Cardinal Hall of Honor
Colin Ridgway thrust Lamar University into the national limelight in 1962 when he became the first Texas collegian to clear the 7-foot mark in the high jump.
His career-best leap of 7 feet, 0.5 inches at the Border Olympics wound up being the third-best jump in the nation that year.
In an era when specialists were rare at Lamar, the native Australian often proved his value. He continued to draw attention to the school’s developing track program in 1962 with wins at prestigious events such as the Texas Relays, the Gulf Coast AAU meet and the Meet of Champions to go along with a second-place finish at the Kansas Relays. Ridgway was invited to the Modesto Relays, then America’s premier invitational meet, where he placed fifth among the nation’s elite.
Only three Lamar tracksters have won conference championships four years in a row. Ridgway became the first Cardinal to achieve that feat by collecting Lone Star Conference titles in 1961, 1962 and 1963 and a Southland Conference triumph in 1964.
