GREGG SAWYER

Hometown:  Burns, Wyoming
Sport:  Men's basketball/track & field
Years:  1994-99

Sawyer, an all-Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball player and track & field champion, is one of the greatest two-sport athletes in UW history. On the hardwood, the gritty guard from Burns was a team captain for Larry Shyatt during the 1997-98 season when he averaged 14.4 points and was on the all-WAC defensive team while leading the Cowboys to the NIT. UW defeated No. 12 New Mexico, No. 5 Utah and BYU at home and Front Range rivals Colorado and Colorado State on the road during Sawyer’s senior season. He was also named the most valuable player of the Cowboy Shootout and was an academic All-American. Sawyer, who was recruited by North Carolina, Stanford and Texas for track & field, won the pentathlon at the WAC Indoor Track & Field Championships and the decathlon at the WAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 1999. His 3,981 points in the pentathlon set the UW and WAC records. His 7,025 points in the decathlon ranks second in UW history behind Jay Novacek (7,762 points, 1984). Sawyer still owns the school record in the indoor pole vault (17-0 3/4, 1999) and is second all-time in the outdoor pole vault (16-6). He was also the leadoff man for the 4×400 meter relay team that posted the six-fastest time (3:12.04) in program history. An injury in qualifying prevented Sawyer from competing at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2000.