Blue White Illustrated

Horace Ashenfelter | Claimed Olympic steeplechase gold Horace Ashenfelter III, the former Penn State track and 9eld standout who set a world record in winning the men's stee- plechase at the 1952 Olympic Games, died Jan. 6 in West Orange, N.J., at age 94. The only American to hold the world record in the men's steeplechase, Ashen- felter achieved that feat with an upset victory at the Helsinki Games, winning the gold medal in 8 minutes, 45.4 sec- onds. Participating in the steeplechase for only the sixth time, Ashenfelter crushed the previous steeplechase record of 9:03.8 set in the 1936 Olympics. A three-time All-American at Penn State from 1947-49, Ashenfelter was the NCAA 2-mile champion in 1949 and 9n- ished second at the 1947 NCAA cross country championships. "We all carry heavy hearts with the passing of Horace Ashenfelter," said John Gondak, who coaches the Nittany Lions' track and 9eld and cross country teams. "He was an amazing person that I was honored to have visited with a handful of times during my years at Penn State. The number of alumni who have reached out to us about his passing shows how impor- tant an individual he was to our team, our sport and our university." Penn State's indoor track inside the Multi-Sport Facility was re-named the Horace Ashenfelter III Indoor Track in 2001. From the late 1940s until he retired from competition in 1957, Ashenfelter won 17 national indoor and outdoor titles in a va- riety of races, including the 2-mile, 3- mile, 10,000 meters and the steeplechase. Ashenfelter was the recipient in 1952 of the prestigious Sullivan Award saluting the nation's outstanding amateur athlete and entered the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1975 and the Millrose Games Hall of Fame in 2001. He also was inducted into the New Jersey Sports Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. Ashenfelter was born in Phoenixville, Pa., on Jan. 23, 1923. He grew up in nearby Collegeville, competed on the football, basketball, baseball and track teams at Collegeville High School, and graduated in 1941. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1942 during World War II and became a pilot and stateside gunnery instructor. Ashenfelter enrolled at Penn State in 1946, majoring in physical education, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1949. A:er earning his Penn State degree, Ashenfelter began running for the New York Athletic Club and won 15 gold medals in Amateur Athletic Union competitions. In the midst of his running career, Ashenfelter simultaneously had a career as an FBI agent, before taking a sales po- sition. He retired in 1993 but continued to run frequently in the Glen Ridge, N.J., area where he lived. The town's annual Thanksgiving Day run is named a:er him. Ashenfelter is survived by his wife, Lil- lian, four sons, 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. One of his grand- sons, William Ashenfelter, is a sophomore middle distance runner on the Penn State men's track and 9eld squad. ■ O B I T U A R I E S Gillian Rattray | Coached two title-winning programs Gillian Rattray, who helped lay the foundation for the success of women's athletics at Penn State as former head coach of the 9eld hockey and women's lacrosse teams, died on Dec. 21 in State College at the age of 83. Rattray was head coach of the 9eld hockey program from 1974-86 and women's lacrosse team from 1974- 85, guiding the teams to a combined 9ve national championships. During a seven-month span in 1980, she directed two national championship squads, the 9rst in May with the women's lacrosse team and the second in November with the 9eld hockey squad. She was recognized by the Guinness Book of Sports Records for the accomplishment. She earned a combined record of 319-68-24 in her career at Penn State. As the head coach of the 9eld hockey program, Rat- RATTRAY RECORD RUN Ashenfelter (far right) broke the men's steeple- chase world record with his perform- ance at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952. Photo courtesy of Penn State Athletics

• Cover