'Very exciting': Green Bay Preble's Steve Marcelle to be inducted into Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame
GREEN BAY – Former Green Bay Preble track and field star Steve Marcelle was a bit confused recently after he received a voicemail from Georgia Tech, the school where he became an All-American from 2007 to 2010.
His wife, Natalie, figured they probably were calling to let him know they wanted his diploma back. She’s clearly the witty one in the family.
Marcelle instead was informed he will be inducted into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in October as part of a noteworthy six-person class which includes the late Demaryius Thomas, the former star wide receiver and Super Bowl champion with the Denver Broncos.
Marcelle’s honor should have been expected in a collegiate career after which he remains the school’s record holder in both the outdoor and indoor shot put. He held the record in the outdoor discus until it was broken this spring.
He won five Atlantic Coast Conference titles in the shot put while being named All-ACC seven times in the event and twice in the discus.
“I was kind of surprised,” Marcelle said. “I mean, there are some great athletes that have come out of Georgia Tech. So, I was very humbled and surprised by the news. It was very exciting.”
Steve Marcelle was a standout at Green Bay Preble
Marcelle remains one of the best athletes in Preble history. The 2005 graduate was a dominant three-sport talent who was so good he had offers to play collegiate football before deciding on track and field because he enjoyed the sport more than football or basketball.
Marcelle already had made a name for himself entering his senior year, but he finished his prep career with a flourish.
It started in the fall when he was one of the best two-way players in the area in football as a defensive and offensive lineman. He earned all-conference and all-state honors for a Hornets team that went 8-2 and finished second to Sheboygan South in the old Fox River Valley before losing to state runner-up Marshfield in the WIAA Division 1 playoffs.
But he saved his best for last.
Marcelle made history at the D1 state track and field meet in June 2005 with a throw of 67 feet, 6 inches in the shot put, breaking the previous state record of 66-7½ set in 1966 by former Madison West star Stu Voigt, who played three sports at the University of Wisconsin before being drafted by the Minnesota Vikings.
He wasn’t even done that weekend.
Marcelle also won the state title in the discus the following day with a throw of 178-7 — it was the second-best toss of his career — to put the exclamation point on a season in which he was named the Wisconsin Gatorade track and field athlete of the year. He remains one of only five area male athletes to receive the honor in any sport.
It was his record-breaking throw in the shot put that was the defining moment of Marcelle’s career and one he still remembers fondly 18 years later.
“That was the definitely the highlight,” said Marcelle, who received a standing ovation from about 10,000 people at Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse. “That was an awesome moment. My whole family was there. I feel like the whole state was rooting for you in that moment. Wisconsin state track and field has something special at that state meet.
“I felt pretty confident going into that day. I know the year before I warmed up really well, and I think I got a little too confident my junior year. My senior year, I just knew how to handle it mentally going into there and what I had to do and the preparation I had to do in order to make it happen.”
Marcelle still holds the state record in the shot put, although Hortonville junior Ben Smith will put that to the test the next two years. Marcelle is pulling for him to break it. He figures he’s had it long enough.
MORE: Legendary Ashwaubenon track coach Al Vandenberg made a 'huge difference in a lot of people's lives'
MORE: Green Bay Preble soccer standout Gavin Urben becomes latest in family to become a Phoenix
Steve Marcelle developed into a star at Georgia Tech
There was an adjustment to be made when Marcelle arrived at Georgia Tech. He was confident his skills would translate competing at a Power Five school, although he was a little unsure at the time while changing his technique from the glide he used at Preble to the rotational.
He also had to get adjusted to heavier implements, including one in the shot put that was 4 pounds heavier than high school.
Marcelle redshirted as a freshman, but after a couple months of training, his confidence soared. His entire focus was on getting stronger, faster and learning his new technique.
It all paid off during the next four years with a career that ended up making him a Georgia Tech Hall of Famer.
There is one question Marcelle still frequently receives more than a decade after graduating.
Despite his noteworthy track and field accomplishments with the Yellow Jackets, is there any part of him that wonders what might have been had he picked football?
Nope.
“I don’t have any regrets about my decision,” Marcelle said. “I enjoyed track and field more, and it is what it is. It’s a decision I made, and looking back, I don’t really have any regrets with it.”
Marcelle has been successful away from the track.
He was named the senior supply chain manager at Carnivore Meat Company in December 2021, putting the business management degree he earned at Georgia Tech to good use in recent years.
Marcelle also gave back to the sport that treated him so well, returning to Preble as an assistant under former track coach Pat Prochnow and then for his cousin, Nick, who took over when Prochnow retired in 2011.
Marcelle stepped away after his son was born last year, but there might be a time in the future when he is back coaching.
And, who knows, it’s always possible in 15 or 16 years another Marcelle might come along to challenge his legendary dad’s track and field records.
“He just turned 1 in April,” Marcelle said, laughing. “He’s 99th percentile on a lot of the charts. We will see.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Preble High's Steve Marcelle to join Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame
