Lou Plummer

Lou Plummer

Lou Plummer was a record-breaking distance runner at the College of Williamand Mary andlong-time coach at Old Dominion whose teams won Little Eight andMason-Dixon ConferenceChampionships. In one four-year span, his ODU squads won 28 straight dualmeets.

His athletes included a pair of All-America track runners who excelled innational meets, andanother distance runner who went on to set an American record at 18kilometers. With allcoaching , Plummer still found time to be a trainer for all ODU athleticteams for a dozenyears, and also taught a full load of academic courses in the Department ofHealth andPhysical Education.

After turning down a job offer from his alma mater, William and Mary,Plummer accepteda job in 1956 from Old Dominion.

"I believed that ODU was a growing school and I saw a special future forthat campus,"Plummer said.

The best of his athletes may have been All-American high hurdler LouisCappi, All-American high jumper Terry Wright, U.S. record holder Louis Castagnola, andshotputterGerald Tiederman.

In 1965, his freshman cross-country team brought ODU its first state honorsby beatingall schools that season. Overall all, Plummer's track team raced to a55-20 recordfrom 1957 to 1966. During that time they finished first in the LittleEight competitionfrom 1961 to 1964, and second from 1957 to 1960. They also finished secondin theMason-Dixon Conference in 1963 and third from 1964 to 1966.

Plummer's cross country teams ruled the Little Eight in 1962, 63, 65 and66, and theMason Dixon Conference in 1963 and 1965.

That's a record fit for a sports hall of fame and, for a bonus, Plummer hashis memories ofhelping all those teams of competitive young men prepare themselves fortheir lifetimecareers.