Olympic and Paralympic Greats Who Got Their Start at Idaho State University

Idaho State University celebrates this milestone anniversary in 2026, and along the way, hundreds of Bengals have shown impressive athleticism during their time at ISU and beyond. Many have seen success as contenders on their way to the Olympic or Paralympic games, inspired by the few who landed a spot on the Olympic team or even on the  podium before them, all having gotten their start as a Bengal. Among this elite group are eight standouts who took their athletic prowess to the top of their sport and achieved the highest honor: representing Idaho State and the United States as Olympians or Paralympians.

Hayes (Ed) Sanders

Hayes “Big Ed” Sanders was America’s first black heavyweight boxing Olympic Gold Medalist and Idaho State’s first Olympic gold medal winner. Sanders came to ISU to join the boxing and football teams, quickly making his mark by knocking out the Pacific Coast Heavyweight Champion in his first collegiate fight. While at ISU, he never lost a match in a dual meet and he claimed the title of NCSS Junior Champion two years in a row, and undefeated NCAA champ. In 1950, Sanders was drafted into the Navy, thus ending his time at ISU, but he continued to box. The pinnacle moment of his career was the 1952 Olympics, where he claimed the gold by defeating future world heavyweight champ Ingemar Johansson in the heavyweight finals. Johansson, leery of Sanders’ powerful punches, refused to fight and was disqualified. Sanders turned pro in 1953 and had nine professional fights. The last one, on December 12, 1954, ended in the 11th round with Sanders suffering from bleeding on the brain and succumbing at age 24. 

Ellsworth “Spider” Webb

Ellsworth, or “Spider” Webb played football and boxed for ISU from 1952-1954. He was one of just four Idaho State College (later Idaho State University) boxers to represent the U.S. in the Olympics. He boxed as a light middleweight in the 1952 Helsinki, Finland, Olympics and had a distinguished career as a professional boxer. He was a two-time NCAA 156-pound champion in 1952-1953, Pacific Coast champion at that weight in those years and Intermountain Intercollegiate Tournament champ in 1952. As a pro, he was a top-ranked middleweight contender who fought Gene Fuller for the National Boxing Association’s middleweight title in 1959, losing by decision. He also split two fights with world champion Dick Tiger and had wins over Joey Giardello, Rory Calhoun, Randy Sandy and other notables. Webb had a career professional record of 34 wins and losses with 19 wins by knockout. 

Roger Rouse

Rouse attended Idaho State first on a football, then boxing scholarship from 1955-1957. A horse fell on him, injuring his ankle and he said if his ankle was broken he would become the world's champion bronc rider, even purchasing a $25 hat and spurs, according to sources. As it happened, his ankle was only sprained and Rouse was twice NCAA 165-pound boxing champion and a member of the 1956 Olympic team; he lost a split decision to Gilbert Chapron of France in the quarterfinal round. One of the most decorated members of the outstanding Idaho State College boxing teams in the 1950s, Rouse lost only one match in his three-year boxing career at ISC. He won two national championships at 165 pounds, and was named the outstanding boxer in the 1957 NCAA tournament, which saw ISC win its second national title. 

Tom O’Riordian 

O’Riordan is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Hall of Fame. He was the NAIA cross country champion in 1960 and in 1961 was the NAIA’s first-ever 3000-meter steeplechase champion. O’Riordan won numerous Rocky Mountain Conference championships in track as a distance runner and in cross country. He returned to Ireland after graduation from Idaho State College in 1961 and represented Ireland in the 1964 Olympics. He served as coach of Ireland’s national cross country team and was sports editor of Dublin’s Irish Independent newspaper.

Amber Welty Cnossen 

The most dominant high jumper in Big Sky Conference history, Welty Cnossen won the conference high jump championship three times (1987, 1988 and 1990), and captured the NCAA national championship with a career best leap of 1.92 meters in 1988. She also finished second (1989) and third (1987) in the NCAA championships. She finished second in the 1992 U.S. Championships, which also served as the Olympic qualifier that year, and competed in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, where she finished 27th. Welty Cnossen still holds the Big Sky Conference records for the high jump (6 feet 3.5 inches set in 1990), and for best jump in the conference championship meet (6 feet 1.25 inches in 1988). In addition to her high jump exploits, she also won the conference heptathlon championship in 1990.  

Stacy Dragila-Waltz

Stacy Dragila-Waltz was recruited to Idaho State as a multi-sport athlete, finishing second in the Big Sky Conference in the heptathlon in 1995, and holding five school or venue records by the time she graduated. Later, Dragila-Waltz became a world class athlete, winning the first Olympic gold medal offered in the pole vault in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. She was also a nine-time U.S. Outdoor champion, two-time world champion, 1997 world indoor champion and an eight-time U.S. indoor champion in the pole vault. She accomplished many of these goals while working as an assistant track coach at Idaho State. She is one of 22 Idaho State athletes inducted into the school’s Ring of Honor. In 2014, she was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. She is a role model for young athletes, demonstrating that never giving up and never being afraid to try can lead to enormous success. 

Tyson Gunter

Tyson Gunter attended ISU on a track scholarship, graduating in 2012 with a degree in marketing. Born with albinism, he is considered legally blind, with just 10-15 percent vision of the average person. The condition also causes a lack of pigment in his skin and increased light sensitivity in his eyes. However, Gunter hasn’t let those circumstances interfere with his success. Originally earning top marks in high jump and long jump events, he competed with the U.S. Paralympics program in three world championships, winning two silver medals in 2013 and 2017 in the high jump event. After a change in event offerings was announced for the 2016 Paralympics, he began competing as a sprinter and was on the 2016 U.S. Paralympic team in Rio, taking 7th place in the 400m (400m T13 - Men) and 12th in the 100m. (100m T13 - Men). He went on to compete in several other track and field events, earning gold for the long jump in the Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile in 2023 and 7th place at the world championship in long jump, both at age 36. 

Ricci Kilgore

Ricci Kilgore attended Idaho State University on a full scholarship for track and field as a pole vaulter but was injured in a car accident two weeks before she had planned to compete in the Olympic Trials. The tragedy left her paralyzed below the waist and took away her dreams of competing in the Summer Olympics that year, but not forever. Having skied in her younger years, she began adaptive skiing and realized the sport was a new route to fulfill her Olympic dream. Kilgore served as a ski instructor for five years at the resort, and credits the experience for introducing her to the sport. She went on to represent the U.S. on the Paralympics Alpine Skiing National Team in several Paralympic Games, taking sixth place in the giant slalom in Vancouver, Canada in 2010.