Cardinal Hall of Honor
When judging Jackie Colbert’s total value to Lamar University, his honor must be placed alongside track feats that are etched in the school’s record books.
In honoring a commitment made prior to the tragedy in 1968 that killed coach Ty Terrell and five members of two world-class relay teams, Colbert became the catalyst of a Lamar dynasty.
Just three years later, he was the meet’s top scorer and Most Outstanding Performer in leading Lamar to its first Southland Conference title. Among only three Lamar tracksters to win conference championships in four consecutive years, Colbert won the 220-yard dash in 1969, 1970 and 1971, the 100-yard dash in 1971 and the 440-yard dash in 1972.
He stunned the Southwest Conference elite by winning back-to-back 220-yard dash titles in 1969 and 1970 at the Border Olympics. His best times of 9.4 in the 100 and 21.1 in the 220 stood as Lamar records until the late 1970s and a 46.6 for the 440-yard dash was the school’s third all-time best mark at the time of his induction. Jackie Colbert’s monument is the great Lamar track tradition that he resurrected.
