Roscoe Cook, Jr. (March 2, 1939 – December 30, 2011) was an educator and held three

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

s in

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. Cook attended

San Diego High San Diego High School (SDHS) is an urban public high school located on the southern edge of Balboa Park, in San Diego, California, United States. It is the oldest high school in the San Diego Unified School District, one of the oldest public sch ...

, where he set numerous track and field records and was a member of the school's 1955 national championship

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team. He attended the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

, where he was a member of the Oregon Ducks track and field team. In 1959 at

Modesto Junior College Modesto Junior College (MJC) is a public community college in Modesto, California. It is part of Yosemite Community College District along with Columbia College. MJC, and Columbia College, belong to the California Community College system al ...

Cook tied the world record in the 100 yards at 9.3 seconds, and in the process beat

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

Champion

Bobby Morrow Bobby Joe Morrow (October 15, 1935May 30, 2020) was an American sprinter who won three gold medals at the 1956 Olympics. He has been called "the dominant sprinter of the 1950s" and "the most relaxed sprinter of all time, even more so than his ...

and

Ray Norton Otis Ray Norton (born September 22, 1937 in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is a former American sprinter who competed in the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Track career After graduating high school in 1955, Norton initially went to Oakland City College staying fo ...

, who had previously run a 9.3. He also twice tied the world record of 6.0 seconds in the 60 yards in 1959 and 1960. In 1959 Cook was the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

champion at 100 yards (9.5 seconds) and

220 yards The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightly ...

(21.0 seconds), and earned named an All-American for the

100 yards 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit (measurement), unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment ...

at the NCAA Championships. In 1961 Cook won the 60-yard dash with a time of 6.1 seconds at the Los Angeles Invitational indoor meet. That same year Cook earned a second All-America certificate for his fourth-place NCAA showing in the 100 yards (9.6 seconds). In addition to his track accomplishments, Cook was a member of the 1959

Oregon Ducks football The Oregon Ducks football program is a college football team for the University of Oregon, located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The team competes at the NCAA Division I level in the FBS and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12). Although ...

team. Cook graduated from Oregon with a degree in

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

, and later went on to obtain an M.A. and Ph.D in education from the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

. He worked for 30 years in Los Angeles County School districts. In 2010 Cook was one of five individuals inducted into the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame. In 1982 Cook married Christine Pugh. Roscoe Cook died on December 30, 2011. He was survived by his wife, Christine V. Cook; six sisters, Sandra Kay Darden, Elaine McFadden, Rita Cook, Hanna Cook, Deborah Brown, and Jettiev Manning; and numerous nieces and nephews.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Roscoe 1939 births 2011 deaths World record setters in athletics (track and field) People from El Centro, California Sportspeople from Imperial County, California American male sprinters African-American educators Educators from California Oregon Ducks men's track and field athletes University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education alumni 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American educators San Diego High School alumni