Founding CSUB track and field coach Charlie Craig is CSUB’s third inaugural Hall of Fame inductee

Charles “Charlie” Craig, who came to Cal State Bakersfield in 1971 and built the track and field program from scratch, developing a wealth of talented student-athletes in 31 seasons, was revealed on Wednesday night as the third member of the inaugural class of CSUB Athletics Hall of Fame in 2025.

A former standout sprinter and jumper at Fresno State who competed in the 1964 and 1968 Olympic Trials finals in the triple jump, Craig’s coaching career started soon after as an assistant at Cal Berkeley.

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Upon his arrival at CSUB, he was first hired as the university’s educational opportunity program director. In 1972, Craig started CSUB’s track program from the ground up — 10 athletes were on his initial team. He went on to coach 195 NCAA Division II All-Americans, 18 NCAA Division II national champions and two Olympic qualifiers.

In 2002, Craig was named NCAA Division II Track and Field Coach of the Year. He retired in 2004.

Craig’s success was recognized as his coaching skills paved the way for working with U.S. National Track and Field program. He was the USA Track and Field assistant coach for the 1991 world championships and at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Acknowledging his contributions to the sport, Craig was elected to the United States Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2008.

Locally, Craig is a 1991 Bob Elias Kern County Sports Hall of Fame inductee.

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Craig joins two previously announced inaugural hall of fame inductees, three-time NCAA Division II female swimmer of the year Loni (Burton) Vander Kooi (2003-05), and CSUB’s founding athletics director Rudy Carvajal, who served in his role for 38 years (1972-2010).

Each night this week, through Friday, CSUB’s newest inductees are being unveiled first on the 6 p.m. KBAK and 10 p.m. KBFX newscasts by Sports Director Greg Kerr.

A formal induction ceremony will take place on Saturday, Oct. 25 in CSUB’s Icardo Center for the entire five-member class. Tickets are available online. For more information, contact CSUB Associate Athletics Director for Development Sarah Tuohy at stuohy@csub.edu