PROVO, Utah — When he started his 40-year tenure as BYU's track and field coach, Clarence F. Robison's team competed on a dirt — and sometimes muddy — track. Now the more modern BYU facility, one of the finest in the nation, bears his name.
In a ceremony during the 2004 Robison Invitational, hosted by the Cougars on Saturday, April 24, the facility was officially named Clarence F. Robison Track. It is so designated on a new sign hanging on the front of the press box. School President Cecil O. Samuelson Jr. of the Seventy presided over the ceremonies and announced the recognition on behalf of the BYU Board of Trustees. Athletic director Val Hale conducted the brief ceremony during the warm, sunny final day of the track meet.
Several hundred spectators, after hearing about his accomplishments in athletics and the Church, gave Brother Robison an ovation as he received a commemorative plaque that included the track shoes he wore as a 1948 Olympian. He was a member of the USA 5,000-meter team at the Olympics in London.
There was also a reception in honor of Brother Robison the evening before for family, friends and former students.
The track complex is located just south of LaVell Edwards Stadium, one of a few other campus facilities named for a living person. The track was built when expansion of then-Cougar Stadium eliminated the track there in 1982. It has been the site of the 1982 and 1989 NCAA championships as well as many conference championships and other meets. When Brother Robison started coaching, the dirt track was at the stadium where the Richards P.E. Building now stands at the bottom of the hill west of the main campus.
In his remarks during the ceremony and again in a Church News interview, Brother Robison said, "This is an honor that I certainly cannot take upon myself." He talked about the support he had over the years from assistant coaches, trainers, athletic directors and others. "There are a lot of names that need to be up there," he said, gesturing to the sign on the press box.
But he said he could not describe the way he felt about the recognition. He said it was unlike the trophies and other honors received over the years that can be stashed away in a closet. The naming of the facility, he said, "is the kind of honor my great-grandkids can look up and see."
In his ceremony remarks, he expressed particular gratitude for the support of his wife, Monita. "She is the coach who coached the coach," he said. "We all need that kind of help at home."
Now nearly 80 years old, he serves with his wife as a ward missionary in the Grandview 14th Ward, Provo Utah Grandview South Stake, and he also teaches the high priests group. Coaching has never overshadowed Church service, including time he spent as president of the England Leeds Mission. He said he had a short time from when he retired as BYU track coach in 1988 until he reported to his mission president assignment in the summer of 1989, again showing "you don't retire in the Church."
He coached more than 100 all-Americans, including more than 20 national champions, and 26 Olympians. He is a member of the United States Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame, the Utah Sports Hall of Fame and the BYU Hall of Fame.
But he said, through working with young people, "you realize the real champions in life are those who embrace the gospel."
In his positions in athletics and the Church, he realized he was in a position to influence young men and young women, adding, "I got to work with the best there is. I can't think back on any athlete I coached that turned out trashy, and that's the most important thing. Athletic recognitions heaped on that makes it that much better."
His love for young men and women led him and his wife to a love for England as they served as missionaries there. In addition to his time there as a mission president, he was called back to serve as Missionary Training Center president. He said he spent his first year at the London England Temple Missionary Training Center, and then the second year at the new facility when it opened on the grounds of the Preston England Temple.
"It doesn't matter what you do in this life as long as you're strong in the gospel," he said. "You'll be happy."
Through the years, he and his wife had nine children and now have 41 grandchildren. His family was out in force for the naming ceremony. That included his son, Mark, who is the current BYU track and field coach, and Mark's son, Nathan, who won the 1,500 meters in a time of 3:46.10 — his fastest time at altitude — in one of the first races run on the newly named track.
Brother Robison spoke fondly of his family. He said, "Family and the gospel are where it's at. Family is the great joy and the gospel is the frosting on the cake."
Then he went back to chatting, shaking hands and getting his photo taken with a number of people of varying ages who gathered around him, evidence of the influence he has had through athletics and the Church.
E-mail to:ghill@desnews.com
