Grinnell College Athletics

Foster C. Rinefort '27, a three-sport, nine-letter athlete, was a big man literally and figuratively. A world-class shot putter in track, Rinefort also used his size (6'4" and 220 pounds) to advantage in football and basketball. "Moo" grew up, and up, in Grinnell, a local boy with great talent. As a high school senior he was state champion in the shot put, discuss and the 100-yard dash. After his freshman year at college he qualified for the Olympic tryouts in Boston as a weightman but had a "bad day" and missed a chance to become a u.S. teammate to fellow Grinnellian Morgan Taylor '26. Rinefort was a Missouri Valley Conference champion in the shot and discus and often won or placed in these events at the Drake, Kansas and Texas Relays. His Grinnell shot put record held from 1927 until 1953. In football Foster played end in the Missouri Valley Conference era against such teams as Drake, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State. His nose was broken twice in bruising 60-minute games in which he wore a leather helmet with little padding and no guards, the grid fashion of the times. In basketball Rinefort used his size to advantage at center. During his lifetime business career with the Equitable Life Assurance Society, Foster continued to support his alma mater by encouraging many worthy, talented, and needy students to attend the college. A Rinefort memorial scholarship fund continues this endeavor today. Rinefort also served as Chicago area and national president of the Grinnell Alumni Association. He was manager of Equitable's Chicago office when he dies in 1965.