NDSU

Bacon was a two-time NCAA national steeplechase champion and four-time North Central Conference champion in the late 1970s and 1980 for the Bison.

The first NCAA Division II national track and field champion for the Bison, he won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 1979 and 1980. His four NCC championships came in the steeplechase in 1979 and 1980, the indoor 2-mile in 1977, and the indoor 1,500-meter run in 1979. His 8:56.8 time in the NCC steeplechase in 1980 remains the league record. He still holds NDSU school records in the indoor 1,500 meters and the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

A 1979 graduate in business and economics from NDSU, he earned a master's degree in business administration at NDSU in 1981, a master's degree in finance from the University of Oregon in 1987, and completed his doctorate in finance at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 1996.