Hall of Fame
Boyd Gittins rose from obscurity to being a member of the USA Olympic team in just one season under the expert tutelage of Cougar Coach Jack Mooberry. He came to Washington State having only run the 400m hurdles twice. In 1968, however, he finished third in the Pac-8 Championships, second at the NCAA Championships, and qualified for the U.S. Olympic team by recording a time of 49.1 seconds in the intermediate hurdles. An injury prevented Gittins from competing in the 1968 Mexico City Games and affected his 1969 performance. He recovered from food poisoning the night before the 1969 NCAA Championships only to break a bone in his foot on the first hurdle. Remarkably, he finished the race and finished fifth.
