Bob Pollock, the coach of Appalachian State's track-and-field program from 1974 through 1988, died Saturday at age 60.
Pollock, who lived in Seneca, S.C., and had been battling lung cancer, led the Mountaineers to five outdoor and five indoor Southern Conference championships.
He coached three All-Americas, and eight of his ASU athletes advanced to NCAA championships. He was named the coach of the year in the Southern Conference five times. He left ASU to become the coach at Clemson, and he was inducted into the ASU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1996.
John Weaver, the director of ASU's track-and-field and cross-country program who has been at ASU for 27 seasons, was an assistant to Pollock and kept in touch with him through the years.
Weaver said that Pollock was a great competitor and tireless worker.
"He was totally committed to his profession," Weaver said. "He was a very fair man, always a good influence to those around him. I was blessed to be able to learn from him, and drew from him on how to get athletes prepared to compete and be the best they could be at this level.
"He was always very helpful to me and just a great resource in terms of me developing my program."
At Clemson, Pollock coached his track-and-field teams to 21 ACC titles. He retired in 2008.
Fourteen of Pollock's athletes at Clemson went on to compete in the Olympics, including Shawn Crawford, who won a gold medal in the 200 meters in 2004, and Carlton Chambers, a member of Canada's gold-medal winning 4x100-meter relay team in 1996.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Mark's Methodist Church in Seneca, S.C. Visitation will be at 6 p.m. Thursday.
tbowman@wsjournal.com
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