Scott Neilson of Washington inducted into the USTFCCCA Athlete Hall of Fame...
The class of 12 will be enshrined on Sunday, June 8, at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts in Eugene, Oregon. The induction ceremony is free and open to the public and will be held three days prior to the start of the 2025 NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field. If you’re not in Eugene, you can watch a free stream on RunnerSpace.
This year’s class features some of the greatest names in collegiate track & field and cross country history. With 55 national collegiate titles, 17 collegiate records, eight Olympic/World Championships medals, and six world records while in college, these athletes have left an indelible mark on the sports.
Neilson is a part of the fourth induction class, and is the first Washington alumni to be enshrined. This class of twelve brings the total number of Hall of Famers to seventy.
Neilson was unbeatable in the hammer and weight throws during his four years as a Husky from 1976-79. He single-handedly brought home seven NCAA titles, winning four consecutive hammer throw titles outdoors, and three consecutive weight throw titles indoors from his sophomore through senior years. Neilson never lost a collegiate hammer or weight competition.
A native of British Columbia, Canada, Neilson was the first field-event athlete to win four NCAA titles in the same event and the second overall, after Oregon's Steve Prefontaine in the 3 mile/5000m, and the first athlete to win as many as seven field event titles. Neilson also won four consecutive Pac-8/10 hammer titles and was named to the Pac-12 All-Century Team in 2016.
Neilson was part of the Washington "Fab Four" with shot putter Russ Vincent, discus thrower Borys Chambul, and javelin thrower Rod Ewaliko that swept all four throwing events at the 1976 Pac-8 championships in Berkeley.
He was most dominant in the hammer, setting a collegiate record of 72.72m (238-7) in 1978 and nearly matching that with his NCAA title that year at 72.36m (237-5) to win by more than 25 feet – a margin that would remain the event's longest for 18 years. After his 1979 senior year, he owned 10 of the top-11 throws all-time. He still holds the UW school record in the hammer.
He qualified for the 1980 Olympic Games for Canada but did not compete due to international boycott, and also won gold at the 1979 Pan Am Games.
The class of 2025 includes: Amy Acuff of UCLA, Cathy Branta of Wisconsin, Bert Cameron of UTEP, Joachim Cruz of Oregon, Joe Falcon of Arkansas, Diane Guthrie of George Mason, Larance Jones of Truman, Madeline Manning of Tennessee State, Suziann Reid of Texas, Gillian Russell of Miami (FL), and Spec Towns of Georgia.
The USTFCCCA release is available here, while the University of Washington's release is available here.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA, and the sports information office of the University of Washington contributed to this report.
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