Cardinal Hall of Honor
Unheralded early in his career, John Richardson blazed to major accomplishments from midway of the 1967 season through the 1968 campaign as the type of anchor runner the Cardinals needed to develop great distance relay teams and as a star performer in individual races.
The lanky Richardson began delivering big performances late in 1967 as he posted a surprise victory in the 880-yard dash at the LSU Invitational and, a month later, copped the Southland Conference 880 championship in what was considered a stunning upset.
Richardson proved in 1968 that the SLC victory was no fluke. He opened the season with a school record 1:51.3 and ran a solid 1:51.5 the next week at the Border Olympics. On back-to-back weekends, Richardson anchored school-record marks of 3:19.7 in the sprint medley at the Texas Relays and 7:35.2 in the two-mile relay at the Southwestern Relays.
Richardson, four teammates and coach Ty Terrell died in a plane crash April 28, 1968, at the Beaumont Municipal Airport.
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