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Every Thursday, FullertonTitans.com will feature a member of the 2015 Cal State Fullerton Athletics Hall of Fame class, the sixth in its history. Today, the focus is on legendary Titans cross-country and track student-athlete Mark Covert, who gained national notoriety for his accomplishments on and off the track.
Since 2012, Cal State Fullerton's flagship cross-country event has been named for perhaps the greatest competitor in the history of the program.
Mark Covert graduated from Burbank High School in 1968 and spent two seasons at L.A. Valley College before hitting the track for the Titans. In 1970, his first season at Fullerton, Covert won the NCAA Division II Individual Cross-Country title while leading the team to a second-place overall finish behind champion Eastern Michigan.
One year later, Covert and the Titans would finish second to no one as the team claimed the NCAA Div. II title. It was a great individual season for Covert as well, earning All-America honors in both the three-mile and six-mile category.
In 1972, Covert competed at the U.S. Olympic Marathon trials. He would place seventh after posting a time of 2:23.35. Covert would go on to earn his bachelor's degree from Fullerton in 1973 and eventually obtained a masters degree from Cal Lutheran in 1979.
Online Registration for Hall of Fame
Along with his accomplishments in competition, Covert gained national notoriety by running at least one mile every day for 45 years, which has been certified by the U.S. Running Streak Association as the longest streak in United States history and is believed to be the second longest streak in the world.
Covert's streak began on July 23, 1968 when he was 17 and covered more than 140,000 miles in that span. On July 23, 2013, Covert ended his streak due to a nagging right foot injury after 16,437 consecutive days. His story was covered extensively in the media including a story on ESPN.com.
Covert currently serves as the Cross Country and Track and Field head coach at Antelope Valley College, a position he has held since 1990. In his time there, Covert has coached nine conference champions and a state champion in cross country along with three conference title holders and nine state champions in track.
The sixth class of the Cal State Fullerton Athletics Hall of Fame will be inducted on Oct. 15 at the Phoenix Club in Anaheim with a cocktail hour beginning at 6 p.m.
Individual tickets are $90 with tables of 10 for $800. Online Registration for Hall of Fame.
For more information, contact Marcela Lucero at (657) 278-7016 or malucero@fullerton.edu.
Next week's spotlight: Paul Folino (visionary of the golf program and philanthropist
