Former Weber State Men's Track and Field Coach, Chick Hislop, named to the USTFFCCA Hall of Fame Cla Add Comment    Aug 06, 2010

     Charles "Chick" Hislop, who spent 38 seasons as the men's cross country/track and field coach at Weber State University, is one of six individuals being inducted into the 2010 United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will be held Wednesday, December 15 at the USTFFCCA Convention in San Antonio, Texas. 

     Those 38 years as head track & field and cross country coach at Weber State University, still makes him the longest tenured coach in the history of the Big Sky Conference in any sport. Leading the Wildcats to 21 total Big Sky Conference titles, including seven in cross country, Hislop also earned USTFCCCA National Cross Country Coach of the Year honors in 1991 as his mens squad placed fourth at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. The Wildcats finished in the top 20 at the NCAA Cross Country Championships nine times during his coaching tenure.

     In addition to these successes in cross country, Hislop is one of the foremost authorities in the United States on steeplechase training and technique. At the Olympic Games in 1984 and 1996, Hislop served as a presented on the steeplechase to the International Coaches Convention. In the summer of 1996, he served as an Assistant Coach for the U.S. Mens Track and Field Team at the Atlanta Olympic Games, where he was the event coach of the U.S. long-distance runners.

     Under Hislops tutelage, 26 Wildcats earned 46 USTFCCCA All-America honors, including Farley Gerber who won the NCAA steeplechase crown in 1984 in a then-American Collegiate record of 8:19.27. Charles Clinger, another of Hislops pupils, swept NCAA high jump titles in 2001 with national titles at both indoor and outdoor championships.  In May of that year, Clinger recorded the years best jump by an American with a clearance of 7-8½ (2.35m).

     Hislop is a graduate of Utah State and Weber Junior College. At Weber JC, Hislop was a Junior College All-American in the two mile run. In addition to his coaching duties, Hislop served on the NCAA Rules Committee for seven years and was the Chair of the Cross Country Championships for four years. In 1985, Hislop served as the U.S. Sports Ambassador to Colombia.

-Utah College Sports News staff and wire reports

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Utah College Sports Wire