Northeastern University Athletics

Boris D. Djerassi was inducted into the Hall of Fame for his accomplishments in the sport of track and field.

Djerassi is the best weight events athlete to ever perform at Northeastern, a former member of the United States Olympic Team and an NCAA Champion in the hammer throw. A native of Haifa, Israel, "Dov" (Hebrew for Bear) was an athlete of legendary strength and power while dominating the New England, Eastern and eventually the national collegiate hammer event. He shot to the zenith of the collegiate hammer scene when he defeated defending champion Pete Farmer for the NCAA crown in Provo, Utah in 1975. Djerassi swung the hammer 225 feet 3 inches to beat the heavy favorite by some three inches. Djerassi completed what many track aficionados considered an improbable quadruple sweep as a senior in 1975: he captured the Penn Relays, the IC4A Championships, the NCAA's and the AAU Championships. Five years later in 1980, he was earning one of three berths in the hammer for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.