Endowed Scholarship Fund - Track

WALTER B. CORMACK MEMORIAL TRACK SCHOLARSHIP
Represented by Mr. Benjamin L. Angle III '55 of Rocky Mount, Virginia.

Coach Walter B. Cormack

The Walter B. Cormack Memorial Track Scholarship was established in 1975 to honor VMI's third track and field coach, and one of its best, by Benjamin L. Angle III '55.

Cormack came to VMI from Johns Hopkins University in 1949 as a geology professor and cross country coach. He took over as head coach of the program in the fall of 1951.

From 1951-65 his teams won 13 Big Six and state indoor championships,  seven conference indoor crowns, six state outdoor titles and two confer-ence outdoor championships. His 1954 and 1955 teams won both the state and conference championships, indoor and out.

In 1952 neighbor Washington & Lee University found itself without a coach and Cormack stepped in for them, and coached both the VMI and W&L teams.

He transformed the VMI Fieldhouse from a riding arena to a track and started the Winter Relays in 1952, an event that became one of the East Coast's premier track meets.

The Virginia Association of the U.S. Track and Field Federation

established an award in Cormack's honor in 1968. In 1973, the Virginia Intercollegiate Track and Field Coaches established the Walter Cormack Track and Field Award, presented annually to the person who does the most to serve and promote track and field in the state.

From 1928-42 he served as a captain in the US Marine Corps Reserves.

Angle was one of Cormack's most versatile runners. No athlete was responsible for more points in the Grand Slam years of 1954 and 1955. He won the half mile, the mile and ran the 440 anchor leg on the record-setting mile relay team  in 1954, and won the 880 and mile at the conference indoor meet. He repeated his three-gold medal performance at the state and conference championships that year. He had similar success in his first class year, including a 880-run of 1:52.7, 3.5 seconds better than the 1936 state mark.

(Taken from The Corps Roots The Loudest by Col. Thomas W. Davis '64.)

Cadet Taili Evans '09, VMI Men's Track is recognized in the name of
the Walter B. Cormack Memorial Scholarship in 2007-08.