SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- The West Coast Conference announced on Wednesday their Hall of Honor class of 2024, with Portland men's cross country and track and field coach Rob Conner being named to the class.

The 2024 WCC Hall of Honor class includes Conner, Gonzaga's Cheska Fairbanks (women's cross country), LMU's Anthony Ireland (men's basketball), Pacific's John Dunning (women's volleyball head coach), Pepperdine's Dwayne Polee (men's basketball), Saint Mary's Omar Samhan (men's basketball), San Diego's Stan Washington (men's basketball), San Francisco's Luis Sagastume (men's soccer) and Santa Clara's Julie Ertz (women's soccer). 

The group of nine will be honored in a special ceremony at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas on Saturday, March 9 as part of the 2024 WCC Basketball Championship. Click the link below to read about all the inductees and read below to learn more about Conner's illustrious career.

WCC HALL OF HONOR CLASS OF 2024

Rob Conner, University of Portland

Rob Conner is in his 34th season as the head cross country and track & field coach at the University of Portland and has elevated Portland's distance running program to elite levels. He has led the Pilots to 24 NCAA Cross Country Championships appearances, finished in the Top 10 a total of ten times at the national meet, and coached Pilot runners to 50 All-America honors.

Conner guided the 2017 Pilots to a program-best runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships. The team matched their school record of three Pilots earning All-America honors as the Pilots defended their West Region title. Portland followed with another their third podium finish in five years with a third place overall at the 2018 NCAA Championships. 

The first podium finish in cross country for Conner came during the 2014 season when Portland finished third as a team at the NCAA meet. That showing was the culmination of eight consecutive Top 14 finishes at the championship meet for the Pilots, a feat only accomplished by three other schools.

Conner has led the Pilots to 34 WCC cross country titles, while the team has been ranked in the Top 25 all but one year since 1991.

The historic 1993 season put Portland on the map as All-American Pete Julian led Portland through an undefeated regular season and 12th place finish in the program's first-ever NCAA Championship meet.

Prior to handing the coaching reins to former pupil and assistant coach Ian Solof in 2002, Conner guided the Pilot women's cross country team to 12 conference titles in 13 years. The 1993 Pilot women placed sixth at the NCAA West Regional and Nicole Karr earned All-America honors in 1994.

Conner has been named the West Region Cross Country Coach of the Year seven times, WCC Coach of the Year on eight occasions and joins legendary Portland soccer coach Clive Charles as the only Pilot head coaches to win the Slats Gill Sportsperson of the Year at the 2018 Oregon Sports Awards.

Track success has also been a constant for Conner and the Pilots as at least one individual has qualified for the NCAA Track & Field Championships each season since 1992. Portland competitors have competed in 66 individual events at the NCAA meet with 40 All-America honors earned. In 2016, the Pilots reached their highest indoor ranking ever at No. 20.

His coaching accolades often overshadow Conner's success as a student-athlete at Portland where he won the WCC Cross Country title as an individual in 1984.