Cardinal Hall of Honor
The quarter-mile distance was the Waverly Thomas specialty, thus making the athlete nicknamed “Bull” a key member of various Lamar University relay teams and a standout performer in the open 440-yard dash.
Waverly’s skills led him to contributing to the five best one-mile relay units in Lamar’s history and to be a member of record-shattering 440-yard, two-mile and sprint medley relay outfits.
With Thomas, usually situated as the leadoff man or in the third spot, Lamar racked up five clockings ranging from the school record 3:07 to 3:08 and one-mile relay victories in the Sugar Bowl Meet, the Border Olympics and the Southwestern Relays. He ran on record-setting 440-yard relay (41.1), two-mile relay (7:35.2) and sprint medley relay (3:19.7) teams.
Initially, Thomas etched his name in Lamar history with a 46.5 quarter for a 1966 record, a Southland Conference 440-yard dash championship in 1967, and a 47.0 victory in the Ty Terrell Relays. He won 12 of 17 open quarter-mile races. Waverly, four teammates and coach Ty Terrell died April 28, 1968, in a plane crash at the Beaumont Municipal Airport.
