ELMER GRAY is one of two posthumous recipients of the Class of 2022’s Bill Hart Memorial Legends Award. Gray graduated from Roscoe High School in 1928 and came to ACU to run track and play football. He was the first athlete at ACU to run under 50 seconds in the quarter-mile, and he ran on winning relay teams at the Texas, Kansas, and Drake Relays. Gray was the first Abilene Christian University athlete to compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials. He ran the 800 meters in Los Angeles in 1932, finishing fourth and narrowly missing a spot on the U.S. National team. The soccer and track and field stadium at Abilene Christian is named in recognition for Gray.
The Baytown Sun newspaper published this story on Gray and his trek to the Olympics in August 2024.
