NCAA champion. AAU champ. World-record holder. Three-time All-American. Sub four-minute miler. U.S. Olympic team member. There are few goals he did not accomplish as a Duck. For most runners, any one of those would be the highlight of a lifetime. For Bell, those achievements seemed natural. An explosive finisher at 800 meters and 880 yards, Wade was one of the world’s best. He also won points — plus All-America ranking — at three consecutive NCAA championship meets.

Bell ran 1:47.6 to win the 1967 NCAA 880 yard run. He dropped a half-second from that mark to claim the gold medal at the ’67 AAU meet. That same year, Wade set American records at both 1000 yards and 1000 meters. In ’68, he ran on the world-record setting four-mile relay quartet. He earned a ticket to the 1968 Mexico City Olympics in the 800 meter run. Wade has been one of the program’s most active and staunch supporters ever since.