Hall of Fame
Bob Yard set the Washington State men’s pole vault record in 1963 and later broke it with a national championship performance two years later. Yard, from Trail, British Columbia, Canada, vaulted 15-feet 1 1/2 inches in September 1963, at an international meet in Toronto. His vault accorded him not only the WSU school record but also the British Empire, British Commonwealth, and Canadian track and field records. While Yard was happy with his mark, he had cleared 15-4 at an unofficial meet the previous summer. Yard became a champion at the first indoor track and field championships ever held by the NCAA, in 1965. Yard cleared 15-4 that day, the school record. He was a member of Jack Mooberry’s 1965 team considered the strongest at WSU in three decades. The Cougars tallied the nation’s biggest dual meet upset, defeating USC 81-64 on Rogers Field. It was the first time since 1933 that USC had lost in a dual conference meet. WSU was ranked third in the nation in dual meets and Yard was one of several nationally-ranked Cougars on that squad. Yard went on to win the bronze medal for Canada in the pole vault at the 1967 Pan American Games after clearing 14-7 1/4.
