Saluki Hall of Famer Ross MacKenzie Passes Away
06/25/2002 | 12:00:00 | Track and Field
June 25, 2002
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Former Southern Illinois University men's track and field star Ross MacKenzie died of a heart attack at his home in Balmoral, Manitoba, Canada. The SIU Hall of Famer was 56 years old.
MacKenzie was a member of former SIU coach Lew Hartzog's powerful track and field teams in the late 1960's. A varsity letterman in track from 1966-1968, he was voted in the SIU Hall of Fame in 1997.
Considered to be one of SIU's greatest runners he earned All-American status his sophomore year as a member of the SIU 4X400 team that placed in the NCAA Championship meet. His junior year he qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 440 yard dash and just missed advancing to the finals in that event. His senior year, he again qualified for the NCAA's in the 440 yard dash in both the indoor and outdoor meets. He placed second in the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 440 yard dash , earning him All-American honors for the second time in his career.
The highlight of his running career came in 1968, when he represented his native country Canada in the 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympics. He was a member of the Canadian 4x400 relay team at the Olympics. He ran a career best 45.10 in the 440 yard dash, just missing the qualifying time for the Olympic finals.
He currently is ranked 5th all-time in the outdoor 400 meter (46.34) and 6th all-time in the indoor 400 meter (47.86) in Saluki track and field history.
He was an assistant coach under Hartzog at SIU, until deciding to return to Canada to help the family business. He kept in contact with Hartzog at his home in Silver City, New Mexico and they met annually to go birdhunting.
" He was a well respected and very likable person. He loved SIU and the opportunities it gave him to live out his dreams," said Cornell, who was a teammate of MacKenzie's at SIU.
He is survived by his wife Lois, two daughters Sherry and Rochelle and his mother Vivian.