Former Track and Field Legend Meg Ritchie Inducted into USTFCCCA Collegiate Hall of Fame

TUCSON, Ariz. - Former Wildcat thrower and current collegiate discus record holder Meg Ritchie was inducted into the USTFCCCA Collegiate Hall of Fame. She was the only female athlete in collegiate sports to break and hold both the shot put and discus collegiate records at the same time. 

Ritchie broke the College Record a total of 17 times – 11 times in the shot (nine of them coming in outdoors) and six times in the discus. By the time she completed her eligibility at Arizona, she had added more than seven feet to the college shot put record with a throw of 18.99m (62'-3.75") and over 22 feet to the discus record with a final distance of 67.48m (221'-5").

It took a total of 34 years to surpass her collegiate record in the shot put, but her discus record is still unbroken today. Ritchie won a total of seven national collegiate titles (combining AIAW and NCAA meets). As a Wildcat, Ritchie became the first collegiate woman to surpass 200 feet for discus in the spring of 1980 and later in the spring she added her first college record in the shot put.

A two-time Olympian in 1980 and 1984 for Great Britain, the thrower still holds the outdoor school record for the shot put and the discus, along with the freshman record for the discus. She is the only Wildcat in history to be an outdoor All-American in two different events (shot put and discus) for four straight years.