Men's Track and Field's Gainey named to 2007 Men's Hall of Honor
AUSTIN, Texas -- Exactly 50 years after earning All-America honors at the 1957 NCAA Track and Field Championships at Memorial Stadium, world-record-setting Texas sprinter Hollis Gainey will return to Austin to add one of the most distinguished Longhorn "honors" to his memorable track career. The Colorado City, Texas, native is one of seven former University of Texas athletes who will be inducted into the Men's Longhorn Hall of Honor later this fall. Gainey will football's Priest Holmes, Randy McEachern and Charlie Talbert, baseball's Jim Ehrier and Calvin Murray, basketball's Lance Blanks. During Gainey's tenure on the Forty Acres, UT took home the Southwest Athletic Conference Championship from 1957-59. The two-time conference relay champion (1957 and '59 in the 440-yard relay) finished sixth in the 100- and 200-yard dashes at the 1957 NCAA Championship in Austin. A stellar sprinter in his time, Gainey ran on two world-record-setting Texas relays (440-yard and 880-yard) and led the Longhorns to a gold medal finish in the 440 relay at the 1957 Penn Relays. He also ran on the first team to run the same relay under 40 seconds (39.9 seconds at the 1957 Kansas Relays). A panel of 50 Longhorn lettermen from a current era athlete ballot that included 16 representatives from all men's sports selected Gainey for induction. The group of seven will be honored at a banquet on Friday, November 9 and enshrined at ceremonies during the Texas-Texas Tech game on Saturday, November 10. Tickets to the dinner are available through the T-Association office (512-471-6864).
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