Gordon Hinds began his track and field days as a sophomore at Aviation High School in Brooklyn, New York. Within one year, he earned All-American status as a junior, clocking in at 48.7 in the 400 yard dash. However, during his senior year, the program was dropped, forcing Hinds to run for a club team. A heavily recruited athlete, Hinds entered Adelphi in the fall of 1979.
Hinds was the seventh and last Panther track and field athlete to win an NCAA individual title. The difficult feat was earned during his stellar senior year to cap an impressive four year career at Adelphi that included countless wins in various events, school records, numerous competitions in prestigious games such as the Millrose Games and the Olympic Developmental meet and three NCAA Championship appearances.
In his first year, Hinds was an IC4A 500m finalist, the only freshman in the entire field to make it that far, and a three-time NCAA qualifier. Additionally, he was on the one mile relay team that finished first at the famed Millrose Games.
During the summer before his junior year, Hinds returned to his home country of Barbados and helped the national team earn a second place finish in the Central American Conference meet.
In his third year, the awards and accolades kept rolling in, as Hinds was crowned Collegiate Track Conference Champion on two occasions and placed second in the Metropolitan Championships in the 800m. At the PENN Relays, Hinds was a key factor in the success of two of the relays he participated in. Teaming up with Dwayne Johnson, Alan Marks and fellow Hall of Fame inductee Hubert Blue, the quartet went on to clock in at 1:24.02 in the 4x200 relay. Hinds, again with Blue, joined Michael Porter and Vance Williams to record another third place showing in the 4x400 relay. Additionally, he went on to finish ninth at the NCAA Championships in the 800m run, clocking in at a personal best of 1:50.51 and helped the 4x400 relay team to a ninth place finish as well. As a team, Adelphi went on to finish in a tie for 13th place.
Hind’s final year in a Panther uniform was one to remember. He qualified for the NCAA Championships twice indoors, again anchored the mile relay team to win the Millrose Games, and posted a 600-yard time of 1:09.2 which was the fastest American time of the year at that point and the third fastest time ever in the event by a collegiate runner; he also won the outdoor NCAA 800m run. In his first 15 races that year, he never finished any lower than second place.
At the IC4A meet held at Princeton University, Hinds placed an impressive third in a competitive, predominantly Division I loaded field with a fast 1:51.9 800 meter run. He was also privileged to compete with some of the nation’s best runners at the TAC Championships at Madison Square Garden. However, the highlight of his successful career was the win at the 1983 NCAA Outdoor Championships. He won the event in a time of 1:50.97 to beat Mike Martin of South Dakota by .42 seconds to help Adelphi to a 20th place team finish.
Upon graduating, Hinds competed for Barbados in the summer and ran for them at the XII Commonwealth Games in Australia, where he was a semifinalist in the 800 and a member of the 4x400 relay team.
During his time off the track, he was a writer for the Delphian sports section, a member of Delta Sigma Pi and was on the Dorm Council. Hinds graduated with a degree in Business Administration in the spring of 1983 and currently resides in Lafayette, California as a mortgage banker. He is married to his wife, Patricia and they have three children.
