Hall of Fame
Robert Barry Trew ’59 has always been remembered as one of the most decorated student-athletes in Washington & Jefferson College history. One of the most outstanding small-bore rifle shooters in the history of the sport, Trew competed and won, not only on the local and regional level, but on the national and international stages as well.
A four-year member of the College’s varsity rifle team, Trew was a four-time All-American. Trew was a two-time junior national champion before matriculating at Washington & Jefferson. He made his impact felt immediately as a freshman, earning the first of his four First Team National Collegiate All-America awards. Trew remains the only All-American in the sport in W&J history.
For three years, 1957 through 1959, Trew was the National Collegiate Gallery Rifle Champion and the first ever four-time, first-team All-American. Trew was a two-time Collegiate Champion at the National Matches in Camp Perry, Ohio in 1957 and 1958. In 1958, Trew was the United States International 50-meter champion.
Three times, Trew tried out for the United States Olympic Team, finishing seventh in 1956 and earning a personal-best finish of third in 1960.
Trew graduated from Washington & Jefferson College with a degree in economics. He served as the Senior Class secretary and treasurer. Upon graduation and commissioning in United States Army, Trew was assigned to the Advanced Marksmanship Unit (AAMU) at Ft. Benning, Georgia, where he represented the United States in international competition in eleven different countries, setting over 200 national and international records.
From 1980-1986, Trew gave back to W&J by serving as head coach of the rifle team. A 1992 inductee into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, Trew was the first rifle shooter to ever record a perfect “300” in gallery competition.
