Kirksville native and 1966 Truman State University graduate Rod Staggs was chosen as a Legend for the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in January. Staggs was a 1997 inductee into the Truman Athletics Hall of Fame and enshrined in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.

Staggs was a member of the Bulldog football team and after graduating became a high school track and field coach, first at nearby South Shelby High School in Shelbina, Missouri, and later at Berkeley High School in St. Louis. In 32 seasons at Berkeley, his teams won 16 state championships. He was also an assistant coach for an NAIA national championship at Lindenwood University and won two additional high school state championships in Colorado.

Staggs has been honored as the National Coach of the Year by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association, the National High School Federation and has been named 19 times the Missouri High School Track Coach of the Year.