Introducing the Collegiate Athlete Hall of Fame Class of 2026 ::: USTFCCCA

NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) is pleased to announce the Collegiate Track & Field/Cross Country Athlete Hall of Fame Class of 2026.

The class of 12 will be enshrined on Sunday, June 7, at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts in Eugene, Oregon. The induction ceremony is free and open to the public and will be held three days prior to the start of the 2026 NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field. If you’re not in Eugene, you can watch a free stream on RunnerSpace.

This year’s class features some of the greatest names in
collegiate track & field and cross country history. With 44 national
collegiate titles, 37 collegiate records, five Olympic/World Championships
medals, and seven world records while in college, these athletes have left an
indelible mark on the sports.

The Collegiate Athlete Hall of Fame was established in 2022 to honor the best of
the best in collegiate track & field and cross country. The Hall of Fame
recognizes the achievements of athletes who have left a lasting mark on the
sport during their time in college.

About the USTFCCCA

The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) is a non-profit professional organization representing cross country and track & field coaches of all levels. The organization represents over 11,000 coaching members encompassing 98-percent of all NCAA track & field programs (DI, DII, and DIII) and includes members representing the NAIA and NJCAA, as well as a number of state high school coaches associations. The USTFCCCA serves as an advocate for cross country and track & field coaches, providing a leadership structure to assist the needs of a diverse membership, serving as an activist for coaches’ interests, and working as a liaison between the various stakeholders in the sports of cross country and track & field.

Dave Patrick

Dave Patrick of Villanova won four NCAA DI individual titles in
middle-distance races during three years of varsity competition – twice
outdoors (mile in 1966, 1500 meters in 1968) and twice indoors (880 yards in
1967 and 1968). His 1967 title in the indoor 880 dealt Jim Ryun his first loss
in two years as his time of 1:48.9 was then a world best on a 160-yard track.

Patrick’s first sub-4 mile – 3:59.3 to win the 1967 NYAC Games – made
him just the third collegian under that barrier indoors. He was prominent on
several successful Villanova relay teams – a member of three NCAA Indoor
runner-up 4×880 or DMR squads, plus anchoring the Wildcats to seven Penn Relays
titles, including three consecutive meet records in the DMR (1966-68).

Carol Lewis

Carol Lewis of Houston won four NCAA DI long jump titles, twice each
indoors and outdoors, and was even more successful during her collegiate years
at the U.S. Championships (then known as TAC) with six titles, three each
indoors and outdoors. She was also bronze medalist at the inaugural World
Championships in 1983 after her sophomore season had ended.

Lewis was a frequent breaker of the long jump collegiate record,
whether indoors (six times) or outdoors (four), with four of her indoor CRs
doubling as indoor American records. She was the first collegian to surpass
22-feet (6.71m) both indoors and outdoors.

Candice Scott

Candice Scott of Florida won five total NCAA DI throwing titles, with
three coming indoors in the weight throw and two outdoors in the hammer throw. She
also scored in the indoor or outdoor shot put four times. In the summers
following her sophomore, junior and senior years she was a hammer finalist for
the World Championships (twice) and Olympics (once).

Scott raised the collegiate record a total of eight times – four each
in the weight throw and hammer throw. She was the first collegian to exceed
both 23 meters (75-5½) and 24 meters (78-9) in the weight throw as well as the
first collegian to throw the hammer farther than 68 meters (223-1) and 69
meters (226-4).

Earl Bell

Earl Bell of Arkansas State was the first pole vaulter to accumulate
five total NCAA DI titles – four with meet records – and he was the first
vaulter to sweep indoor and outdoor titles twice (1975 and 1976). He set his
first of three outdoor collegiate records in winning the 1975 NCAA Outdoor
title at 18-1 (5.51m) in becoming the first teenager in world history to clear
18-feet (5.49m) in addition to becoming the first collegian to do so outdoors.

Bell’s third and final CR came in 1976 and was also a world record at
18-7¼ (5.67m). During his collegiate career he made the 1976 Olympic final and
was gold medalist at the 1975 Pan-American Games.

John Carlos

John Carlos of San Jose State was the first collegian to complete an NCAA outdoor sprint triple – wins in the 100, 200 and 4×100 relay or yard equivalents – while leading the Spartans to the 1969 DI team title. His anchor leg in the prelims of the 4×110-yard relay finished off an American record of 38.8, and earlier in that spring he tied the world record for 100 yards at 9.1.

As a freshman at East Texas State (now East Texas A&M), he led the Lions to the team title at the 1967 Lone Star Conference with wins in the 100 yards, 220 yards and mile relay before winning the gold medal in the 200 meters in the summer at the Pan-American Games. During a transfer year at San Jose State in 1968 he clocked the first sub-20 time in the 200 at 19.7 in winning U.S. Final Olympic Trials and earned the bronze medal at the Mexico City Olympics.

Dawn Sowell

Dawn Sowell of LSU had a senior season to remember in 1989, winning
NCAA DI sprint doubles both indoors (55/200) and outdoors (100/200) and adding
a leg on a winning relay team in spearheading the Lady Tigers to team titles in
both championship meets.

Sowell set individual collegiate and/or American records that year five
times – indoors in the 60 and 200, outdoors in the 100 and 200, and her final
100 CR of 10.78 lasted 30 years. She anchored the LSU indoor 4×400 to a CR and
world best and ran the second leg on the 4×100 team’s 42.50 clocking that
lasted as the CR for 20 years.

Paul Ereng

Paul Ereng of Virginia used a potent finishing kick to win most of his
800-meter races, which included three NCAA DI titles (1988 and 1989 outdoors, 1989
indoors). It also propelled him to gold medals at the 1988 Olympics and 1989
World Indoor Championships, earning comparisons to some of the best finishers
in world history.

Ereng’s performance at the 1989 World Indoors in Budapest was
particularly memorable. Competing a week before the NCAA DI Indoor
Championships, he famously wore his Virginia singlet, setting personal bests in
the heats and semis (the latter in a then-collegiate record time of 1:47.11)
before lowering his PR by more than two seconds to win the final in a world record
1:44.84 that also remained as the CR for nearly 37 years.

Delisa Walton

Delisa Walton of Tennessee won five total AIAW or NCAA DI individual
titles, twice outdoors in the 800 meters and three times indoors in the 600
yards/meters while never finishing lower than second individually in her last
three years. She set collegiate records in the 600 yards (1:17.38) and 600
meters (1:26.56) that lasted 41 years and 39 years, respectively.

Walton was frequently the anchor on the Lady Vols’ top relay teams,
whether the 4×400, 4×800 or sprint medley – four times completing an AIAW or
NCAA title, with each occurrence also a CR-setting performance.

John Godina

John Godina of UCLA amassed five NCAA DI titles in the shot put and
discus in his final two years of collegiate competition, winning the indoor
shot and discus outdoors in 1994 before sweeping the indoor shot and outdoor
shot and discus in 1995. His sweep of the shot and discus at the 1995 NCAA
Outdoor made him then just the seventh man in history to do so.

Godina’s final NCAA title came in the 1995 outdoor shot put and was achieved
with a collegiate record that has endured for over 30 years at 22.00m (72-2¼) –
by far the event’s longest-lasting CR. Later that summer Godina won the gold
medal at the World Championships (he would add three more global golds in
post-collegiate years).

Leann Warren

Leann Warren of Oregon won three AIAW or NCAA DI individual titles,
including a sweep of the 800 and 1500 meters at the 1981 AIAW Outdoor
Championships. She raced her fastest when competing internationally during her
collegiate years, setting all-dates collegiate records of 1:59.63 in the 800 at
the 1981 World University Games and 4:05.88 in the 1500 at the 1982 US-USSR
Dual Meet.

Warren’s range wasn’t limited to the middle distances – she was a
member of the Ducks’ 4×400 team that won the 1980 AIAW Outdoor title and was individual
runner-up in the 1981 NCAA DI Country Championships.

Earl McCullouch

Earl McCullouch of Southern California won three individual events at
NCAA DI Championships – twice outdoors in the 120-yard hurdles (1967 and 1968)
and once indoors in the 60-yard hurdles (1967). He also led off the Trojans’
4×110-yard relay team to NCAA titles in 1967 and 1968, with the 1967 foursome
setting a world record of 38.6 that broke their own WR of 39.0 from a week
earlier.

McCullouch twice set collegiate records that also equaled WRs – in the
110-meter hurdles (13.2 in winning gold at the 1967 Pan-American Games) and
60-yard hurdles (6.8 in the prelims before winning the 1968 AAU Indoor
Championships). He set or tied the high hurdles meet record at least once in
each of his four NCAA meets, including the one time he didn’t win (he was
runner-up in 1968 indoors).

Gail Devers

Gail Devers of UCLA was one of the most versatile collegiate athletes
without ever competing in a combined event. She demonstrated as much at the
1988 Pac-10 Championships, setting collegiate records in the 100 meters (11.05)
and 100-meter hurdles (12.61, also then an American record) while also winning
the long jump.

Her 1988 collegiate season culminated with the highest-scoring effort
by a woman in NCAA DI Outdoor history, accounting for 28½ points in those three
events plus as part of the Bruins’ 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams. She competed in
at least three events in the DI Outdoor meet in each of her four years at UCLA,
recording a career total of 62¼ points