TRACK & FIELD AND CROSS COUNTRY
REUNION WEEKEND
FOR THE 1973 CROSS COUNTRY AND 1974 AND 1976 TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS!
May 3-5, 2019 Plus, for the first time ever, ENMU will be hosting the Lone Star Conference Track & Field Championship. Reunion details on page 13.
Two of our outstanding alumni hope to return for this exciting weekend!
Alumni Spotlight: Olympic Competitors and Greyound Hall of Honors Inductees Rex Maddaford and Mike Boit Mike Boit (BS 76) (pictured left) led the Greyhounds to several
New Zealander Rex Maddaford (BBE 73) (pictured right)
NAIA cross-country titles in 1973-74, and he was the individual
competed in two 1968 Olympic events in Mexico City, where he
champion in 1974 and 1975. He represented Kenya in the 1972
placed 10th in the 5,000 meters (14:39.8) and 12th in the 10,000
Olympics in Munich, where he won a bronze medal in the
meters (30:17.2). Later, while he was competing in a meet in
800-meter run and placed fourth in the 1,500. He was recruited
Los Angeles, Rex was recruited by former ENMU cross-country
to ENMU by Coach Bill Silverberg who told him that eastern New
coach Bill Silverberg.
Mexico was the closest thing to Kenya in the U.S., and that he wouldn’t get swallowed up at a small university like ENMU.
“I’d turned down 16-18 scholarship offers when I got out of high school,” Maddaford admits. “I just enjoyed being young and silly
“I felt so much at home and quickly felt part of the friendly
and traveling around the world to run, but when Coach Silverberg
Portales community,” Boit said about choosing ENMU over other
came out to talk to a friend of mine, Olympic discus thrower
universities including Villanova and Colorado.
Robin Tait, I was also very impressed.”
“Training at ENMU enabled me to be the number one ranked
Maddaford was one of ENMU’s top performers in track &
800-meter athlete in the world in 1975,” Boit explained. “Although
field and cross-country before graduating with a degree in
I couldn’t pursue my dream for an Olympic gold medal at the
communication and physical education. He was a multi-time All-
1976 Montreal Olympics because of the boycott by the African
American in both sports, and from 1969-71 he won five national
nations, I did set an African record for the 800-meter run that
championships. He also won the 1971 national title for the two-
same year as a senior at Eastern.”
mile run and was subsequently named the NAIA’s top athlete.
Boit currently works at Kenyatta University in Nairobi City, where
After graduating, Rex taught at Tucumcari Municipal Schools
he has taught since returning to Kenya in 1987. He has served as
for 31 years. He and his wife still reside in Tucumcari, where Rex
commissioner for the Kenyan Department of Sports, and founded
manages the Tucumcari Municipal Golf Course.
the Kenya Scholar-Athlete Project to help promising students gain financial aid admission to top North American universities.
“If you look at any photo of me and Mike winning national championships, we’re wearing ENMU colors and letters. It doesn’t matter that I’m from New Zealand and Mike is from Kenya. We were proud to be Greyhounds and that’s who we were representing.”–Rex Maddaford 8
Green & Silver | April 2019
