North Carolina Central University Athletics

During his four years at North Carolina Central University, Charles Foster was a nationally-ranked hurdler. He missed the win he may have wanted most; a gold medal in the 1976 Olympics under the coaching of LeRoy T. Walker. Foster placed fourth in the finals of the Montreal high hurdles.

His NCCU career began a week or two after he won the gold medal in the 120 high hurdles at the National AAU Junior Olympics in August, 1971, and in his senior year he racked up first places in the NAIA indoor and outdoor events, the NCAA outdoor and the AAU championship.
 

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March 31, 2019 - Charles Foster, who won five NAIA and NCAA individual national championships and was the top-ranked hurdler in the world during his collegiate career at North Carolina Central University, passed away at the age of 65.
 
A 1975 graduate of NCCU, Foster was a dominant force on the track during his college career from 1971-75, specializing in the hurdles. After NCCU, he placed fourth in the 110-meter hurdles at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal and enjoyed an accomplished career as a college coach.
 
During his junior and senior campaigns at NCCU, Foster repeated as the NAIA national champion in the indoor 60-yard hurdles, setting the meet record in 1975 with a time of 6.9 seconds, and the outdoor 120-yard/110-meter hurdles, breaking the meet record in 1974 in 13.4 seconds. He also captured the NCAA outdoor 120-yard hurdles national championship in 1974 with a time of 13.35 seconds.
 
In 1974, Foster was ranked as the No. 1 hurdler in the world.
 
As a freshman, Foster helped lead the Eagles to the 1972 NAIA outdoor track & field team national championship, running a leg of the 440-yard relay that set a meet record with a time of 39.5 seconds.
 
Foster was inducted into the NCCU Athletics Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class in 1984, and has also been enshrined in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Hall of Fame (1981) and the Penn Relays Wall of Fame (2016).