Charles Oliver, or Instructor O, will go down among the most decorated observe student-athletes in Troy history, nevertheless it isn’t just his occasion as a student-athlete that makes Oliver worthy of a place in the inaugural Troy University Sports Hallway of Fame type.
A true champion in every sense of the word, Oliver is a huge part of National Championships as a collegiate sportsperson, a coach, the website owner and as a n entrepreneur.
Oliver, who only started out running track as a senior at Jordans High School in Columbus, Ga., received a state championship that season in the 400-meter dash, but it was by way of a common acquaintance that they popped up on the radar of John Anderson, Troy State’s monitor and field coach at the time.
Sam Nader, your football coach with Jordan High School, realized Anderson from their days with Auburn University and instructed Anderson about a young monitor star in the creating at Jordan that has been worth taking a look at.
“I think during his freshman yr in Troy, Charlie ran the particular 400-meter in about 47 seconds,” said Anderson. “But the remaining, as they say, is historical past.”
Oliver won the 1976 NAIA National title in the 400-meter dash yet still holds the Troy school record in the event with a scorching time of 45.74 seconds. He also placed fifth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, tx, Texas, that time in the 440-yard dash.
“Records are supposed to be broken,” explained Anderson. “But I think Charlie’s record inside the 400-meter is going to sit for quite some time.”
Oliver was also a part of a new 4×400-meter relay team in which finished second on the 1973 NAIA Championships with a then-school record time of 3:09.9 minutes and a 4×100-meter relay team which set a then-school file of 41.2 seconds in 1976 in the Princeton Relays.
“Charlie had a wonderful attitude,” Anderson said. “That had been his key to success. He a great attitude anf the husband figured out how to manage fast and acquire. He was just in which plain and simple.”
After his or her career at Troy Point out, Oliver was ranked one of the top-10 in the country by Track & Field News in 1974, 1976 and 1980.
Oliver returned in order to Troy State in 1980 like a graduate assistant monitor and field instructor, and was referred to as the program’s head trainer a season later on. Before he remaining Troy State in ’88, Coach O’s teams earned seven Gulf South Conference track titles, Oliver was named Coach of the Year seven times and 26 sportsmen won All-America honors.
Mentor O’s success attracted the interest of the University of Tennessee where he was on the staffs that won National Finals as a track and field assistant instructor and as a member of the particular football event operations staff.
Oliver’s roots within Troy are still prominent right now as he currently holds the Coach O Cross Country Invitational and the Instructor O Track & Industry Invitational each year at Troy.
He is also a successful n entrepreneur, founding Bags through Coach O throughout 1989, and is heavily associated with supporting grassroots track and field programs for kids. Oliver is a member of your Theta Phi Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, where he was one of 20 brothers of the constitution line that brought the first black fraternity towards the Troy State campus.
Oliver now resides in Knoxville, Tenn., where he runs his or her Bags by Mentor O business. Oliver and his wife Jessie have a couple of sons, Charles lll and Alexander, a new daughter in law, Denise and a grandson, Kristian.
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