George Phineas GUTHRIE

In 1925 George Guthrie won the AAU high hurdles and finished second in the event at the NCAAs, winning that event the following year. He was AAU indoor high hurdle champion in 1925-26. He competed for Ohio State and the Illinois AC. Because of family circumstances, Guthrie had to withdraw from college and was then briefly Ohio State freshman track coach before joining the 37th Division of the Ohio National Guard.

In 1941, with the outbreak of World War II, he joined the Army and was in charge of an artillery battalion on the Solomon Islands. Awarded a Bronze Star, he also served in the Korean War, and eventually reached the rank of colonel. After his military career Guthrie worked for a short time for the Kroger Company, and was an architect for the State of Ohio responsible for designing a number of National Guard Armories that are still in use today. He is a member of the Elyria Sports Hall of Fame (1976), the Ohio State University Athletic Hall of Fame (1983), and the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame (1981).