Mike Alden has been at the helm of Missouri athletics since 1998, and it’s no shock his tenure has produced the most comprehensive run of athletic and academic success in school history. Through capital campaign efforts, Alden has overseen more than $265 million in private gifts for Tiger Athletics and, in 2014, Mizzou’s Memorial Stadium… Read more »
News
Sport: Running/Track and Field
Dick Ault
This St. Louis native went from Roosevelt High School to become a track star at the University of Missouri from 1946-1949. Ault won the Big 6 220-yard low hurdles in 1946 and 1947, then the Big 7 title in the same event in 1948 and 1949. He was also the conference champion in the 440-yard dash in… Read more »
Berkeley/McCluer South Berkeley High School Track & Field Program
Stop by sometime and see the trophy case from all the years of the Berkeley/McCluer South Berkeley High School Track & Field Program. It’s a sight to behold. It also supported what coach Rod Staggs (MSHOF 2017) had long insisted: Track was a team sport. “Track is the hardest sport,” Staggs said, emphasizing athletes don’t… Read more »
“Dee” Boeckmann
A pioneer in U.S. women’s track and field and a St. Louis native, Delores “Dee” Boeckmann was on the first women’s Olympic team in 1928, running in the 800 meters in Amsterdam but failing to reach the finals. During the 1920s, she held numerous track records from the 50-yard dash to the mile. She was… Read more »
Tom Botts
During his tenure as head coach, which ran from 1947 to 1972, Tom Botts led the University of Missouri Tigers track and field program to eight conference championships as well as a national indoor championship in 1965. He coached 48 conference champions, 23 All-Americans, five national champions, and two Olympians in his time at MU.… Read more »
Richard Bowles
Richard Bowles attended William Jewell College from 1945-49, graduating in just three years as salutatorian after missing the 1946-47 year serving in the military. He was the son of legendary coach and athletic director R.E. Bowles and the youngest of four brothers who were all student-athletes for the William Jewell Cardinals. He was a 1945… Read more »
Ron Clawson
Imagine a childhood as one of 16 siblings, including eight brothers, five who had a thirst for running. And, more often than not, Ron Clawson would be right in the thick of it all. This was back in the 1960s in Meadville. “With all these family participants, we would host track meets in our backyard,… Read more »
Dick Cook
In southern Illinois, just across the Ohio River from Paducah, Ky., lies the town of Metropolis, the self-proclaimed fictional hometown of an adult Clark Kent, also known to comic book fans by his other name – Superman. About 35 miles south of downtown St. Louis, on the banks of the Mississippi River, lies Crystal City,… Read more »
John Cooper
Born in Smith Mills, Kentucky, Cooper was the eldest of six children. He graduated from Hopkinsville (KY) High School, then earned a B.A in Physics, as well as a PhD in Education, from the University of Missouri and lettered in basketball and track between 1932 and 1934. An all-conference choice in 1932 when he led… Read more »
1984-1989 Era Crystal City High School Girls Track & Field
To say the Crystal City High School girls track & field teams from 1984-89 were pretty good is a vast understatement. They were simply dominant, winning six consecutive Class 2 state championships, the longest such streak for a girls track & field program in the state. With legendary head coach and fellow Class of 2023… Read more »
Joe Bill Dixon
Joe Bill Dixon is a life-long resident of West Plains, Missouri. He attended West Plains High School and competed in basketball and track. Dixon’s teaching and coaching career began in 1968 at Richards R-5 School in West Plains. He transferred to West Plains High School in 1978 and started a new cross country program for… Read more »
Mary Phyl Dwight
There weren’t many opportunities for sports-minded young girls growing up in Missouri in the 1960s. So maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn Mary Phyl Dwight couldn’t quite help herself once she arrived on Missouri State University’s campus in the fall of 1970. A graduate of Raytown South High School, Dwight grew up yearning… Read more »
The Farmer Family
Mike Farmer loves telling this story. It’s about his dad, Elliott, the second baseman of the early 1930s Missouri Tigers baseball teams. “I remember being told by friends of his that he never went down swinging,” Mike says with a chuckle. “Hitting a baseball to him was (as easy) as catching a baseball.” In the… Read more »
Richard Flanagan
A life-long resident of Northwest Missouri, Flanagan attended Northwest Missouri State and lettered three years in football. His coaching career began at King City High School in 1958. After seven years, he became the head football coach at Savannah. Flanagan arrived back at Northwest Missouri State in 1971, as assistant football coach and assistant track… Read more »
Joanie French
Every athlete has their favorite memory and, when Joanie French talks about hers, it’s almost too good to be true. In 1974, at age 17, there she was playing shortstop for Big Blue in the Women’s State fastpitch softball tournament against Foremost Dairy, known as Springfield’s best travel squad full of coaches and collegians. With… Read more »
John Furla
The 1904 Olympic Games were held in St. Louis in conjunction with the World’s Fair. Furla, a Greek immigrant, represented the United States in the Marathon. It was blistering hot day, and only 14 of the 31 runners finished the race with Furla finishing 13th. It is said he might have won the race except… Read more »