It is not every year that an athlete like Doug Brown comes along. The track star was “Mr. Everything” in distance running at the University of Tennessee. During his collegiate career, Brown, who was the number-one-ranked steeplechaser in the U.S., held every distance record in Tennessee annals and was All-American four consecutive years (1971 to 1974) in three different events (six mile, steeplechase and cross-country). Brown was also the first Tennessee track man to be on a United States Olympic team. Brown’s accomplishments when he was a Volunteer were remarkable. He was SEC Cross Country Champion in 1972 and 1973 and was second in the NCAA in 1972. In the indoor two-mile event, Brown was SEC champion in 1973 and runner-up in 1971 and 1972 and was sixth-place finisher in the 1973 NCAA. Outdoors, in 1973 and 1974, Brown set the SEC distance record by winning the three-mile, six-mile, and steeplechase, and in NCAA competition, he was the steeplechase champion in 1973 and 1974. He held many UT records, including the two-mile (8:39.8), three-mile (13:27.4), 5000-meter (14:10.5), six-mile (27:51.6), 10,000-meter (29:36.7), and steeplechase (8:23.2). In recognition of his excellence, Brown was awarded the first-ever Tony Wilson Memorial Trophy at UT, given each year to the most outstanding athlete in both the running events and the field events.
