 regular season in 1992 and the program’s first 10–0 regular season in 1993. Both teams reached the District 6 Class AA final against Forest Hills. The 1993 season ended 10–1; the undefeated achievement belonged to the regular season.[5], [7]
Mount Union also reached the district playoffs in 1989. Although the 2000 retrospective described three finals appearances, the district championship history identifies Westmont and Forest Hills as that year’s finalists. Mount Union’s local season ledger records a 26–20 semifinal loss to Westmont. Hartman’s first tenure therefore included three playoff appearances and two district finals, in 1992 and 1993.[5], [7], [12]
The players and details behind the record
A September 1992 preview shows Hartman emphasizing the kicking game. Doug McDonald reported Tom Snyder’s 46-yard field goal against Southern Huntingdon, Charles Martin’s 85-yard return of the opening kickoff, and Walt Kratzer’s interception touchdown on the third play. Ferdie Vaughn handled punting. Those names preserve the contributions behind a season’s final record.[8]
Two years later, Bernard “Tink” Stennett delivered a memorable performance in a 30–20 victory over Penns Valley on September 16, 1994. He rushed for 298 yards on 21 carries, including 217 yards after halftime. His four touchdowns included three rushing scores and a 56-yard reception from Andy Wertz. It was a striking example of the individual performances within Hartman’s teams.[9]
Season by season
The first-tenure figures below come from the Mount Union football record document retained in the BrickTownPA research collection. The 2011 return is also listed in MaxPreps’ season history.[10], [12]
| Season | Wins–losses–ties |
|---|---|
| 1986 | 4–6–1 |
| 1987 | 5–6 |
| 1988 | 2–8 |
| 1989 | 7–3–1 |
| 1990 | 6–5 |
| 1991 | 5–4 |
| 1992 | 9–2 |
| 1993 | 10–1 |
| 1994 | 6–3–1 |
| 1995 | 5–5 |
| 1996 | 6–4 |
| 1997 | 3–6 |
| 1998 | 0–10 |
| First tenure | 68–63–3 |
| 2011 return | 4–6 |
Adding the two recorded tenures gives 72–69–3 across fourteen seasons. This is a calculation from those season records. The 2000 description of Hartman as Mount Union’s winningest coach is a historical distinction; a current all-coaches comparison has not been established here.
Recognition, and a return to the sidelines
Hartman coached the South all-star team as head coach in 1990 and 1994 and as an assistant in 1992. In June 2000 he entered the Central Pennsylvania Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. In Gill’s profile, Hartman reflected on what he missed after leaving the head-coaching position: “I miss the camaraderie.”[5], [6]
He returned as Mount Union’s head coach for the 2011 season, finishing 4–6. Illness later ended his return to the program. The obituary’s reference to a tenure ending after the 2012 season conflicts with the season listings: MaxPreps assigns fall 2011 to Hartman and fall 2012 to Corey Wertz. This profile uses the season records and leaves the precise transition date open pending school records.[4], [10], [12]
Teaching beyond the football field
Hartman’s work extended to coaching boys’ and girls’ track and assisting with junior-high basketball and wrestling. His obituary also credits him with head coaching men’s and women’s track at Juniata College and assisting its football program during the 1980s; exact appointment dates remain to be established.[4]
A 1986 Juniata College advertisement supplies another concrete example of his teaching. It names Hartman as an American Red Cross Certified Water Safety Instructor for an advanced lifesaving course at Binder Natatorium. The advertised instruction covered self-rescue, assists, boat and underwater rescue, first aid, ice rescue and pool supervision.[11]
He also worked as a ranger at Greenwood Furnace and Whipple Dam, part-time while teaching and full-time afterward. He served his Baptist congregation in Huntingdon. Hartman died April 2, 2013, aged 64.[4]
The football record is substantial, but the 1978 track story broadens the picture. It preserves a teacher helping students create something they could use—and a group of young people contributing their own labor to their school’s future.
Sources and research notes
Contemporary newspaper reports, a school yearbook, an obituary and athletic records support this profile. Newspaper and Ancestry links may require a subscription. Original clippings are retained in BrickTownPA’s research archive.
- Patti Carlisle, “Mount Union Track Facility Result Of Willing Workers,” The Daily News, May 26, 1978, p. 11.
- “New Mount Union Teachers Start Soon,” The Daily News, September 2, 1974, p. 11.
- Huntingdon Area High School yearbook, 1966, p. 32; senior entry for Alan Michael Hartman.
- John B. Brown Funeral Home, Alan M. Hartman obituary, 2013.
- Jeff Gill, “Hartman, Sellers enter Coaches’ Hall,” The Daily News, June 26, 2000, p. 4.
- Central Pennsylvania Football Coaches Association, Hall of Fame register: Alan Hartman, 2000.
- Bob Hower, District 6 football championship history, hosted by PIAA District 6.
- Doug McDonald, Penns Valley–Mount Union preview, Centre Daily Times, September 17, 1992, p. 1D (viewer page 25).
- Doug McDonald, “Speedy Trojans ran past Rams 30–20,” Centre Daily Times, September 17, 1994, p. 6B.
- MaxPreps, Mount Union football history; fall 2011 and fall 2012 season listings.
- Juniata College continuing-education advertisement, The Daily News, October 25, 1986, p. 8.
- Mount Union Trojans Statistics, “mu football records.docx,” supplied local record document in the BrickTownPA research collection. Used for season totals and playoff results; checked against the district championship history and published 2000 first-tenure total.
Have a team photograph, classroom memory, program or dated clipping? Help document Alan Hartman’s years at Mount Union. Names, dates and original source credits help place each contribution accurately.