Missouri State

GEORGE SIMPSON
Football and Track, 1955-57
Inducted February 28, 1987

George Simpson was an outstanding hurdler for the Missouri State track team in a Bruin career which began in 1955 when he transferred to MSU following two years at the University of Missouri. A native of Columbia, Missouri, Simpson played football one year at MSU as a halfback and defensive back and concentrated on track throughout his athletic career. He was the dominant hurdler in the MIAA for three seasons, winning the MIAA 60-yard high hurdles race in the league indoor meet three years in a row and captured first on two occasions and second once in the MIAA indoor 60-yard low hurdles. He set conference records in the low hurdle race each of his last two years. In the league outdoor competition, he won the 120-yard high hurdle championship as a sophomore and junior and finished second his senior year while placing second once and taking first twice in the MIAA 220-yard low hurdle race. Simpson served as the Bears co-captain in track as both a junior and senior under Coach Aldo Sebben and went on to place fifth in the high hurdles in the Kansas Relays as a senior. Simpson received the Virgil Cheek Athletic Achievement Award upon his graduation from MSU in 1957 and spent two years as an Army officer, returning to the MSU physical education staff in 1962. He was an assistant football coach under both Sebben and Orville Pottenger for several seasons in the early 1960s, assisted Sebben in track a number of years and was a co-coach on the MSU women's track team from 1971 to 1975.