Hall of Fame
The 1968 men’s track and field team at Washington State University was arguably the greatest collection of talent not only in school history, but may be collegiate history as well. Paced by NCAA National Coach of the Year Jack Moobery and four NCAA champions that season, the Cougars came up one point shy of eventual national champion USC at the NCAA event, even though WSU had more national champions than any other school. The 39-member team featured 27 letterwinners, six All-Americans and posted a 6-2 record in dual meets, including a dominating 107-38 victory over Washington. At the 1968 NCAA Championships, Gerry Lindgren won both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races, the first man in history to win both races in three straight NCAA Championships. John Van Rennen captured the discus title and was runner up in the shot put while captain Carl O’Donnell captured the national title in the javelin. Boyd Gittins finished second in the 400m hurdles and Foss Miller, who was injured during the meet, finished sixth in the javelin. Additional competitors for Washington State during the 1968 championships included Art Sandison, Rod Dahl, Bill Henry, Keith Dalluge, Larry Almberg, Barry Johnson, Jim Precht, Stu Hunnings, Rich Lapham and Rick Riley. Throughout their collegiate careers, members of the 1968 team combined for an astounding 16 outdoor NCAA All-America certificates, three world records, two additional world best marks, eight American records, 11 collegiate records and 10 conference titles.
