University of Tennessee Athletics
Former Track Vol Preyor Passes Away
August 30, 2007 | Men's Track
Lamar Preyor, who lettered for the Vols from 1976-78 and in 1980, died Wednesday night at the age of 50 in his home in Cincinnati.
As a freshman, Preyor ran the first leg of Tennessee???s 1976 NCAA champion mile relay that also included Mike Barlow, Ronnie Harris and Jerome Morgan. During the outdoor season of that same year, the quartet teamed up again to take second place in the 4x400 relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with Preyor running the third leg. In 1977 the quartet finished first at the SECOutdoor Championships and placed third at the NCAAOutdoor Championships in the 4x400 relay.
???This news is really sad,??? former head coach Stan Huntsman said. ???Lamar was a great runner here. He was a fine person and athlete. He was always seen with a smile and was an ideal student-athlete. He will definitely be missed by all of his teammates.???
In 1980, after a leg injury forced him to miss both of the 1979 seasons, Preyor ran the third leg on the Vols distance medley relay team and finished second with Solomon Hunter, Sam James and Keith Young at the NCAA Indoor Championships. During the 1980 outdoor season, Preyor won his second national title as he teamed with Al Horne, Darryal Wilson and Anthony Blair and ran the third leg on Tennessee???s 4x400 relay team.
Preyor, Harris and Morgan added anchorman Reggie Jones in the 4x220 yd. relay and set Tennessee???s school record in the event with a 1:21.7 clocking in 1976. The quartet recorded a time of 1:21.5 in the 4x200 relay, which was at the time a world record, while winning the event at the 1976 Penn Relays.
Preyor finished his UT career with five All-America certificates and helped lead Tennessee to three SEC championships. After finishing seventh in the 200 at the 1976 Olympic Trials, he recorded a time of 21.14 in the first round at the 1980 Olympic Trials. He came to The Hill the same year as current UT head cross country and assistant head track coach George Watts.
