GUNNISON, Colo. --- Western Colorado athletics lost two Mountaineer Sports Hall of Famers in February in Mack Miller and Wolfgang Taylor.
 
Miller passed away Feb. 16 in Idaho and was a national champion skier for the Mountaineers during his time at Western Colorado – which stretched from 1949-57 as he also served in the U.S. Army in those years – and was a two-time Olympian (1956 and 1960).
 
In 1954, Miller won the first NCAA four-way skimeister award, which was based on his performances in the major skiing events of the day – downhill, slalom, jumping, and cross country. In 1957 he became the Mountaineers' first individual national champion by winning the title in cross country skiing.
 
Miller went on to win places as a member of the U.S. cross country team for the 1956 and 1960 Olympics and for the 1958 World Championships. While working toward his master's degree, he served as assistant coach for the Mountaineers and then went on to an outstanding career as high school and junior national coach in Maine, Wisconsin\ and Idaho.
 
Taylor passed away Feb. 19 and was a record-setting kicker for the WCU football team from 1972-75 – helping the Mountaineers to three RMAC titles over that span – and finished his career as the Division II all-time scoring leader for kickers with 237 points (which currently ranks fifth in Mountaineer history overall – including non-kickers).
 
Taylor held the WCU record for longest field goal at 56 yards from 1975-2011 – which he kicked in one of his final games as a Mountaineer (he kicked a 50-yard field goal in the same game). As a freshman in 1972, he broke the RMAC record for kicking points in a game with 16 against Adams State (four field goals, four extra points). That same season he tied the RMAC record for field goals in a game and became the first RMAC kicker to post a perfect season on extra points.
 
Overall, Taylor – who came to Gunnison from Denver's Cathedral High School where he was a two-sport star in football and track – was a four-time All-RMAC kicker.