Marion “Pete” Owens of Three Rivers won the high and low hurdles at the Texas Conference track meet all four years at Howard Payne. He was an NAIA All-American hurdler in 1941. He also won the high hurdles at the Texas Relays, Kansas Relays and Colorado Relays. In 1941, he added the 100- and 220-yard dashes to his list of conference victories. He qualified for the high hurdles in the 1940 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, which were canceled after World War II began. Owens worked at North American Aviation building airplanes during World War II. He graduated with honors from Howard Payne in 1942. He earned his master’s in education from Southwest Texas State. He taught, coached and served as principal in school districts across Texas, including Pearsall, Cotulla, Rockdale, Valley Mills, Schulenburg and Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas. He also worked in pharmaceutical sales and real estate. He died in 2012.