Gault ran track, cross country, and played one season of basketball during his four years at Union University.
Gault, a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, turned down an offer from the University of Tennessee to come to Union to run track and cross country. He helped lead Union to 27 consecutive cross country duel meet championships, including knocking off many current DI programs across the southeast. Gault set the Rothrock Stadium record with an 18 minute, 40 second cross country finish in a meet with Memphis State. His cross country teams ran in two national meets, one with the NAIA in 1958 and one with the NCAA in 1959. Excluding the two national meets, Gault lost just two meets during his cross country career.
In track, he posted a 4.07 minute mile and also defeated the 1955 Tennessee State Champion mile runner. He won the Volunteer State Athletic Conference Title (VSAC) four times. He holds the Union mile record of 4:25.
Gault was named the 1960 VSAC Most Outstanding Athlete. He was also named captain of his cross country team in 1960 and 1961.
Outside of running, Gault was equally successful in academics. He was one of only two male students named to Who's Who of American Colleges and Universities. He was honored by the students as Union's Best All Around Award in 1960 and was named Mr. Union in 1961. He was a member of Alpha Tau Omega, Mallory Math Club, U Club, and the Nestor Club. He graduated with a BS in math and a minor in physics. He was awarded the first ever Fred DeLay Award in 1961, given to the top athlete for athletic and academic excellence.
After serving in the US Air Force as a Minuteman Missle Officer, he earned a second degree in mechanical engineering in 1968 from Tennessee.
Gault worked many years in in the oil industry in Texas and California before retiring in 1995. He met his first wife, Tommye Long (UU class of 1962) at Union. She passed away in 1990. They have two sons and a daughter and two grandchildren. He remarried in 1996 to his wife Linda and are enjoying retirement in California.
