Southern Arkansas University Athletics

Michael George played a key part of Southern Arkansas Men's Track and Field's jump to national notoriety. A native of Texarkana, Arkansas, George set the standard for Mulerider jumpers in the mid-1980s. 

George's 1984 and 1985 seasons are two of the most dominant ever recorded by a Mulerider in the sand and aided an SAU squad that claimed Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference hardware each year. 

An all-league honoree following both campaigns was just the start for George whose impact on the program expanded to the national stage. The AIC's back-to-back triple jump champion in '84 and '85, George competed in the NAIA National Championship both seasons. 

In his first, he broke the program's triple jump record with a mark of 49' 9" to earn a bronze medal podium finish and a first team All-America honor as a result. He added a second All-America plaudit in the long jump event nailing 23' to place sixth. George's efforts pushed the Muleriders to a fourth-place team finish, its highest ever, at the national championship.

A year later, George grabbed a third All-America award with a fifth-place triple jump result of 48' 6 1/4" as SAU placed tied for tenth at the national championship to become the first program in department history with back-to-back top 10 finishes nationally.