Complete History of SPU Track and Field Program (PDF Format)
Includes champions, honors, awards, all-time rosters

Seattle Pacific’s celebrated track & field team first surfaced as a varsity sport in 1949, but it was a year later, after the arrival of Ken Foreman, when the Falcons began their ascent to a nationally-renowned program. Foreman, who had previously coached at Los Angeles Pacific High School, devoted 37 years as a mentor to generations of Falcons before retiring in 2000.

Within two years of Foreman’s arrival, Seattle Pacific captured local attention by sending its promising men’s 2-mile relay to the prestigious Drake Relays in 1953 where they finished fourth. Later that season, the mile relay qualified for the NAIA National Championships, with the foursome of Ben Moring, Gene Peterson, Denton Palmer and Wes Thompson taking third place. Moring was the catalyst for much of the early success; he won the NAIA 880-yard run in 1953 and repeated as champion in ’54.

In 1955, Foreman became a forerunner in women's athletics by founding the Falcon Track Club, a team open to gifted females. Marcia Cosgrove, a 16-year-old Renton native, qualified for the AAU Indoor Championships. A year later, Cosgrove won the AAU 50-meter dash, then finished second in the 200 at the Olympic Trials and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team.

Foreman returned to Los Angeles from 1957-60 to complete his doctorate. By 1962, when he resumed his position, the track & field program competed at the NCAA Championships and the Falcon Track Club was becoming world famous. In 1964, Doris Brown set a world indoor record, running the first sub-5 minute mile, and Virginia Husted was second in the javelin at the Olympic Trials. Brown went on to establish world and American records for the 880 and 1500 meters, and make the 1968 and ’72 U.S. Olympic teams. From 1967-71, she won five consecutive world cross country titles.

The men’s program gained momentum once again with emergence of Steve Gough as, first, a NCAA champion triple jumper in 1968, and, in 1970, a winner in the decathlon. In fact, Gough would later challenge for a berth on the 1972 Olympic team.

In 1975, varsity status was given to the women’s team and instantly Seattle Pacific was a respected power, dueling with the Division I likes of Tennessee and UCLA for the AIAW collegiate crown. At the 1976 nationals, the Falcons, with three future national team members, finished second. When the AIAW began sponsoring divisional championships, the SPU administration opted for Division II, and there were other changes in store as well. Foreman, who been named coach of the U.S. Olympic team, resigned and Doris Brown Heritage took over.

Foreman’s return in 1985 ushered in an era when the Falcons put greater emphasis on multiple events and distance/middle-distance running. It was a fortuitous move as the women finished among the top 10 in the NCAA eight consecutive years from 1986-93.

The 2000 season was one of significant change as Jack Hoyt, a protege´ of both Heritage and Foreman, was named head coach, and SPU won it’s first of three consecutive women’s conference championships. Before leaving after the 2005 campaign, Hoyt also produced two GNAC women’s indoor crowns and two NCAA individual champions.

In 2006, Karl Lerum’s tenure began with the SPU women winning both the GNAC indoor and outdoor team titles, and the program’s total of collegiate champions rose to 30 and 201 All-Americans.