Born July 14, 1922, Garber, Okla. Died Oct. 25, 2000

An outstanding coach on both the high school and collegiate levels, Vern Wolfe was one of the first exponents of weight conditioning as a training device. A pole vaulter for the University of Southern California in the late 1940s, Wolfe became coach at North Phoenix High School in Arizona, where he produced national record holders in the pole vault, shot put and discus.

His shot put record holder, Dallas Long, also is a Hall of Famer who later became a world record holder and Olympic champion. Wolfe returned as head coach of USC in 1963 and remained there until retiring in 1984. While with the Trojans, he produced six Olympic gold medalists, 24 athletes who set or tied world records, 29 NCAA individual champions and his teams won seven NCAA indoor and outdoor titles. His teams also won eight conference titles and his dual meet winning record was 87 percent.