Herb Semper, former KU standout runner in the 1950s, dies at 81

From the KU sports information office: Former Kansas cross country and track star Herb Semper died last week. He was 81.

Semper, who was a member of the Kansas cross country program under coach Bill Easton from 1949-52, became the first Jayhawk to win an NCAA championship, prevailing in 1950 and then again in 1951. Semper, a member of the Kansas Athletics Hall of Fame, remains the only runner in KU history to win two cross country individual national championships.

In track and field, Semper was a four-time Big Seven Conference champion in the two-mile run and a two-time outdoor All-American after back-to-back third-place finishes in the two-mile run at the NCAA championships.