Paul Bridges was a world class competitor in track during the days in Emporia,  competing from 1933-36.  One of his personal bests came at the Kansas Relays in 1936 when he was on the relay team that broke the world record in the distance medley relay (10:12.7).  Bridges also was the Missouri Valley champion in the 880 and captured numerous conference titles and was captain of the 1936 team.