Distance runner, former coach dies after being struck by car while cycling

An acclaimed Wisconsin distance runner died Monday after he was struck while bicycling Sunday in the Town of Taycheedah.

Eugene Henry Dennis, 36, was wearing a helmet and had a light on his bike as he rode westbound about 7:30 p.m. on county Highway WH and Tower Road.

Dennis is the 10th cyclist in Wisconsin killed this year in a collision with a motor vehicle. The total exceeds the nine fatalities recorded in 2010.

A 22-year-old Fond du Lac man, also westbound, apparently struck Dennis, who landed on the hood of the vehicle before being thrown to the ditch, according to the Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Office. The driver was arrested. Alcohol is considered to be a factor, the sheriff's office announced.

Dennis, a former teacher and cross-country coach at Fond du Lac High School, had just been sentenced Friday to six months in jail as a condition of three years' probation, after being convicted of misconduct in office for having a sexual relationship with a female student in 2009 and 2010.

He ran for the University of Wisconsin and later for the Wisconsin Runner Racing Team. He won the 2003 USA Men's 5K Championship.