Charles “Chick” Hislop fostered success in sports and life

Corbin Talley, WSU Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country head coach

Running at Weber State for Chick Hislop was truly one of the most impactful experiences of my life, not just because I was able to learn from a legendary coach, but because of the culture and environment that he created within our track and field and cross country programs.

When I received word that Coach passed away on Feb. 22, 2023, at age 86, other than sadness for Coach and his family, I felt gratitude for the lessons he taught me and the time I was able to spend with him - particularly in the past few years in my role as coach here at Weber State.

Prior to becoming the longest-tenured coach in any sport in Big Sky Conference history, mentoring Wildcats from 1969-2006, Coach Hislop spent a decade as track and field coach at Ben Lomond High School. He also ran track as a student at the high school, graduating in 1955, and spent two years on the Weber Junior College track team, where he became a Junior College All-American in the two-mile run and finished fifth in the national championships. He graduated from Weber in 1957 and transferred to Utah State. As a coach, he helped students find their own success. 

He coached 26 WSU athletes to All­-American honors in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. Two of his runners, Farley Gerber and Charles Clinger, won NCAA individual championships. And five of his runners broke four minutes in the mile. He also led the Wildcats to nine Big Sky Conference titles. In 1973, Hislop became head wrestling coach, a position he held for five years.

While Coach left a legacy of championships, victories, impressive marks on the track, and All-Americans, the real impact was in the creation and development of character. 

We worked incredibly hard in practice, and we laid it on the line in races. We competed with heart, passion and grit, because he taught us to run through a wall for our teammates, and we wanted to show him how tough we were — we wanted him to be proud of us. He taught us to trust. He taught us to work. He taught us to dig deeper than we thought possible. Weber State distance running was synonymous with teamwork, intelligent racing and tenacious performances.

He demanded a lot from each of us, but he also had a way of making sure we knew we were important to him on and off the track. Some of my fondest memories with Coach were at our summer cross country camps. We would sit around the fire listening to Coach talk about legendary past teams and runners, he would school us in the game of hearts (his favorite card game), and we would get him laughing over the silliest of jokes and stories. What I remember most about the camps, and even the daily routine with Coach, was the amount of hard work he would get us to do. The miles, the hills, the repeats, the tempo runs, all of it in order to make us hardened, fit distance runners.

Now that I am back at Weber State as a coach, I still want to make him proud.

Although he encouraged me to be patient in this role, these are not easy shoes to fill.

I am grateful for the regular interactions I was able to have with Coach over the past six years. He loved hearing about how my athletes were doing — their latest races, workouts and development. He loved talking about the potential high school recruits. And he loved imparting wisdom and coaching advice right to the end. I am already greatly missing his guidance. When we have outstanding performances, I find myself wanting to call and share them with Coach. When I am discouraged and need help figuring out a problem, he is still the first person I wish I could reach out to. He has remained my coach for the past 28 years, and the personal influence he has had on me will last my entire career. 

Memories of Coach Hislop

Do you have memories of Chick Hislop you’d like to share? Write to magazine@weber.edu.

Donate to Weber State Track and Field

Donations in Hislop’s honor may be made to the Men’s Track and Field Quasi Endowment. Leave a note regarding the dedication in our online donation form at give.weber.edu.