GARY L. WALLACE '73
Inducted 1997
A native of Elbridge, NY, Gary L. Wallace competed in cross country and track at Binghamton from 1967-72. He earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1973, and his master's degree in computer science from Binghamton in 1977. Wallace earned distinction as the first Binghamton athlete in any sport to qualify for an NCAA Championship when he was selected for the 1969 cross country nationals.In the spring of 1970, Wallace won 16 straight and 19 of 20 track distance races, placing fifth at the state championship. In just six meets, he garnered a team-high 85 points in three of the most grueling events in track - the mile, 880 and the two-mile races.After sitting out the 1970 cross country season with an injury, Wallace returned to lead the 1971 team to a perfect 13-0 mark. He shaved nearly one minute off his best high school mile mark and ran a 4:24 mile. In 1972, Wallace became the school's first state champion when he captured the indoor track two-mile race. He broke five school distance records during that season and was named team MVP.A two-year team captain of cross country and track, Wallace was Binghamton's "Athlete of the Year" in 1969-70. After serving as an assistant cross country coach for one year, Wallace continued to excel in distance running, competing in dozens of world-renowned marathons. In 1979 at age 30, he ran a 2:18.51 marathon to qualify for the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Inducted 1997
A native of Elbridge, NY, Gary L. Wallace competed in cross country and track at Binghamton from 1967-72. He earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1973, and his master's degree in computer science from Binghamton in 1977. Wallace earned distinction as the first Binghamton athlete in any sport to qualify for an NCAA Championship when he was selected for the 1969 cross country nationals.In the spring of 1970, Wallace won 16 straight and 19 of 20 track distance races, placing fifth at the state championship. In just six meets, he garnered a team-high 85 points in three of the most grueling events in track - the mile, 880 and the two-mile races.After sitting out the 1970 cross country season with an injury, Wallace returned to lead the 1971 team to a perfect 13-0 mark. He shaved nearly one minute off his best high school mile mark and ran a 4:24 mile. In 1972, Wallace became the school's first state champion when he captured the indoor track two-mile race. He broke five school distance records during that season and was named team MVP.A two-year team captain of cross country and track, Wallace was Binghamton's "Athlete of the Year" in 1969-70. After serving as an assistant cross country coach for one year, Wallace continued to excel in distance running, competing in dozens of world-renowned marathons. In 1979 at age 30, he ran a 2:18.51 marathon to qualify for the 1980 U.S. Olympic Trials.
1 comment:
This was interesting, as I really didn't know much about Wallace's SUNY B history. I knew that Wallace, Tom Carter, and Chip Boehm were the big gun runners in the area, and all three were capable of incredibly fast runs. Does anyone know what his 2-mile and 3-mile times were? Perhaps the 3-mile wasn't actually run back then? And a 2:18:51 marathon???? Wow! We are truly talking about an elite runner here.
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