HUTCHINS, Dr. Robert ~ Graceland's Hall of Fame

HUTCHINS, WELDON, SHIRKY, HERTLEIN

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 8/26/2013 at 07:00:30

HALL of FAME

Dr. Robert Hutchins
Graceland University, Lamoni, Iowa

Dr. Robert HUTCHINS arrived at Graceland from Sycamore, Illinois in the fall of 1965, and by the time of his graduation in 1969, he owned thirteen records for track and field and was the high scorer for the decade for Yellowjacket football.

After limited playing time as a freshman, Dr. HUTCHINS began to produce with a vengeance starting in his sophomore year, increasing his statistics every year. As a sophomore, he rushed for 444 yards on 73 carries and five touchdowns in conference play, earning a 6.1 yards per carry average. As a junior, HUTCHINS rushed for 694 yards on 138 carries and six touchdowns. He was selected that year as first team All-Conference in the Missouri College Athletic Union. Dr. HUTCHINS exceeded even these impressive efforts during his senior campaign, however, with ten touchdowns and 785 rushing yards on 166 carries to rank 30th in the nation in rushing.

In track and field, Dr. HUTCHINS credits Hall of Fame coach L.D. WELDON for turning him into a standout in a wide variety of events. As of his graduation, HUTCHINS owned Graceland records in the 440 relay, 50-, 60-, 100-, and 220-yard dashes, as well as the indoor 330-yard and the 100 meter runs. Additionally, Dr. HUTHCINS held the record in both the indoor and outdoor iterations of the triple jump, high jump and long jump, and still owns the record for the outdoor version of the last at 24 feet, 4.5 inches. Because of his performance at the National Decathlon Championship, Dr. HUTCHINS was selected by the US Olympic Committee shortly after graduation to be one of ten decathletes to train for the Munich Olympics in 1972. Family difficulties forced HUTCHINS to abandon his Olympic dreams late in the summer of 1970.

While teaching, Dr. HUTCHINS spent the next two years also playing semi-professional football with the Racine Raiders of the Central States Football League. As starting tailback for all but five games of his tenure, Hutchins, in his second and last year, was the leading scorer in the league. Deciding to go to graduate school, Hutchins finally hung up his cleats for good in 1972.

An accomplished Karate fighter, Dr. HUTCHINS has black belts in Okinawan Shorei-Ryu and Yamashita Shorin-Ryu and competed under the auspices of the United States Karate Association throughout the 1970s. He excelled in competition, including a second place showing at the 1974 U.S.K.A. National Championship before retiring in 1978 after winning the Utah Quarterly Championship.

Since completing graduate school, Dr. HUTCHINS was selected teacher of the year in 1985 and was elected Region Coach of the Year for Track and Field in 1986.

He is currently teaching in West Columbia, South Carolina, where he has been residing with his wife, Audrey, for the past 20 plus years, and they have an 18 year old daughter, Kristen. Dr. HUTCHINS also has an older daughter, Michelle, from his first wife, Gale SHIRKY HUTCHINS (Graceland 1970), now deceased, who is the mother of two children, Emma Gale and John William HERTLEIN IV, who resides with her husband in Sherman Oaks, California.

Dr. Robert HUTCHINS was inducted into Graceland University's Hall of Fame in 2009.

SOURCE: gujackets.com/f/Hall_of_Fame.php

Submission by Sharon R. Becker, August of 2013