Albert D. Sahli, a native of Aberdeen and a 1947 graduate of Aberdeen Central High School, earned his bachelor's degree from Northern State University in 1951 and his master's degree there in 1956. After serving three years as an Army officer during the Korean War, he began his coaching career at Britton, South Dakota, in 1954. He returned to the Aberdeen Public Schools in 1957, where he was an assistant coach in football and basketball and head track and field coach until 1967. In 1967, he became head cross country and track coach at Northern State University, a position he held through 1979, and he also served as Northern's head trainer. In 1979, he entered the business world and was working with the Super 8 Corporation at the time of his death in 1986. His accomplishments included several Eastern South Dakota track and field championships at Central High School, five South Dakota Intercollegiate track and field championships, and three National Association of Interscholastic Athletics District 12 track and field championships for Northern State University. His honors included the Royal Order of the Gyps Coach of the Year in 1966, National Association of Interscholastic Athletics District track and field coach of the year five times, National Association of Interscholastic Athletics Area III track and field coach of the year in 1969 and 1974, election to the Northern State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1979, the South Dakota High School Coaches Association's 25 Year Coaching Award in 1986, and election to the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference Hall of Fame in 1988. He and his wife Joan had five children: Annette, Michael, Jeffrey, Llisa, and Todd.