Hog track & field legend Conley adds another Hall of Fame nod
Arkansas track & field legend Mike Conley added yet another accolade to his already extensive list of athletic accomplishments Friday night, as he was inducted into the Collegiate Track & Field and Cross Country Athlete Hall of Fame.
Four decades after his illustrious Razorback career ended, the 60-year-old Conley is still regarded as one of the most dominate jumpers in the sport’s history. He remains the highest-scoring male field-eventer in the history of the NCAA Championships, totaling 62 points throughout his collegiate career.
He becomes the second Hog to be inducted in the Hall of Fame, joining Erick Walder, the long-standing collegiate record-holder in the long jump, who was part of the inaugural induction class in 2022.
Conley first made a name for himself at the national level when he won his first NCAA title, as a sophomore in 1983, winning the indoor triple jump. Throughout his junior and senior seasons, Conley captured eight more titles.
In 1984, he made history by becoming the first athlete to sweep all four single-year horizontal jump titles at the NCAA Championships, winning the long jump and triple jump titles at NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor meets. He repeated the double-double feat in 1985, while also finishing second in the 200m and taking part in Arkansas’ sixth-place finish in the 4x100m relay.
While still in college, Conley claimed the bronze medal in the long jump at the inaugural World Championships in 1983. Then in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, he won the silver medal for the United States in the triple jump.
Conley also played a significant role in team national championships by the Razorbacks. With a cross country national team title in the fall of 1984, Arkansas achieved its first NCAA Triple Crown with the pair of 1985 track and field titles.
The 2023 induction ceremony, held in Eugene, Ore., also included Michael Carter (SMU), Edwin Moses (Morehouse), Renaldo Nehemiah (Maryland), Dave Wottle (Bowling Green), Dyrol Burleson (Oregon), Joetta Clark Diggs (Tennessee), Sheila Hudson (California), Holli Hyche (Indiana State), Sonia O’Sullivan (Villanova), Julie Shea Sutton (NC State), Seilala (Sua) Zumbado (UCLA), John Thomas (Boston Univ.), and Wyomia Tyus (Tennessee State).
