BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Members of Western Kentucky University’s 1974 men’s cross country team will be guests at the WKU football game against Conference USA rival UAB at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium on Saturday.
Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the national runner-up season, 13 of the 14 members of the team are expected to be on hand and will be recognized at halftime of the Topper gridiron contest. Kickoff for the game is set for 6 p.m. (CT).
WKU was undefeated in regular-season competition in ‘74 and then ran away with the conference championship as Hilltopper runners Nick Rose, Tony Staynings, Dave Long and Chris Ridler finished in a four-way tie for first-place honors in the Ohio Valley Conference Championships.
Coach Jerry Bean’s squad then won the NCAA District III meet and advanced to the NCAA Championships at Bloomington, Ind., where they took runner-up honors behind the remarkable performance of Nick Rose, who was the individual national champion.
Rose, Long, Ridler and Staynings all earned All-America honors with their Top 20 finishes. Others who ran in the event for WKU were Joe Tinius, Swag Hartel and Ross Munro. Rounding out the roster on that club were Gerry Centrowitz, Tom Condit, Bill Hedger, Dave Jaggers, Stevie Smith, James Willoughby and John Zickel.
Rose will also be honored individually for his stellar contributions to WKU, becoming the first track/cross country athlete to have a jersey retired in his honor. He came to The Hill from his home in Bristol, England, in 1972 and left four years later an eight-time All-American, including four times in cross country. In addition to winning that 1974 individual championship, he was the NCAA individual runner-up in both 1973 and 1975.
During his last three seasons as a Hilltopper, he failed to win a cross country event on only two occasions -- both in those NCAA runner-up efforts. In May, 1975, Rose ran the first sub-four-minute mile ever in the state of Kentucky on the Houchens-Smith Stadium track.
A charter member of the WKU Athletic Hall of Fame, Rose was a two-time Olympian running for Great Britian and he has consistently been ranked among the world’s best in the distances in his age group over the past four decades.
A permanent display in honor of his jersey retirement will be erected at the Charles M. Ruter Track Complex on campus. For more information on WKU Cross Country, follow the program on Twitter at @WKUTrackField.