University of South Dakota Athletics

George Gross, a native of Bridgewater, SD, ranks as one of the all-time top track and field performers in Coyote school history. Gross won three consecutive 220-yard dash titles from 1959-61 (22.2, 1959; 22.0, 1960; 22.0, 1961) at the North Central outdoor meets. A member of the 1959 and 1961 team NCC conference champions, Gross anchored the Coyotes' winning mile relay team to victories in the 1959 (3:30.5) and 1961 (3:21.1) during those competitions. From 1959-61, Gross compiled the most individual points of any performer at the NCC meets. His sterling anchor legs on the mile relay team gave South Dakota the conference outdoor title, edging Northern Iowa, 69-66, in 1961/ Gross also won the 100-yard dash at the 1960 NCC outdoor track meet, recording a time of 9.8. He ran on teams, which won eight different relay events at the Corn Palace Relays from 1959-1961, while he helped the Coyotes defend both the 440 and 880 yard relay titles at the 1960 and 1961 Howard Wood Dakota Relays. Following graduation from USD in 1961, Gross served as a track and cross-country coach at Wagner High School until 1964.