USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame

Thirty-three years ago, USTFCCCA Hall of Fame coach Dr. Joe Vigil hired a young upstart by the name of Damon Martin as the graduate assistant for the women’s cross country and track & field program at Adams State University. Martin had just wrapped up a sterling four-year career as a member of the University of […]

Few coaches prepared their athletes for success across every level of competition as much as Dan Pfaff has in a career that has spanned into a fourth decade. In 30 years as a collegiate coach at Houston, UTEP, LSU, Texas, and Florida, Pfaff stockpiled championships and All-America honors. Athletes that were directly coached by Pfaff combined […]

Dr. Artis Davenport II created his own path. Back in 1961, after a pair of successful two-year stints at Alcorn State University and Dillard University in which he won multiple conference championships in track & field, Dr. Davenport went to Southern University at New Orleans as an assistant professor of physical education. Dr. Davenport put […]

John McNichols left an undeniable legacy on the sports of cross country and track & field. McNichols began his foray into the world of track & field in high school, where he starred as a hurdler. His prowess caught the attention of Indiana University coach Jim Lavery, who brought McNichols to Bloomington on a full […]

Karen Dennis is a trailblazer, but breaking glass ceilings has come as a byproduct of her laser-like focus on excellence. Throughout her career, which has spanned four decades, three programs, and two conferences, she has had one common goal: Winning. And win she has. Dennis began coaching in 1977 at Michigan State – her alma […]

When the number of championships a coach won dwarfs the number of years that coach spent in the profession, then said coach clearly left a lasting impact on his sport. It’s safe to say Ron Mann, who won 66 conference titles in 33 years on the collegiate level, did exactly that. Mann began his coaching […]

Coaching any sport for close to 30 years is a feat unto itself. Lasting that long in the profession at the same school is evidence that one is doing something right. Since 1990, Amy Deem has been a part of the Miami (Fla.) track & field program, as the native of West Virginia was named […]

The name Kersee is synonymous with track & field. The former UCLA and Cal State Northridge coach was a staple in collegiate track & field for more than 30 years. One of the premier sprints and hurdles coaches in the world, many collegiate athletes benefitted from the tutelage of Kersee and won NCAA, U.S., World […]

Fred Samara is an Ivy League lifer. Six years after graduating from rival Penn and three years removed from competing at the 1976 Montreal Olympics in the decathlon, Samara was introduced as head coach of the Princeton men’s track & field program in 1979 – a position he currently holds. At Penn, Samara was an […]

Coaching cross country and track & field wasn’t Jack Hazen’s first choice. That distinction belonged to football, which is the sport Hazen started coaching as a graduate assistant under the legendary Woody Hayes at Ohio State. But when a position opened up at Malone College in 1967 to coach both soccer and men’s track & […]

Patrick Shane created his legacy from the ground up. After a standout career as a member of the BYU track & field team from 1966 to 1970 and a six-year stint as head cross country and track & field coach at Provo (Utah) High School from 1974 to 1980, Shane returned to his alma mater […]

For nearly four decades, Pete Farwell has been synonymous with Williams College. He is as engrained into the fabric of the institution’s athletic department as the “Eph” nickname and the color purple. Farwell graduated from Williams College in 1973 and then returned to campus six years later as head coach of the men’s cross country […]

In 1965, a young freshman sprinter named Bob Kitchens entered the world of collegiate track & field at Texas Tech as a walk-on. When he retired from that world nearly four-and-a-half decades later, he was one of its coaching icons. Between tenures as the head coach at UTEP, Mississippi State and West Texas A&M, Kitchens […]

Charles “Bubba” Thornton has worn many different hats – and at least a couple different helmets – throughout his adult life. Track & field athlete, college football player, professional football player, football coach, athletic director and track & field coach are all titles he’s held at some point over the past half century. The common […]

Villanova has a long and proud tradition of excellence in the mid-distance and distance events, and few coaches in the school’s storied history have left as significant an impact as did Marty Stern. Leading the Wildcats’ women’s program from 1984 through 1994, Stern oversaw an era of Nova distance running in the late ‘80s and […]

Throughout his career, Mike Holloway has stayed true to Gainesville, Florida. Whether he was the assistant coach at Gainesville High School (1983-84), a graduate assistant with the Florida women’s team (1986-87), the head coach of Buchholz High School (1985-1995) or back with the Gators since then, Holloway never dallied in his desire to build local […]

Pat Healy’s illustrious 40-year coaching career came to an end after the 2016 outdoor track & field season when he announced his retirement from UW-La Crosse. Healy began coaching at Dallas High School in Oregon from 1976 to 1983 and moved to the collegiate ranks in 1983 as an assistant at his alma mater, Western […]

Terry Franson’s rise from an All-American hammer thrower in Division II to one of the most successful coaches in NAIA history was nothing short of meteoric. Eight years after he capped his athletic career at Chico State, Franson took over as head coach of the Cougars’ program. He was promoted following four years as an […]

NCAA team championships in every sport at every level of the NCAA are all special in their own way. However, very few and far between are the national titles that transcend those boundaries as milestone achievements in sport.  In 2008, McMurry’s Barbara Crousen won one of those national titles. In a come-from-behind, 35-31, victory over […]

Wherever Billy Maxwell has coached and in whichever role he played on those coaching staffs, there’s been one constant throughout his career: winning. Maxwell has enjoyed tremendous success throughout a career as a sprints, hurdles and jumps coach – and an exceptional recruiter – that spans back to the mid-1960s. He’s been a part of […]

Only five schools in NCAA Division III men’s track & field history have national team titles from both the NCAA Indoor Championships and the NCAA Outdoor Championships on display in their respective trophy cases. It’s an exclusive list: UW-La Crosse, Lincoln (Pa.), North Central (Ill.), UW-Oshkosh, and Frostburg State University. But only one of those […]

Few NCAA Division II programs in the 1980s were as successful in track & field and cross country as the Cal State Northridge squads coached by Don Strametz, who would later lead the Matadors to more success at the NCAA Division I level. For more than three decades Strametz guided the CSUN track & field […]

For nearly four decades, Gary Wilson was a fixture on the Midwest track & field and cross country scene and a nationally successful coach at both the NCAA Division I and Division III levels, whose influence on the sport remains visible long beyond his 2013 retirement. Four times a national champion while coaching at UW-La […]

After nearly a decade as an assistant at Michigan State coaching some of the finest sprinters in the world, Jim Bibbs was chosen to take over the men’s track & field program in 1977, becoming the first black head coach in the school’s history and one of the Big Ten’s first in any sport. Bibbs […]

Since forming the St. Olaf women’s cross country team in 1976 with just five student-athletes, head coach Chris Daymont has been the constant that connects a tradition of more than 1,000 women who have come through the program since. Not only one of the nation’s most prominent female coaches but one of the most successful […]

In a conference as steeped in track & field history and tradition as the Big Ten, to hold the distinction of being the winningest coach in league history is something special. Special is also an apt way to describe Ed Nuttycombe’s 30-year tenure at the helm of Wisconsin’s men’s track & field program. From the […]

Whether it be the NAIA, Division II, or Division I, no matter where his programs competed for titles during his 38-year head coaching career, one aspect remained constant for Joey Haines: he produced winning student-athletes and winning teams. He retired from coaching in 2008 to conclude a 26-year tenure at Southeast Missouri. Prior to arriving […]

Few individuals have dedicated their lives to not only developing track & field and cross country, but using the sports in their hometowns to develop outstanding young men and women, so totally as did the late long-time Southern University coach Johnny Thomas. A lifetime resident of Baton Rouge, La., Thomas devoted much of his adult […]

A legendary figure in the distance running community for his conquest of Division II cross country before building Arkansas into the present-day perennial SEC contender it is today, Lance Harter has achieved success matched by few others during his forty-year-and-counting career. Before embarking on his current 24-year tenure as the leader of the Razorback women’s […]

While Tom Donnelly of Haverford has said the impact a coach makes on a student-athlete is “maybe one percent,” the long-running thread of successes his Haverford men’s track & field and cross country squads have achieved during his 40-year-and-counting career as the head coach of the Fords (known colloquially as the Goats in cross country) […]

A mainstay at the U.S. Naval Academy for more than half a century — 51 years, to be exact — Al Cantello has been the guiding force for a Navy distance program that shifted the balance of power in the long and storied Army-Navy rivalry firmly in favor of the Midshipmen. Cantello, a world-class javelin […]

Since day one of his 17 year-and-counting career at South Carolina, Curtis Frye has guided a perennially contending Gamecocks track & field program to success at both the national and conference level. Right out of the chutes, Frye, a sprints and hurdles specialist, built up the women’s program to an NCAA outdoor team title in […]

With 44 years of coaching between the collegiate and high school levels, Dennis Craddock has amassed a legendary resume that includes two women’s NCAA cross country team titles (1981, ’82), a women’s indoor NCAA team title (1982), and an unparalleled 45 ACC team titles via coaching tenures at Virginia and North Carolina. His nine seasons […]

A fixture in the West Coast distance coaching scene for nearly a half-century, Jim Hunt created a lasting legacy at Humboldt State which was affirmed with an NCAA Division II men’s cross country title in 1980.   During his tenure at Humboldt State from 1967 to 1986, Hunt’s teams in cross country and track & […]

Much can change over the course of five decades, but at Augustana College (Ill.) at least one thing has remained constant for the better part of a half-century: head men’s track & field and cross country coach Paul Olsen. In 47 years as the head track & field coach and 45 years with cross country, […]

During his 19 seasons at Southern California, Ron Allice guided the Women of Troy program to a 2001 NCAA Outdoor team championship, the pinnacle of a 19-year tenure of perennial championship contention that featured a combined 25 NCAA Championships top-10 finishes and 32 individual NCAA titles between his men’s and women’s programs. All told in […]

  The late Bob Pollock led Clemson to 21 ACC Championships in his 20 years as head coach of the school’s men’s track & field program. He established department-wide Clemson coaching records for ACC titles (21), ACC Coach of the Year selections (19) and NCAA Regional Coach of the Year selections (16). He coached the […]

  In a career that has spanned nearly 40 years, Dick Booth established himself as one of the world’s most successful jumps coaches. Holding a resumé that includes the tutelage of 49 NCAA individual champions and 150 All-America performers, Booth’s record speaks for itself. Currently an assistant coach at the University of Alabama, he boasts […]

  A proven coach, an American track & field leader, and a savvy administrator, Dick Hill had seen it all. Having a career that spanned nearly 50 years within the athletics community, Hill’s legacy goes beyond a single school or sport. Hill coached a number of Olympians – many of whom became household names. As […]

Although he never competed in track & field as an athlete, the late Fran Welch is remembered as a key figure in the rise of the Emporia State program. His track and cross country teams claimed 18 league crowns, four NAIA cross country championships, one NAIA track & field title, and one NCAA small college […]

  John Zupanc recently completed a triumphant run as head men’s track & field and cross country coach at UW-Oshkosh. He guided the Titan program, which became one of the dominant figures in NCAA’s Division III, to many successes. Overall as head coach, his squads compiled six NCAA team championships and seven conference crowns. Zupanc […]

  Vin Lananna is being inducted into the USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame during the pinnacle of his storied career. Not only a successful coach, but also a leading administrator and organizer, Lananna has managed a decade that could be matched in the profession by few others. In the last seven years, as head man […]

Bill Webb spent nearly 40 years in the collegiate track & field coaching ranks with 25 of those years as a head coach. After stints at West Georgia and Cal State Northridge, Webb would spend 24 years at Tennessee. Upon retiring after the 2009 season, Webb had spent 14 years at the helm of the […]

Poole was at the helm of BYU women’s track team for 30 years from 1980 until his retirement in 2010. During his tenure, Poole’s teams were among the most consistent nationally-prominent programs in the nation. Under his guidance, the Cougar track team recorded an almost perfect record on conference and regional levels and was consistently […]

For over 40 years in the first half of the 20th century, Keene Fitzpatrick was arguably the leading figure in the world of intercollegiate athletic training, physical education, and its applications in track & field, football, rowing, and several other sports. Fitzpatrick held stints at Yale and Michigan, but served the longest tenure as head […]

Ken Foreman is considered by Seattle Pacific as the founding father of their athletics department and served three terms as the school’s track coach, the last of which stretched from 1985 to 2000. While with the Falcons for 37 years, he coached 159 All-American athletes and had 26 collegiate individual champions. During his tenures at […]

Esten served as head coach of the men’s cross country program at UW-La Crosse for 28 years – a run that lasted from 1970 until his retiring after the 1998 season. Esten, the USTFCCCA NCAA Division III Co-Coach of the Year in 1996, led UW-L to a NCAA Division III cross country national title in […]

LaVerne Sweat was an integral piece of Norfolk State’s Athletics Department from for nearly 20 years where she served as the head women’s track and field coach from 1988 to 2005 and retired as the school’s Senior Woman Administrator following the 2005-06 school year. As the Spartans’ coach, her teams won a total 18 CIAA […]

Bert Lyle, an important figure in the early years of women’s collegiate athletics, was the head track & field coach and athletic director at Texas Woman’s University from 1965 to 1988. A 1994 inductee of the school’s athletics hall of fame, Lyle led the Pioneers to three AIAW National Championships, including the first-ever AIAW Championship […]

With 38 years as head track & field and cross country coach at Weber State University, now-retired Chick Hislop still holds the title as the longest tenured coach in the Big Sky Conference in any sport. Leading the Wildcats to 21 total Big Sky Conference titles, including seven in cross country, Hislop also earned USTFCCCA […]

Cleve Abbott was a pioneer of track & field and of collegiate sport in general in the first half of the 20th century. Not only was Abbott a successful track & field coach, leading Tuskegee Institute’s women’s squad to 14 AAU national outdoor titles, but he was also the school’s Director of Physical Education and […]

In 41 years of coaching, Doug Watts has brought success to Edinboro at all levels in cross country and track & field. All told Watts, who began Edinboro’s program in 1969, has led the Running Scots to six national championships in cross country, including two NAIA national crowns in the 1970s and four NCAA Division […]

Lynchburg’s Jack Toms, who recently retired as the school’s track & field and cross country coach, undoubtedly went out on top. By sweeping Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) indoor and outdoor track & field titles in 2010, Toms captured his 47th and 48th league track & field titles and his 61st and 62nd overall. In […]

With three NCAA and 10 Pac-10 Conference team titles in the bank, Jeanette Bolden has guided her alma mater – the UCLA women’s track & field program – to the top of the national stage. Having devoted 17 seasons at the helm of the Bruin team, Bolden has guided over 50 of UCLA’s sprinters, hurdlers, […]

Art Gulden was the architect of the Bucknell Bison track & field and cross country program, building the team into one of the most respected programs in the East through years of commitment, hard work, and sacrifice. During his 31 years at Bucknell, the Bison won an unprecedented 68 conference titles, including 18 straight in […]

Regarded as the “Father” of track and field in the South, Charles “Chuck” Rohe was the link between football players and track and field athletes while at Tennessee. He began his storied career as the Head Coach at Hattiesburg High School, then moved on to Furman University before taking over as the men’s Head Coach […]

Few might have guessed at the outstanding career that would follow when Duane Vandenbusche, then a history professor at Western State, began working with a struggling Mountaineer track & field program in 1972. Three years later, Vandenbusche took the reins of the cross country and track & field program and began to build a national […]

Track & field was more than just a sport to former Illinois and Florida State women’s track & field head coach Gary Winckler, it was an opportunity to help young women succeed both on and off the track. Nationally regarded as one of the nation’s most premier coaches, Winckler’s Illinois teams regularly battled for Big […]

Rowan University’s (formerly Glassboro State) Oscar Moore, Jr. began the school’s men’s track & field program in 1971 and had immediate success. The men’s program became a mainstay at the NCAA championships, competing at the NCAA Division III Championships for 20 straight years under Moore’s guidance. Rowan earned runner-up honors in 1978 and 1979 before […]

Franklin Pitcher “Pitch” Johnson’s contributions to the sports of track & field and cross country extend far beyond his successful coaching career. Johnson helped establish the fledgling National Collegiate Track Coaches Association (NCTCA), serving as an officer from 1933 until his retirement from coaching, including a three-year stint as President (1935-1938). As a coach, Johnson […]

Alex Wilson served as track and field and cross country coach at the University of Notre Dame from 1950-72, leading the Fighting Irish to a cross country national title, three individual track and field titles and 28 All-American honors. A middle-distance track star as a student-athlete at Notre Dame, Alex Wilson was the perfect example […]

As California State University-Bakersfield’s first and long-time coach, Charlie Craig set the bar high for future Roadrunner coaches. Craig began his track and field career as a talented athlete in the sprints and jumps. He competed in the long jump, triple jump, 440-yard dash, 440-yard relay, 880-yard relay, and mile relay at Fresno State University, […]

One key to building a productive athletic team is to have continuity of coaching. The University of Arizona was fortunate to have such consistency in longtime coach Dave Murray. Murray coached at the Division I institution for 35 years beginning his career in 1967 as a graduate assistant for the Wildcats and earning the position […]

Dean Hayes’s coaching career has spanned nearly 50 years, a majority of them as the head track & field coach at Middle Tennessee State University. Hayes, whose career began in 1959, has become a staple in the Murfreesboro community and in the Blue Raider family as he enters his 43rd year of service at the […]

Already the all-time winningest track & field coach in Big Eight/Big 12 Conference history, Gary Pepin entered his 29th year of service on the University of Nebraska campus in the 2008-09 season. Pepin began his coaching career in 1967 as an assistant coach at the University of Kansas under legendary coach Bob Timmons (USTFCCCA Class […]

In the fall of 2007, Kim Duyst was named the Associate Athletic Director at California State University-Stanislaus following her 21st and final season as Stanislaus’s men’s and women’s cross country and track & field coach. When Duyst was hired at Stanislaus in 1986, she took over a struggling program that was not competitive and lacked […]

Mark Guthrie’s success as a track and field coach at the collegiate level was immediately felt when he first stepped foot onto the campus of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He spent 19 years at the Division III track and field powerhouse before joining the coaching staff at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2007. Guthrie […]

When it comes to coaching success, few coaches have seen more in their time than former Stanford Cardinal and Wisconsin Badger head coach Peter Tegen. After 44 years of coaching, 33 on the collegiate level, the legendary distance coach decided it was time to hang up the stopwatch at the conclusion of the 2008 outdoor […]

For an accidental coach, Beverly Kearney’s success seems almost preordained. Kearney, a national-class sprinter at Auburn, was working three jobs in Southern California in the early 1980s when she decided she’d better go back to school and get her master’s degree. She enrolled at Indiana State and moonlighted as a graduate assistant coach on the […]

Cyrus Jones, the head coach at Lincoln from 1974 to 2010, led Lincoln to 15 NCAA Division III track & field championships. Lincoln’s men won 11 national titles (six outdoor, five indoor), and Lincoln’s women won four NCAA championships (three outdoor, one indoor) under his guidance. Jones played baseball at Florida A&M, graduating in 1968, […]

Irv “Moon” Mondschein has packed a lot of living into his 83 years. He served in World War II. He competed in the decathlon at the 1948 Olympics, and he won a pair of NCAA titles in the high jump and earned All-East honors in football while attending New York University. He coached the Israeli […]

During his 38 years as a head coach at the Division II level – 11 seasons at Western Illinois and 27 at Cal Poly Pomona – Jim Sackett coached 12 national champions, 135 outdoor track All Americans, and 24 cross country All Americans. Cal Poly Pomona’s national title in 1983 was one of seven top-10 […]

John Mitchell coached at the University of Alabama from 1969 to 1986 and held the men’s and women’s head position at the University of Georgia from 1989-99. He won four SEC team titles and was the conference indoor and outdoor coach of the year in 1995. Mitchell coached such collegiate greats as Calvin Smith, Pauline […]

Karl Schlademan coached men’s track & field and cross country for nearly 40 years at Kansas (1919-26), Washington State (1927-40) and Michigan State (1940-58). A native of Seafield, Indiana, Schlademan graduated from DePauw University. On arriving at Washington State in 1927, Schlademan steadily built the Cougars into a national contender on the track. Washington State […]

Lew Hartzog was the head coach at University of Louisiana-Monroe (then Northeast Louisiana) from 1958-60 before moving to Southern Illinois University. From 1961 until his retirement following the 1984 season, Hartzog’s Southern Illinois men’s track teams won every Missouri Valley Conference championship meet in which they competed. In fact, after his first season at Northeast […]

Whether it was winning a pair of NCAA titles while at UCLA or successfully coaching four major-college programs, Tom Jones lived and breathed track & field. Jones passed away in March 2007 at age 63 following a lengthy battle with cancer. Over three decades, he served as the head track & field coach at North […]

Al Carius, with over 40 seasons as the men’s track and cross country coach at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, has led the Cardinals to 17 NCAA Division III titles in cross country and five national championships in track & field. Carius cites the influence of fellow USTFCCCA Hall of Famer Ted Haydon, the […]

Bill Bergan coached at Iowa State University for 23 years, bringing the program unprecedented success in track and cross country. He guided the Cyclones to NCAA Division I men’s cross country championships in 1989 and 1994. Bergan, a graduate of Northern Iowa where he lettered in track and cross country, coached six seasons at Waterloo […]

Bill Moultrie won 10 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championships during 26 years as the head coach at Howard University. Moultrie was an Olympic assistant coach in 1992 and became the first African American to serve as Olympic track referee four years later in Atlanta. Moultrie graduated from Texas Southern University, where he ran track under USTFCCCA […]

Bob Groseclose led the University of Louisiana-Monroe (then Northeast Louisiana) to 19 Southland Conference championships from 1960 to 1989. Groseclose coached John Pennel, a two-time Olympian in the pole vault who became the first athlete to clear 17 feet. A native of Abilene, Texas, Groseclose moved to Breckenridge at age 14 following the death of […]

There’s no wasted space in the trophy case at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. It’s quite a sight, all that hardware packed in together. By any yardstick, Deb Vercauteren’s career is one of the most rewarding in the history of NCAA athletics. Since becoming the first women’s cross country coach at Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 1981, Vercauteren has […]

DeLoss Dodds may be best known as the athletic director at the University of Texas, but he also served 14 years as the head track and cross country coach at Kansas State University. During Dodds’s tenure, Kansas State won six Big 8 Conference championships while he coached ten NCAA individual and relay champions and two […]

Don Hood guided Abilene Christian University to eight NCAA Division II titles and one NAIA championship during his 11 seasons as head coach. His 1984 Abilene Christian men’s team is considered the greatest in Division II history. Actually, Hood is best known for two things – producing great teams and great vaulters at Abilene Christian […]

Gary Wieneke served as the University of Illinois head men’s cross country coach for 36 years and as head track & field coach for 29 years. The Fighting Illini won 12 Big Ten Conference championships under Wieneke’s guidance, including the 1984 Big Ten cross country championship – the first Illini conference championship since 1947. In […]

Jack Pyrah’s name is synonymous with Villanova University’s track & field and cross country programs. With Pyrah assisting Jumbo Elliott, a member of the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame, Villanova’s men captured eight NCAA championships in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. Pyrah grew up in the Germantown section of Philadelphia […]

John Coughlan’s teams at Illinois State University won 25 Missouri Valley Conference titles in cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field. When he retired in 2001 following 23 years as head coach, he had won more MVC championships than any coach in any sport. Prior to becoming the head coach at […]

Ted McLaughlin served as an assistant coach on the powerhouse University of Texas at El Paso teams of the late 1970s before building a national championship program at Southern Methodist University. The Mustangs won three NCAA Division I titles during McLaughlin’s tenure. His coaching career began in 1964 at Hope High School in Providence, Rhode […]

Tom Heinonen won three NCAA team championships at the University of Oregon – two in cross country and one in outdoor track & field – during his 27 years as women’s head coach. Heinonen’s athletes made 17 Olympic appearances and set three American records. A six-time All American at the University of Minnesota, Heinonen joined […]

Bill Cornell coached the Murray State University track & field and cross country programs for 15 years (1967-82) and the Southern Illinois University track & field and cross country programs for 18 years (1982-2000), coaching a total of 11 Olympians and 49 All-Americans during his tenures. In addition to his successful coaching career, Cornell was […]

Bill Hayward led the University of Oregon track & field and cross country programs for an amazing 44 years (1904-1947). He built the program into a nationally prominent force, and paved the way for the many accomplishments it has experienced since his departure. The Toronto native was born in Detroit, Michigan and known throughout both […]

Charles Nuttycombe was a track & field pioneer at Newport News and Menchville High Schools in Virginia, where he coached from 1956-1990. Nuttycombe led his teams to seven indoor track & field State Championships and seven outdoor track & field State Championships. Among his many accomplished pupils, Nuttycombe coached national ranked triple jumper and NFL […]

Charlie Thomas was a fierce competitor and coach. He set a world record in the 440-yard relay during his competitive days before hanging up his spikes to coach the Texas A&M University cross country and track & field teams from 1959-1990. During his tenure, he coached Texas A&M to five Southwest Conference (SWC) Championships and […]

Cleburne Price, Jr.’s coaching achievements were some of the most storied in the history of the former Southwest Conference (SWC). Price coached at Kimball High School and Dallas Baptist College (now Dallas Baptist University) before becoming an assistant coach at the University of Texas in 1964. Price served as an assistant coach from 1964-71, taking […]

Douglas “Buddy” Fowlkes was the head track & field coach at Georgia Tech for nearly three decades (1965-1992). Fowlkes’ list of accomplishments include three Olympic medalists, two World Record holders, 10 NCAA national champions, 50 All Americans, 77 Atlantic Coast Conference champions and 126 All-ACC selections. Fowlkes made a name for himself at Georgia Tech […]

Erv Hunt directed the University of California’s track & field and cross country programs for 31 years, from 1973-2003. Hunt was an outstanding two-sport athlete in football and track at Fresno State University in the late-1960s. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 1970 but returned to California in 1973 to assume the […]

George Williams has built nothing short of a dynasty at Saint Augustine’s College. Since he began coaching in 1976, his program has been the winner of an astounding 30 National Team Championships and 125 CIAA Conference Team Championships, and he has received some 90 Coach of the Year honors. Additionally, Williams has maintained a 95% […]

Hoover Wright headed the Prairie View A&M University track & field and cross country programs for over 40 years. Wright’s coaching career began at Shorter College in North Little Rock, Arkansas, where he served as head football coach, men’s and women’s basketball coach and track coach. From there he moved to Paul Quinn College, serving […]

Jack Warner has over 50 years of experience in the track & field and cross country coaching arena. Beginning his career in 1954, his impressive span includes coaching stints at Cornell University, Colgate University, as well as his current tenure at William Smith College (1995-present). A 1951 graduate of Syracuse University with a bachelor’s degree […]

Steve Miller’s impressive coaching career has seen him serve as head coach of both California Polytechnic State University (1976-81) and Kansas State University (1981-87), where he later served as Athletic Director from 1988-92. A track star in college, Miller achieved a bachelor’s degree in English literature and physical education from Bradley University. He later earned […]

Victor Lopez led the women’s cross country and track & field programs at Rice University from their inception in the 1970s until his retirement in 2005. Lopez, a native of Puerto Rico, began his intercollegiate career as a star sprinter and hurdler for the University of Houston from 1963-67. After being drafted into the U.S. […]

Vince Brown served as head coach at Christopher Newport University for 25 years (1980-2005). During that impressive span, he led the program to 12 national championships as well as countless conference championships. The graduate of Emory & Henry College began his coaching career in southwestern Virginia at Chilhowie High School, where he served as head […]

Bob Ehrhart retired from Drake University where he coached and directed the Drake Relays. Ehrhart, a native of Naperville, Illinois, was a high school and college coach for 41 years. After graduating from Northwestern in 1954, Ehrhart coached the Wildcats’ track program for nine seasons, during which time his cross country team won the 1965 […]

Ed Jacoby retired from Boise State in 1997 after 24 years as head track & field coach, a tenure that included numerous team successes and 13 Coach of the Year honors. He was the head of the physical education department and track coach at College of the Canyons in California from 1969 to 1974 and […]

Edward P. Hurt was the long time coach at Morgan State University. As a former All American end, he coached football, basketball and track & field at Morgan State for forty years, beginning in 1929. In the early days, when the CIAA athletic conference stood for “Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association,” Coach Hurt reportedly said, “We […]

Frank Sevigne, a graduate of Seton Hall, is best-known as the head men’s track & field coach at the University of Nebraska from 1955 until his retirement in 1983. Sevigne, the longest tenured track & field coach in Nebraska history, served a total of 34 years as a collegiate head coach. Following a six-year stint […]

Jim Santos was one of the first track & field coaches to experience success coaching both men and women, as the head coach at Cal State University East Bay (then Cal State Hayward). Santos began his coaching career in 1967 as a high school coach in Chicago Heights, Illinois. In 1971, he was named the […]

A talented competitor and coach, John Chaplin coached at Washington State University from 1968-94. While at Pasadena City College in 1959, Chaplin ran on PCC’s track & field team and managed to best world-class sprinter, James Bates, in the 100-yard dash by a nanosecond (9.6 seconds). He transferred to Washington State where, running under fellow […]

A long-time head track & field coach and respected scholar, Ken Gibson’s teams won one NCAA team title and five individual national championships. Gibson graduated from Indiana University in 1955 and obtained his Master’s Degree from Indiana in 1958. He received his Doctorate from Brigham Young University in 1978. He began his career in sports […]

At the 1989 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Henry became just the third coach in NCAA history to enjoy national championships in both a men’s and women’s sport, and he is the only coach in NCAA history to win both men’s and women’s track & field national titles in the same year, a feat which he achieved […]

Al Buehler retired from Duke in 2000 after 45 years as a highly successful cross country and track & field coach. Following a stellar undergraduate track career at the University of Maryland, Buehler joined the Blue Devils in 1955 as head cross country coach and in 1964 was promoted from assistant to head coach of […]

Bob Larsen, four-time National Coach of the Year, retired in 2000 from his post as the UCLA men’s track & field and cross country head coach. He directed the Bruin men’s track & field program for 15 seasons and the cross country team for 21, leading the Bruins to two NCAA outdoor championships, one runner-up […]

Dave Walker has been the head coach of the East Tennessee State University track and cross country teams for over 40 years. Since 1969, Walker’s men’s cross country teams have won 22 conference championships, qualified for 16 NCAA championships, and finished in the top ten 11 times. He has earned some 20 conference coach of […]

Douglas Raymond retired from Kent State University in 1978 after coaching there for 18 years. Prior to Kent State, he was the head coach at Boston University, where his teams won seven straight New England Intercollegiate Championships. Raymond coached numerous all Americans, including miler Sam Bair, and won the Mid American Conference Coach of the […]

Frank Gagliano (affectionately known as “Gags”) was a collegiate and high school track & field coach for 39 years. Frank’s teams at Georgetown won 23 Big East conference championships and 13 IC4A titles in cross country and track. Gagliano began his coaching career as a high school coach at Roselle Catholic from 1960-69 and produced […]

Margaret Simmons was the head women’s track & field coach at Murray State University from 1968 to 1991 and the head women’s cross country coach from 1971 to 1991. She was named women’s conference coach of the year six times, and her teams won eight cross country and track & field conference titles. Simmons, who […]

Berny Wagner served as Oregon State University’s cross country and track & field coach from 1965-75. In 1972 he was voted USTCA Coach of the Year, and he was an assistant track coach for the 1976 U.S. Olympic Team. Wagner attended Stanford University, earning BA (1948) and MA (1949) degrees in Education. Prior to his […]

Bill McClure amassed a sterling coaching record at Louisiana State University, South Carolina, and Abilene Christian. He also served as an assistant U.S. track & field coach at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. A 1939 graduate of Abilene High School, he received a B.S. degree from Abilene Christian in 1948 and M.Ed. degree from […]

Clarence Robison, a former BYU track athlete who went on to coach the team for 40 years, elevated the Cougars to contenders on the national scene with a co-national championship and nine other top-ten finishes in the NCAA Championships. As a student-athlete at BYU in the 1940s, Robison competed in the 880 yard run, the […]

Deanne Vochatzer is the head women’s track & field coach at the University of California at Davis and was head women’s coach of the 1996 Olympic Track & Field Team. Vochatzer was named NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year in 1990, 1991, and 1999. Vochatzer graduated in 1971 from Chico State with a […]

One of the finest distance running coaches in the country, Mel Brodt retired from coaching in 1984 after 25 years at the helm of the Bowling Green State University men’s cross country squad as well as 20 years as head men’s track & field coach. A 1943 graduate of Fairborn (OH) High School, Brodt was […]

Barbara Jacket served as the head coach of women’s track & field at Prairie View A&M University from 1966-91, compiling a record of achievement both at the collegiate and international level. Jacket’s career in intercollegiate athletics began at the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), where she competed on fellow USTFCCCA Hall of Famer Dr. Nell […]

After 42 years as Baylor University’s head track & field coach, Clyde Hart retired from the position in 2005 to become Baylor’s director of track & field. Hart’s four-plus decades of leadership have seen Baylor track & field reach monumental heights while earning a world-wide reputation as “Quarter-Miler U.” Hart, a 1956 graduate of Baylor, […]

Harry Groves spent 53 years as a track & field coach, including 38 seasons as head coach at Penn State University. He has also been named Regional Coach of the Year a combined 26 times in cross country and track & field and is a five-time National Coach of the Year. The USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region’s […]

Mel Rosen, head coach at Auburn University from 1963-91, led the Tigers to four consecutive SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships from 1977-80, as well as an outdoor track & field championship in 1979. A 1950 graduate of the University of Iowa, Rosen coached at his alma mater as an assistant for three years while […]

Roy Griak served as the University of Minnesota’s cross country and track & field coach for 33 years from 1963-96. A letterwinner in both cross country and track & field during his collegiate running career for the Golden Gophers, Griak earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Minnesota in 1949, adding his master’s degree in […]

Bob Mosher has been called Florida’s “godfather” of track and field. In 33 years of teaching and coaching at Winter Park High School, Mosher left a legacy both in the results of his athletes and in his passion and professionalism as a coach. At Winter Park, Mosher served as athletic director for 18 years and […]

As head coach at Fort Hays State University from 1946-80, Alex Francis’s teams won four NAIA cross country national titles and finished as runners-up five times, which ranks Fort Hays State third overall in NAIA cross country history for total team titles. A 1935 graduate of Fort Hays State, Francis earned a master’s degree in […]

A collegiate head coach for 37 years at Fordham University and Yale University, Bob Giegengack also twice served in coaching roles on U.S. Olympic Teams and coached the first U.S. national team to go to mainland China. Giegengack began his intercollegiate career as a runner at Holy Cross College. He graduated in 1929 and began […]

As head coach at the University of Kansas and the University of California, Brutus Hamilton coached athletes to seven collegiate team titles and two world records. As a talented athlete at the University of Missouri, Hamilton won the 1920 Olympic Silver Medalist in the decathlon, leading the competition until the final event. He also finished […]

Charles “Chick” Werner was head cross country and track & field coach at Penn State University for 29 years, from 1933-62. His cross country teams won three NCAA titles in 1942, 1947, and 1950. Werner’s career in intercollegiate athletics began as an aspiring high jumper at the University of Illinois. Fellow USTFCCCA Hall of Fame […]

A talented head coach at the University of North Texas and San Diego State University, Charles “Choc” Sportsman won two Division II cross country titles and a Division II outdoor track & field title as head track & field and cross country coach at San Diego State. Sportsman’s intercollegiate coaching career began in the 1930s […]

Nicknamed “Maker of Champions,” Dean Cromwell was the head coach at the University of Southern California for 39 years where he developed a powerhouse program that won 12 NCAA outdoor titles. Cromwell was a talented athlete himself, participating in track & field, baseball, and football at Occidental College. After graduating in 1902, Cromwell went to […]

A pioneer in women’s track & field, Nell Jackson served the sport as both a coach and an administrator. In 1956, she became the first Black female to coach an Olympic Team, and she later served as vice president and as secretary of The Athletics Congress (forerunner to USATF). Jackson began her career in sports […]

Earl C. “Billy” Hayes coached the Indiana University cross country and track & field teams from 1924 until his retirement in 1943, winning numerous Big Ten and NCAA titles in the process. Hayes’s cross country teams went from Big Ten doormats to perennial title contenders, winning eight Big Ten cross country titles during his career, […]

A former track captain and national qualifier in the javelin at the University of Chicago in the 1930s, Edward “Ted” Haydon later returned to Chicago as head track & field coach from 1950-85, and continued to assist with the program until his death in 1985. He also founded and coached the University of Chicago Track […]

The head coach at UCLA from 1947-64 and a former Bruin student-athlete, Elvin “Ducky” Drake led the Bruins to the 1956 NCAA outdoor team title. During his career, seven of his athletes won nine NCAA individual titles and 12 national AAU crowns. A 1927 UCLA graduate, Drake returned to his alma mater as an assistant […]

A phenomenal athlete at the University of Georgia who revolutionized the 110m hurdles, Forrest “Spec” Towns coached Bulldog athletes to 29 individual Southeastern Conference (SEC) titles from 1938 to 1975. Towns’s career in athletics began differently than most. In high school, Towns played only one sport, football. Several years after his high school graduation, and […]

Francis X. Cretzmeyer was a talented athlete at the University of Iowa who later served as a successful coach at his alma mater from 1948-78. Cretzmeyer competed at Iowa from 1934-36 under fellow USTFCCCA Hall of Famer George Bresnahan. He competed in several events as a collegiate athlete, including the long jump, high jump, 220 […]

Franks Potts coached the cross country and track & field teams at the University of Colorado for over 40 years (1927-68), coaching five NCAA individual champions, numerous All Americans, and over 50 conference champions. A football letterwinner and NCAA champion in the pole vault at the University of Oklahoma, Potts accepted a position as head […]

A contributor to the sport as an athlete, coach and author, Fred Wilt was an outstanding distance runner at Indiana University under USTFCCCA Hall of Fame coach Billy Hayes and a two-time Olympian. Wilt later became the head women’s track & field and cross country coach at Purdue University from 1978-89, leading the Boilermakers to […]

George Bresnahan was the long-time University of Iowa head track & field coach who also served as President of the track coaches association from 1932-33. Bresnahan competed as a collegian for the University of Wisconsin and ran on the Badgers’ 1912 Big Ten cross country championship squad. In 1921, he accepted the head track & […]

George Eastment was the head track & field coach at Manhattan College from 1946-63, during which time his teams won 38 Metropolitan titles and ten IC4A crowns. In addition to his successful teams, Eastment coached a number of outstanding individuals and relays. One of his 2-mile relay teams set the world indoor record in 1961 […]

In 31 years (1932-63) of coaching high school track & field in Iowa, H.W. “Hi” Covey’s teams won thirty-one district, thirty conference, five state cross country, nine state outdoor, and eight state indoor championships. Covey was a four-year letter winner at William Penn University in football and track. He later spent 31 years as a […]

Harry Gill, the founder of Gill Athletics, Inc., was a highly successful athlete and long-time track & field coach at the University of Illinois. Gill attended the Harvard School of Physical Training and was a multi-event star at the turn of the century, defeating the three-time U.S. champion in what was then known as the […]

J. Flint Hanner was an NCAA champion who became a talented coach at Fresno State University from 1925-60, where his most notable pupil was fellow USTFCCCA Hall of Famer Cornelius “Dutch” Warmerdam. While an athlete at Stanford, Hanner was a three-time All American and three-time national intercollegiate champion in the javelin. He closed out his […]

Jack Mooberry served as Washington State University’s head track & field coach for nearly 30 years, from 1945-73, compiling a .706 career dual meet win percentage during his tenure. As an athlete, Mooberry was a state champion sprinter in Washington and become a national-class sprinter at Washington State under fellow USTFCCCA Hall of Famer Karl […]

Jack Patterson was a long-time track & field coach at the University of Houston, Baylor University, and the University of Texas, where his teams compiled outstanding records of success. Patterson competed as an intercollegiate athlete for Rice University (then Rice Institute) in the 1930s, graduating in 1939 with a Bachelor of Science degree and a […]

Jim “Tup” Tuppeny had a tremendous impact on the sport of track & field as the head coach at the University of Pennsylvania from 1966-79 and as director of the Penn Relays from 1970-87. Tuppeny began his coaching career as an assistant to USTFCCCA Hall of Famer “Jumbo” Elliott at Villanova in 1953. In 1966, […]

Joe Yancey’s coaching career covered roughly 50 years; as co-founder of the New York Pioneer Club, he tutored a number of talented track & field athletes, including six Olympic Gold Medalists. A star athlete at Saratoga High School, Yancey attended Virginia State College before transferring to and graduating from New York University in 1935. In […]

Johnny Morriss was a talented athlete and coach who led the University of Houston track & field programs for 21 years as head coach. As an athlete at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette (then Southwestern Louisiana) from 1926-30, Morriss was an All American and two-time National Junior AAU champion in the hurdles. After graduation, he took […]

Ken Doherty’s accomplishments in the sport of track & field run the gamut: an accomplished athlete, a successful coach, a talented meet director, and a respected author of instructional books on coaching track & field. In 1928, Doherty won the Olympic Decathlon Trials; although not looked at as a major contender at the 1928 Olympics, […]

Larry Snyder was the long-time track & field coach at Ohio State University. Snyder coached some of the greatest athletes in track & field history during his tenure at Ohio State, including Jesse Owens, Dave Albritton, Glenn Davis, and “Marvelous Mal” Whitfield. A graduate of Canton High School (OH), Snyder served a pilot instructor during […]

Leo T. Johnson served as the head track & field coach at the University of Illinois from 1938-65, winning three NCAA championships and four Big Ten championships during his career. A four-sport letterwinner and 1919 graduate of Millikin University, Johnson’s coaching career began as a football coach at his alma mater from 1924-36, where he […]

During the late 1960s, San Jose, California earned the nickname “Speed City” largely due to the efforts of Lloyd “Bud” Winter. As head track & field coach at San Jose State University for 35 years, Winter tutored some of the fastest athletes in track & field history. Winter arrived in San Jose in 1940 but […]

M.E. “Bill” Easton earned his place among the top track & field coaches of all-time, winning six NCAA titles at two different institutions, Drake University and the University of Kansas. During his 18 years as Kansas’ head coach in cross country, and indoor and outdoor track from 1947-65, Easton’s KU teams won 39 conference championships, […]

Mike Long coached the Florida State University track & field team for 23 years (1955-77), compiling an overall record of 131-32 (.804). Long’s coaching career at Florida State began as an assistant football coach; he coached the ends under football coach Tom Nugent from 1953-55. In 1955, Florida State began its intercollegiate track & field […]

Paul David “Dave” Kamanski, the longtime track & field and cross country coach at Cerritos Community College, is best remembered for his contributions not only as a coach but as the organizer of top-notch track & field competitions. He also was instrumental in the development of the track & field facilities at Cerritos and served […]

An outstanding track & field athlete and coach, Percy Beard was a world-class hurdler who later became the long-time coach at the University of Florida. As a collegiate high hurdler at Auburn University, Percy Beard learned from fellow USTFCCCA Hall of Famer Wilbur Hutsell. Like USTFCCCA Hall of Famer “Weems” Baskin, who preceded Beard at […]

Robert Lyman “Dink” Templeton was a star athlete and talented coach at Stanford University, coaching the cross country and track & field squads from 1921-39. A rugby, track, and football star at Stanford, Templeton went on to represent the U.S. at the 1920 Olympics in two sports: rugby and track & field. Templeton finished just […]

Ralph Higgins was a three-sport letterman at Oklahoma State University (then Oklahoma A&M College) who later led the Cowboy track & field and cross country teams to 17 consecutive Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) titles and the 1954 NCAA Cross Country Championship, during a tenure that lasted from 1935-67. Higgins graduated from Oklahoma State in 1925, […]

Vern Wolfe was the University of Southern California’s head track & field coach for 22 years, winning seven NCAA championships, including five outdoor titles (1963, 1965, 1967, 1968 and 1976) and two indoor crowns (1967 and 1972). Wolfe began his intercollegiate athletic career as a pole vaulter at USC in the early 1940s. His career […]

Weemie “Weems” Baskin served as a head track & field coach for over 25 years, most of them at the University of South Carolina where he led the track & field programs from 1948-69. Baskin’s intercollegiate career began as an outstanding hurdler at Auburn University where he was coached by another USTFCCCA Hall of Famer, […]

As head track coach at Auburn University for 42 years, Wilbur Hutsell developed some of the finest hurdlers in the world, including fellow USTFCCCA Hall of Famers “Weems” Baskin and Percy Beard. Hutsell was Auburn’s first head track & field coach, taking over the program at its inception in 1921 and remaining there until his […]

A former Eagle athlete, Bob Parks returned to Eastern Michigan University in 1967 to become the men’s head track and cross country coach. Thirty-four years, hundreds of athletes, and thousands of practice hours later, Parks’s retired after having established a tradition of success within the Eagle cross country and track & field programs. Parks was […]

As head cross country coach at Fresno State University from 1963-96 and head track & field coach from 1981-96, Gene “Red” Estes led his athletes to 7 NCAA individual titles, more than 100 All America honors, and ten consecutive Big West Conference championships. Estes competed in the shot put and discus for USTFCCCA Hall of […]

In 29 years (1970-98) at the helm of the Indiana University track and cross country programs, Sam Bell’s teams won 23 men’s Big Ten title and four women’s conference crowns. At the national championship level, Bell directed the Hoosiers to 18 top ten finishes in cross country and track & field. Bell began his career […]

Senon “Baldy” Castillo served as an assistant track & field coach at Arizona State University from 1949-53 and as head coach from 1953-79. During his 27 years as head coach at ASU, he coached 13 Olympic performers, 34 All Americans, and ten national champions. Castillo first attracted attention as a multi-sports star at Phoenix Union […]

As coach, creator of road races, and author, University of Texas at El Paso coach Ted Banks’s awards and accomplishments could fill an entire program. As Director of Track & Field at the University of Texas at El Paso from 1972-81, his victories included 17 NCAA championships (six cross country, six indoor, and five outdoor), […]

Boston Grant taught high school business courses and coached track & field for 36 years. He left the high school ranks in 1986 and began collegiate coaching when most people would have been content to retire. Instead, he continued to grow champions. Grant received his B.A. in Business Education from Prairie View A & M […]

It should come as no surprise that one of the greatest distance runners of the 1960s and 1970s spawned one of the premier collegiate running programs in NCAA Division II history at Seattle Pacific University. Both in America and around the globe, the name of Doris Brown Heritage is synonymous with the best in women’s […]

The name Jack Rose is synonymous with the sport of track & field. He was head coach of the Pacific Coast Club track Team from 1956 to 1973, Director of Track & Field at Long Beach State University from 1974-81, and professor of physical education at Long Beach from 1956-94. Rose received his B.A. in […]

Joe Vigil, head coach at Adams State College for nearly 30 years, is the consummate coach-scientist, one who combines systems of training, sport science and motivation towards having his athletes achieve at the highest levels. Vigil led teams to 12 NAIA National Cross Country Championships and the 1992 NCAA Division II National Cross Country Championship, […]

In over 30 seasons at the helm of the University of Arkansas cross country and track & field programs (1977-2008), John McDonnell set an unprecedented record of achievement. He led the Razorbacks to 42 NCAA team championships (11 in cross country, 19 in indoor track, and 12 in outdoor track), more championships than any coach […]

Larry Ellis was the head track coach at Princeton University for 22 years. His Princeton teams won 11 conference titles in track & field and eight more in cross country. He was the Olympic Head Coach in 1984 and Head Coach of the 1998 World Cup team. Ellis graduated in 1947 from DeWitt High School […]

Bill Dellinger began his legacy at the University of Oregon as an athlete and transitioned into a prominent distance coach during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. As a student-athlete, Dellinger was a notable star under USTFCCCA Hall of Famer Bill Bowerman. He was a two-time NCAA champion, three-time All American, and three-time Pacific Coast Conference […]

Jim Kehoe compiled a tremendous record of success in 39 years at the University of Maryland as an athlete, coach, and Director of Athletics. As an athlete at Maryland, Kehoe set the school record in the 800m, a mark that would last 23 years. A 1940 Maryland graduate, Kehoe later joined the Army to serve […]

A successful coach at the high school, collegiate, and international levels, Jimmy Carnes compiled a 161-11 career dual meet record, highlighted by four conference championships and six state crowns. Carnes began his collegiate track & field career as a talented middle distance runner at Mercer University in the 1950s, graduating in 1956. His first coaching […]

In fifty years of coaching, Joe Newton has won 26 Illinois state titles and inspired a feature-length documentary about his life and successes, called The Long Green Line. Through Newton’s remarkable tenure at York, he has inspired thousands of kids with his infectious enthusiasm and strong sense of tradition. The number of athletes who dedicate […]

A head track & field coach for 30 years, Stan Wright’s greatest coaching fame came at Texas Southern University, where his “Flying Tigers” dominated the Texas, Kansas, and Drake Relays. His athletes went on to achieve major honors; four of them became Olympians, headed by Jimmy Hines, former world record holder in the 100m dash. […]

In 22 seasons as head coach at the University of Houston, Tom Tellez produced some of the greatest track & field performers in the history of the sport. A standout collegiate athlete, Tellez was a halfback and defensive back at Whittier College. He also was a sprinter for the school’s track & field team while […]

During his 24-year tenure as the University of Kansas track & field and cross country coach (1965-88), Bob Timmons led the Jayhawks to four NCAA championships, 13 Big 8 outdoor track & field championships, and two conference cross country championships. The 11-time NCAA District V coach of the year and 1975 U.S. Track & Field […]

A former head coach at Stanford University (1979-92) and California Polytechnic State University (1993-96) and High Performance Division Chair for USA Track & Field, Brooks Johnson continues to coach track & field athletes to the top of the podium, including his most recent protégé, 110m hurdler and American record-holder David Oliver. Johnson was a talented […]

The head track coach at the University of Texas in Austin for 41 years, Clyde Littlefield was on the 1952 Olympic coaching staff and developed some of the top sprint relay teams in the world during his long tenure in Austin. As a student at the University of Texas from 1912-16, Littlefield was an outstanding […]

Oliver Jackson served as Abilene Christian University’s head track & field coach from 1948-63, coaching athletes who won four Olympic Gold Medals, set 17 American records, and recorded 15 national collegiate records. Jackson was an accomplished athlete who won the long jump at the Texas high school state championship. He went on play football at […]

An outstanding athlete at the University of Southern California, Payton Jordan went on to become a legendary coach at Occidental College and Stanford University, as well as a record-setting Masters runner. At USC, where he was coached by fellow USTFCCCA Hall of Famer Dean Cromwell, Jordan excelled in track, rugby, and football. On the track, […]

Bob Jenkins, a two-time national coach of the year, started track and cross country programs at five different high schools. As of 2005, Jenkins had an overall record of 1021-185 (.847) as of 2005 and had coached seven state championship teams. His longest tenure was at Northwestern High School, where he coached from 1971-95. While […]

In forty-plus years of coaching and teaching at Tennessee State University, Ed Temple compiled an outstanding record of success that included 40 Olympians and a 90 percent graduation rate among his athletes. Temple was an all-state athlete in track, football, and basketball at John Harris High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. As an undergraduate at Tennessee […]

A former track & field star himself, four-time NJCAA Coach of the Year James Segrest is best known as a highly successful track & field coach and administrator at Odessa College. Segrest started his running career at Bangs High School (Texas) where he singlehandedly won the 1954 state track meet, finishing with a total of […]

Jess Mortensen was an outstanding athlete and legendary coach in a variety of sports at the same school, the University of Southern California. Mortensen was a three-sport USC letterman in football, basketball, and track, and he experienced success at the highest levels in each of those sports. He won the 1929 NCAA javelin title, set […]

Jim Bush was a highly successful coach at Occidental College (1962-65) and at UCLA (1965-84). During his brief tenure at Occidental, Bush-coached teams included five national champions and one Olympian, and school records were set at all events from the 100m to the mile. UCLA’s teams won five national titles and seven Pac-10 titles under […]

Terry Crawford led the University of Tennessee Lady Vols to their first national title in any sport and later established the University of Texas as a women’s track & field powerhouse in the early years of the NCAA era. Her final coaching stint came as the Director of Track & Field/Cross Country at Cal Poly. […]

Bill Bowerman’s legacy in track & field is undeniable. He served as the University of Oregon’s head track & field coach from 1949-72 and remained active at the University even as the shoe company he cofounded, Nike®, grew into a global sports giant. Bowerman was born in Portland and graduated from Medford High School before […]

A dominant athlete and talented coach, Cornelius “Dutch” Warmerdam first earned a reputation as the greatest pole vaulter of his time before turning his talents to heading the track & field program at his alma mater, Fresno State University. As an athlete, Warmerdam’s record is quite possibly without equal in terms of his dominance of […]

A past president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, Dr. LeRoy Walker served the sport of track & field as both a coach and an administrator at North Carolina Central University. As a talented collegiate athlete at Benedict College, Walker earned 11 letters in football, basketball, and track & field before graduating in 1940, and he […]

George Dales has compiled a long record of service to the sport of track & field in a variety of roles, including as a coach, as a conference commissioner, and as president of the International Track & Field Coaches Association. A 1942 graduate of Miami University (Ohio), Dales began his coaching career in the U.S. […]

One of the most successful track coaches in the world while at Villanova University, James “Jumbo” Elliott excelled at getting his athletes ready for the big meets, whether they were the Penn Relays or IC4A Championships, which his teams dominated for years, or the Olympic Games, for which he produced 28 competitors. As a student […]

In a 39-year career as a collegiate head coach, Stan Huntsman compiled 46 conference championships during his tenures at Ohio University (14 years), the University of Tennessee (15 years), and the University of Texas (ten years). A graduate of Wabash College, Huntsman attended Ohio University as a graduate student from 1955-56. When he graduated in […]