Kansas Track & FIeld Mourns Passing of Bill Dotson

LAWRENCE, Kan. –  The Kansas track & field program is mourning the loss of former letterwinner Bill Dotson, a two-time All-American and five-time conference champion.

He was 80.

“We are saddened to hear of Bill Dotson’s passing,” Head Coach Stanley Redwine said. “Bill was an extraordinary person and athlete and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.”

Dotson, born December 27, 1940, was an All-American for the Jayhawks during the 1961 and 1962 seasons in the one-mile run. He won five Big Eight Conference track titles, including three indoor titles and two outdoor titles as a Jayhawk.

Dotson, a 1962 Kansas graduate, also won the Big Eight Conference titles in cross country in 1961.

Throughout his career, Dotson set three American records in the mile, while he was also the fourth man in the world to run a mile in under four minutes on an indoor track at the 1963 Chicago Daily News Invitational. He was also the seventh athlete in the United States to break the four-minute mile barrier, running a time of 3:59.0 in 1962.

Dotson was selected to the Kansas Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.