Clarence Robison: Founding Father of BYU Track and Field
- Clarence Robison (1923-2006)
- Competed at BYU: 1940-1943
- Served as an officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II
- Represented Team U.S.A. as a 5000-meter runner in the 1948 London Olympic Games.
- BYU Track and Field Head Coach: 1949-1988 (39 years)
- Led his BYU teams to:
- A share of the 1970 Outdoor National Title with a score of 35 points on June 16-18 in Des Moines, Iowa.
- 24 Top-10 national finishes (six indoor, 18 outdoor), including eight-consecutive outdoor top-10 finishes (1964-1971)
- Six Indoor Conference Titles
- His BYU athletes accumulated:
- 27 National Championships (six indoor, 21 outdoor)
- 172 Conference Championships
- 32 Olympic appearances with five gold medals won by athletes from six different countries
- Three NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships
- Two CoSIDA Academic All-America Citations (Ed Eyestone, 1984 & 1985)
- An NCAA Top Six Award (Ed Eyestone, 1986)
- An Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year Award (Ralph Mann, 1970)
- 101 times or marks remaining on the program's top-10 boards (as of 2023).
1976 Hall of Fame Inductee
In his 27 years as BYU track coach, Robison’s teams won thirteen conference championships, two WAC indoor titles, and shared one NCAA team championship. They finished in the top ten at the NCAA championships eleven times in a twelve year period and took six trips to Europe for international competition.
Coach Robison began coaching after a successful track career of his own. In four years of conference competition on BYU teams he was defeated only once. He held both the one-mile and two-mile conference records and often competed in three running events in the same day: 880, one-mile, and two-mile.
His college career was interrupted during World War II when he served as an officer in the Navy. After returning to BYU, he capped his career as a member of the 1948 U.S. Olympic team.
Coach Robison was named Coach of the Year in the Skyline Conference five times and received the Pembroke Award in 1975. During his coaching career, he coached thirteen individual NCAA champions, over seventy All-Americans, eleven Olympians, and one world record holder.
He received his B.S. degree from BYU in 1949 and his M.S. from the University of Michigan in 1955. He served on the NCAA Rules Committee and as president of the U.S. Track Coaches Association.
1976 Hall of Fame Inductee
In his 27 years as BYU track coach, Robison’s teams won thirteen conference championships, two WAC indoor titles, and shared one NCAA team championship. They finished in the top ten at the NCAA championships eleven times in a twelve year period and took six trips to Europe for international competition.
Coach Robison began coaching after a successful track career of his own. In four years of conference competition on BYU teams he was defeated only once. He held both the one-mile and two-mile conference records and often competed in three running events in the same day: 880, one-mile, and two-mile.
His college career was interrupted during World War II when he served as an officer in the Navy. After returning to BYU, he capped his career as a member of the 1948 U.S. Olympic team.
Coach Robison was named Coach of the Year in the Skyline Conference five times and received the Pembroke Award in 1975. During his coaching career, he coached thirteen individual NCAA champions, over seventy All-Americans, eleven Olympians, and one world record holder.
He received his B.S. degree from BYU in 1949 and his M.S. from the University of Michigan in 1955. He served on the NCAA Rules Committee and as president of the U.S. Track Coaches Association.