University of Minnesota Athletics
Fred Watson - M Club Hall of Fame
Fred O. Watson
Men’s Cross Country, 1913-15
Men’s Track & Field, 1914-16
HOF Class of 2005
Fred Watson, the first dominant long-distance runner at the U of M, was the first Minnesota and Big Nine Conference runner to capture the league’s individual cross country championship in three consecutive years, 1913 to 1915.
He was the only one to do it, in fact, for 56 years, until matched by fellow Minnesotan and Hall of Fame member Garry Bjorklund.
Watson won every cross country race in which he competed and bettered the league record each year, finishing with a best time of 25:42:2 in 1915.
In 1914, his strong running and leadership as captain helped Minnesota capture its second Big Nine Championship. Nearly a century later, Watson remained one of just four U of M athletes to win a conference Cross Country Championship. He set a number of school and conference track records in the mile and two mile events. One stood for 30 years.
The Gophers honor his memory with the Fred O. Watson award for the team’s most valuable cross country runner. One of the founders of the “M” Club, Watson was inducted into the USATF Minnesota Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2002.