Pioneer. International star. The First Lady of American distance running.
All of these titles belong to Doris Brown Heritage, a fixture at Seattle Pacific for 37 years. She continues to guide the Falcons of today as head cross country coach and assistant in track and field.
Winner of five straight international cross country titles from 1967-71, she became, in 1970, the first Seattle Pacific athlete to be voted the Post-Intelligencer’s Seattle Sports Star of the Year. Heritage was an Olympian twice – the 800 meters in 1968, and the 1,500 meters in 1972 – and at one time owned every world and American record for women from the 440 to the mile.
Her legacy on the world stage is championships and records. At SPU, it is that plus the character and skill she has shared with countless young men and women in track, cross country – and life. Heritage and her middle distance runners were the top of the spear that brought national athletic prominence to Seattle Pacific.
Among her honors are membership in six national halls of fame. It is fitting that, like the rest of her career, Heritage leads as a charter member of the Falcon Legends Hall of Fame.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS (1960-2007)
• International cross country champion, 1967-71.
• Pan American Games silver medalist, 1967 and 1971.
• U.S. Olympic team, 1968 and 1972.
• 14 national championshps and owner of national and world records from 440 to the mile.
• AAU Athlete of the Year in 1969.
• P-I Seattle Sports Star of the Year in 1970.
• Election to the National Distance Running and the U.S. Track and Field Halls of Fame, the latter as both coach and athlete.
