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TSU track and field legends Ralph Boston and Wilma Rudolph named to USTFCCCA Hall of Fame

By TSU Athletics

EUGENE, ORE.  (TSU News Service) — Tennessee State University track and field legends Ralph Boston ’61 and Wilma Rudolph ’63 were both named to the inaugural class of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Collegiate Athlete Hall of Fame at a ceremony on June 6 at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.

Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice, TSU’s Director of Track and Field, presents Ralph Boston his award at the induction ceremony. (Lauren Ellsworth, USTFCCCA)

Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice, TSU’s director of Track and Field and Olympic gold medalist, who was present at the ceremony, presented Boston his award. Cheeseborough-Guice also received Rudolph’s award on behalf of her family.

“It was an honor to be selected to present Ralph Boston his award at the inaugural NCAA Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and to be asked to receive Wilma Rudolph’s award on behalf of the Rudolph family,” Cheeseborough-Guice said. “I am so honored to be in the company of greatness and represent Tennessee State University.”

“The Collegiate Athlete Hall of Fame is intended to acknowledge the great athletes who have made collegiate track & field and cross country such incredible sports,” said Sam Seemes, CEO of the USTFCCCA. “Not only do we have a large queue of past athletes that are worthy of enshrinement into this hall of fame, but we also recognize a vital responsibility in producing first-class presentations to properly commemorate their accomplishments”

Wilma Rudolph set four world records in her days as a collegian. (Submitted Photo)

Ralph Boston’s greatness was just beginning when he won the NCAA Championships long jump title in 1960. That summer he went on to break the world record set by Jesse Owens in 1935 while qualifying for the Rome Olympics, where he won the gold medal.

His senior season of 1961 saw him break the indoor world record three times, but that was just a prelude for his outdoor season. Boston recorded the first 27-foot long jump a week before nearly winning the NAIA team title for Tennessee State all by himself with four wins and a tie for second. In July he improved his long jump world record to 8.28m (27-2) in winning the U.S.-USSR dual meet in Moscow.

Rudolph didn’t have to travel far to find her home for collegiate track & field. She grew up in Clarksville, Tennessee, about 15 miles outside of Nashville, where Tennessee State had become a mecca for women’s sprinting long before organized national collegiate track and field was a reality for women.

Ralph Boston broke the world record set by Jesse Owen at the Rome Olympic in 1935. (Submitted Photo)

By the time she was enrolled at Tennessee A&I (as TSU was known then) in the fall of 1958, she was surrounded by national champions and Olympic medalists. She had earned a bronze medal with three of the group as part of the U.S. 4×100 relay team at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia while a 16-year-old prep.

Rudolph blossomed while in college, never more so than at the 1960 Rome Olympics, where she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in the same Olympics by winning the 100 and 200 before anchoring the winning 4×100 team. She equaled the world record in the prelims of the 100, one of four world records she set in her days as a collegian.

Without collegiate national championships available to her, Rudolph was dominant at the AAU championships, winning 10 of the 12 AAU championships she lined up for combining indoors and outdoors. She was the first woman to win four AAU titles in the 100 yards/meters, all during her first four years at Tennessee State.

Boston and Rudolph are just two of the initial 30 athletes who will be enshrined. Nearly 150 years has elapsed since the first known intercollegiate competitions of running, jumping, and throwing took place. Those events in the mid-to-late 19th century set the stage for the modern-day sports of collegiate track & field and cross country.

In addition to an annual induction ceremony, plans for a permanent “hall” location are being pursued. “I’m proud that we’re stepping forward to preserve our history,” added USTFCCCA President Leroy Burrell, in his 23rd year as head coach of track & field at the University of Houston. “Many of the coaches in our association agree that a collegiate athlete hall of fame is long overdue to recognize the athletes who have provided us with countless unforgettable moments.”

The induction preceded the 100th edition of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships held at Hayward Field, June 8-11.

Athletics, EVENTS, FACULTY, FEATURED, NEWS, SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

Former TSU Tigerbelles Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice, Madeline Manning Mims among Olympians to be honored at U.S Olympic Track and Field Trials

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – Former Tennessee State University Tigerbelles Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice and Madeline Manning Mims are among Olympians being honored during the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon.

The women will participate in the opening ceremony at storied Hayward Field and will join other Olympians who will be recognized for their achievements throughout the trials July 1-10.

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Former Tigerbelle and Olympian Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice

“It’s exciting,” said Cheeseborough-Guice, who is director of TSU’s track and field program. “It’s going to be like a reunion.”

Mims said she too is looking forward to reconnecting with other Olympians.

“We’re all out there doing our thing and we’re in different places, so we don’t get a chance to see each other,” Mims said. “This is a great opportunity for us to come back together and find out what’s going on, and watch the young ones come in.”

Cheeseborough-Guice emerged on the scene in 1975 at age 16, where she won a gold medal in the 200-meter dash in the Pan American Games. She went on to be named to three United States Olympic teams. In 1984, at the Los Angeles games, she made Olympic history by running a leg on two gold-medal relay teams and was the silver medalist in the 400 meters.

Madeline Manning M
Former Tigerbelle and Olympian Madeline Manning Mims

Between 1967 and 1981, Mims won 10 national titles and set a number of American records. She participated in the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics. At the 1968 games, she was awarded a gold medal in the 800-meter race, the only American woman to win the event. In 1972, she won a silver medal in the 4 x 400 meters relay. Mims founded the U.S. Council for Sports Chaplaincy. The 2016 Rio Summer Olympics will be her eighth as a Team USA chaplain.

Dwight Lewis, who is co-authoring a book about TSU’s famed Tigerbelles, said it’s only fitting that Cheeseborough-Guice and Mims should be recognized during the trials because they were part of a team that “paved the way for other women in sports.”

The Tigerbelles got the attention of the world in 1956 when TSU (Tennessee A&I at the time), led by legendary track and field coach Ed Temple, sent six members to the Olympics in Australia. The Tigerbelles returned to the 1960 Olympics in Rome and made history when Wilma Rudolph won three gold medals, making her a household name.

The Tigerbelles won a total of 23 Olympic medals. Lewis said what was also impressive about members of the team is that they also excelled outside track and field.

“Not only did they perform well in track and field, but … they got their degrees,” he said.

Temple said Cheeseborough-Guice and Mims, as well as all his Tigerbelles, are inspirations and deserve all the recognition they continue to get.

“They are an inspiration to everybody,” Temple said. “It just shows what can be done. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Department of Media Relations

Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

About Tennessee State University

With more than 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 22 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.

NEWS

First Lady Pays Tribute to Wilma Rudolph During TSU Visit, Reads to more than 25 Anxious Children

First Lady Crissy Haslam reads to more than 25 young girls from Girls On the Run Nashville during her visit to Tennessee State University Feb. 19. Haslam was at the University as part of her Read20 Family Book Club initiative. (photo by Rick DelaHaya, TSU Media Relations)
First Lady Crissy Haslam reads to more than 25 young girls from Girls On the Run Nashville during her visit to Tennessee State University Feb. 19. Haslam was at the University as part of her Read20 Family Book Club initiative. (photo by Rick DelaHaya, TSU Media Relations)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (TSU News Service) – As part of Black History Month celebration, Tennessee first lady Crissy Haslam used her Read20 Family Book Club to pay tribute to legendary Olympic champion and Tennessee State University great Wilma Rudolph during a program Wednesday at the Edward S. Temple Track on campus.

Since February not only serves as Black History Month, but also the backdrop for the 2014 Winter Olympics, Haslam said she selected “Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman,” for her book of the month to inspire children about Rudolph’s story about overcoming adversity.

The book, a dramatic and inspiring true story illustrated in bold watercolor and acrylic paintings, highlights the TSU alumna and Olympian, who overcame a distinct illness to win three gold medals.

“Wilma Rudolph made an incredible impact on society for African Americans, for women and for all people who have hurdles to clear,” Haslam said to members of the TSU track team, and more than 25 anxious and cheering members of Girls on the Run, a youth development program for girls in third through eighth grades.

“Her journey is particularly inspiring this month as we celebrate African-American history and enjoy the 2014 Winter Olympics,” she added

Joining Haslam at the program was former Olympic champion and head coach of the TSU track and field program, Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice, who thanked the first lady for selecting TSU for her book-of-the-month reading.

“We appreciate you coming on our campus to grace us with your presence, and for inspiring these students by highlighting the story of Wilma Rudolph, who was an inspiration to me as an athlete and so many others,” Cheeseborough-Guice said.

Also receiving special recognition at the program was Yolanda Kovan Rudolph, Wilma Rudolph’s eldest daughter, who is also a former TSU student.

Following the program, the students from Girls on the Run, under the direction of Coach Cheeseborough-Guice, performed drills with the TSU women’s track and field team.

“I am truly inspired by the first lady’s initiative,” said Charis Quarles, a sophomore Theater major from Nashville, who is manager of the TSU men and women’s track program. “It was really nice for her to be able to come and support these young children.”

As part of her effort to promote parent engagement in education, Haslam launched the Rdead20 Family Book Club nearly two years ago, giving Tennessee families a fun goal of reading together every day. Books of different reading levels and styles of writing are selected each month to help children foster love for reading and learning.

 

 

Department of Media Relations
Tennessee State University
3500 John Merritt Boulevard
Nashville, Tennessee 37209
615.963.5331

 

About Tennessee State University

With nearly 9,000 students, Tennessee State University is Nashville’s only public university, and is a comprehensive, urban, co-educational, land-grant university offering 38 undergraduate, 22 graduate and seven doctoral programs. TSU has earned a top 20 ranking for Historically Black Colleges and Universities according to U.S. News and World Report, and rated as one of the top universities in the country by Washington Monthly for social mobility, research and community service. Founded in 1912, Tennessee State University celebrated 100 years in Nashville during 2012. Visit the University online at tnstate.edu.