Don Gray, coach and masters vaulter passes away

[master]

http://souraiders.com/news/2010/1/20/TRK_0120101834.aspx (photo on this link)

Don Gray Passes Away

1/20/2010 10:16:57 AM
Longtime Southern Oregon track and field assistant coach Don Gray passed away yesterday afternoon at Providence Medical Center in Medford.

A memorial will take place this Saturday, Jan. 23 at Raider Stadium at 1 p.m.

Gray was in his 16th season as a volunteer assistant coach for the Raiders. Known for coaching the pole vault, Gray also coached the throwing events and the multis during his career.

During his career, Gray coached pole vaulters Robbie Johnston (2005) and Ryan Musselman (2008) to NAIA National Championships and also coached numerous NAIA All-Americans, Cascade Conference Champions and SOU recordholders.

A retired Xerox executive and former master’s competitor, Gray won the 1993 national champion in the pole vault and finished second in the 1998 national indoor event. Gray also won the 1995 Oregon Invitational decathlon.

[baggettpv]

Don will be missed by MANY people. Myself in particular. He was a great friend!

Rick Baggett
WSTC

[vaultwest]

I would like to second Rick's thoughts. I too will miss my very good friend, Don Gray. I just talked to him a couple of weeks ago and he told me he was doing fine, not sure if he was just being stoic or if he did not know how sick he was. He had fought a courageous battle with cancer the last few years and seemed to have beaten it so I was very surprised at this horrible news. We talked about our vaulters and shared ideas as we always did. I will miss those calls and seeing Don at meets this spring. Great guy and a wonderful coach that really helped a lot of us over the years.
Vault On