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Hall of Fame Spotlight: Dee Dee (Steele) Sigee
1/9/2014 11:01:00 AM | Track and Field
By David Boyce
On three different occasions, Dee Dee Steele was a NCAA national qualifier in the weight throw and hammer throw in the late 1990s.
Steele succeeded indoors and outdoors.
As former UMKC track coach Dave Krueger recalls, Steele was not your ordinary field event athlete in the throwing events.
“You think about your typical thrower as someone kind of big and slow and not athletic, just big and strong,” Krueger said. “Dee Dee wasn't like that at all. She was so athletic, so quick and so agile. She was like a ballerina in the ring. She got to be so good at the hammer throw.”
More than a decade later, some of Steele's top throws remain near the top of the UMKC record book. Her hammer throw of 175-11 ranks second in school history. She is third in the weight throw with a career best of 58-4.50 and fifth in the shot put with a toss of 40-11.50.
Those numbers are one of the reasons Steele was included in the sixth class to be inducted into the UMKC Hall of Fame.
Steele will be honored for her accomplishments Friday in the UMKC Hall of Fame induction ceremony 6 p.m. at the Municipal Auditorium Little Theatre.
Inductees will also be recognized during halftime of the women and men's basketball games on Saturday. The women play Chicago State at 2 p.m. and the men follow at 5:15 p.m. Both games are at Municipal Auditorium.
“I was actually very surprised,” Steele said of her induction.
It is not surprising Steele would have that reaction. When she looks back on her track career, she does not talk about winning the weight throw in the Mid-Continent Conference in 1998 and '99.
Her memories revolve around her teammates, the road trips and the silly antics that sometimes occur on long bus rides with teammates you care about.
The thing that Steele remembers about her competition was the support she received from teammates.
“Something that was really a fond memory for me is being a field event athlete, the support of the team,” she said. “We always went first so they would come out 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning and watch us throw. That meant a lot because track meets last all day long. Some people, their events didn't start until 2 or 3 that afternoon, but they would get up and watch us throw. That meant a lot to me.”
Krueger called a Steele a team leader during those highly successful days of UMKC track in the late 1990s.
“Everybody loved Dee Dee and always will,” Krueger said. “I can't wait to see her at the Hall of Fame ceremony. I have talked to her, but I haven't seen her in quite a few years.”
Steele said Krueger stressed all the right things when it came to track and field.
“It is hard to put it on one thing,” she said. “Coach Krueger was like a father figure to everybody. He basically expected greatness out of all of us. He didn't allow us to be mediocre even though we may have tried to be that. He pushed us to be the best we could be.
“He always put our grades first and track was second. His love of track rubbed off on us and it showed and that made us a great team.”
Steele received a degree in psychology and used that education to enter the mental health field as a social worker. Steele also started a cake decorating business.
Her work in the mental health field is rewarding because she gets to help people.
“I see the changes that I actually helped,” Steele said. “I get to encourage people to do better and help them know that mental illness is something that don't have to be a crippling thing. It is something that people can live with and have a fulfilling life and nothing to be ashamed about.”
Being part of a UMKC men's and women's track and field team gave Steele some lifelong benefits.
“I feel it helped me to deal with people in general,” she said. “Being on a team sport, you have to deal with different personalities. Although track can be a very individual sport, it can also be a team sports as well.
“It teaches you how to work with others and how to compromise, listen and get along with people you might not agree with, but you have to work with towards a common goal. It is true with any job or family. Everyone has to work together. It teaches you patience, acceptance and perseverance.”
