Ex-coach goes into hall
10/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | General
Ex-ACU track coach goes into Hall of Fame
Bill McClure to be inducted into Track Coaches Hall of Fame
ABILENE -- Former ACU head track and field coach Bill McClure is one of five current and former track coaches who will be inducted into the United States Track Coaches Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the sport in the U.S.
The Class of 2002 will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Saturday, Dec. 7, in Kansas City, Mo., in conjunction with the U.S. Track Coaches annual convention. Joining McClure in being inducted are former Bowling Green head coach Mel Brodt, former BYU head coach Clarence Robison, former Chico State head coach Berny Wagner and current California-Davis head coach Deanne Vochatzer.
Now retired and living in Louisiana, McClure is a 1991 inductee into the ACU Sports Hall of Fame. The former associate director of athletics at Stamford University in Birmingham, Ala., McClure also coached track and field at the University of South Carolina and Louisiana State University and was an assistant coach for the U.S. track and field team for the Olympic Games in 1972 in Munich, Germany.
A 1939 graduate of Abilene High School, he received a B.S. degree from Abilene Christian in 1948 and M.Ed. degree from Hardin-Simmons University in 1951 after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was a captain and four-year football letterman for the Wildcats.
He coached at Stamford High School in 1948-49 before joining the ACU coaching staff in September 1949. He was assistant track and field coach under head coach Oliver Jackson before being named head track and field coach at ACU in November 1963.
While at ACU, McClure coached 42 athletes who won all-America honors a total of 63 times. Also at ACU, he coached 1964 U.S. Olympic pole vaulter Billy Pemelton. In eight years as head coach at ACU, his teams won seven titles in track and cross country in the Southland Conference.
During his career he also served as secretary and chairman of the NCAA rules committee, and NCAA representative to the U.S. Olympic Committee.
