Tony Waldrop

Waldrop was born in Columbus, North Carolina. In high school, he was the state champion in the half mile. Waldrop attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) where he was a Morehead-Cain Scholar and served on the track team. He graduated in 1974 with a B.A. in political science as a Top Five NCAA Student Athlete. In 1980, he received a MA in physical education from UNC, followed by a Ph.D. in cellular and molecular physiology in 1981. He received postdoctoral training at the Harry S. Moss Heart Center at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. == Track Career ==

When he was a freshman member of UNC's track team, he had never run more than seven miles in one session. He was on the cover ofTrack and Field News in both March and May 1974; the latter feature him at the Penn Relays. In 1975, he became the assistant track coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Waldrop said, "It was a really easy decision to decide to hang up the shoes and get on with the rest of my life. I never regretted the decision [to retire during the Olympic year], maybe there were one or two seconds of momentarily regret when I watched the 1500m at the Olympics... I accomplished a lot more in track than I ever imagined I would. There were a lot more things I wanted to do with my life…" Waldrop went to the U.S. Olympic trials in 1972—he said the pressure was so great that it wasn't fun. As a result, making the Olympic team after college was "never an overwhelming goal." == Academic career ==

From 1982 to 1986, Waldrop was a research fellow at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. In 2014, he became the third president of the University of South Alabama. == Personal life and death ==

Waldrop married Julee Briscoe of Chapel Hill, the daughter of Vic Briscoe who was a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor of physics. == Awards and honors ==

• North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame • ACC Athlete of the Year, 1974 • Patterson Medal, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ==References==

• Track and Field Statistics for Tony Waldrop