Rice Institute Owls track hurdle runner and broad jumper W. M. "Bill" Cummins

Black and white photograph of Rice Institute Owls track and field athlete W. M. "Bill" Cummins, class of 1948, accompanied by text headlining his achievement and entry into the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame.Caption reads: W. M. “BILL” CUMMINS, Class of ’48, was another Rice star whose career was sidetracked by World War II. Coming to Rice from El Paso, Cummins won the SWC championship in the low hurdles and long (broad) jump in 1942, the high and low hurdles in 1943, and went on to win both the Drake Relays and NCAA championships in low hurdles that year before his call to duty. In 1942 while competition still was normal in track and field, Bill entered an average of seven events per meet, scoring as high as 22 ¾ points during a triangular meet with Texas and LSU, winning both hurdles, the pole vault, the high and the broad jumps. In 1943, Bill also played on the Owl basketball team. After World War II when Bill came back to get his degree, he played on the 1947 basketball team. Now living in El Paso, Bill has a son, David, who was state champion high school half miler, won his “R” his first year on the track team, and is a member of the Rice Class of 1975, due to graduate in the spring. David was shelved for three competitive years with a leg injury which Coach Augie Erfurth hopes has been overcome, allowing David to compete again for Rice this spring.Rice Athletic Hall of Fam