October 26, 2000

LOS ANGELES -- Vern Wolfe, who guided USC to seven men's NCAA championships during his 22 years as coach, died yesterday in Fallbrook, the school said.

He was 78.

Wolfe, who had Parkinson's disease, died from complications of a broken hip he suffered in a recent fall.

"He was one of the greatest track coaches in the history of the sport," said Ron Allice, the coach of USC's men's and women's track teams the past six years. "If you asked anybody about Vern Wolfe, he was always a class act."

A USC pole vaulter in the late 1940s, Wolfe was one of the first proponents of weight conditioning as a training device. He began his coaching career at Torrance High in 1952 and spent 1955-60 at North Phoenix (Ariz.) High, where he produced national record holders in the pole vault, shot put and discus.

He coached undefeated teams at San Jose State in 1961 and Foothill Junior College in Los Altos in 1962.

Wolfe was USC's coach from 1963 to '84. His teams won seven NCAA indoor or outdoor titles between 1963 and 1972. In 13 of Wolfe's 22 years, the Trojans placed among the top four teams in the NCAA meet.

He was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1996.

The men's locker room of USC's track and field stadium will be named for Wolfe.

He remained an active pole vaulter throughout his life, winning his age group at the 1979 National Senior Olympics and was second at the 1981 world veterans meet.

He is survived by his wife, Marilyn, sons Corey and Dean, and granddaughter Amanda.





Copyright 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.