Joe Sassler (1991) - Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame

Joe Sassler

Induction:
1991
Class:
1982

After winning Ohio State championship in the 440-yard dash in 1978, Joe Sassler signed on to continue his running career with Coach Rod O’Donnell at Marshall, and kept on winning championships. The Ashtabula, Ohio, native won the Southern Conference 400-meter dash at the league outdoor championships in both 1981 and 1982, qualifying for the 1981 NCAA Championships. Sassler’s 400-meter best of 46.64 remains Marshall’s all-time record. Sassler also won two more Southern Conference championships as a member of the 1,600-meter relay team that won the league titles at both the indoor and outdoor championship meets in 1981. Sassler famously made up a 35-meter deficit against a runner from Eastern Kentucky University in the anchor leg to win the event at the finish line and clinch a meet victory for the Thundering Herd at the Lefty Rollins Track. Sassler was voted the team MVP in 1980, 1981 and 1982 and received the 1982 Cam Henderson Award as Marshall’s top all-around student-athlete. Sassler was inducted into the Ashtabula County (Ohio) Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991.