Blessed with blazing speed, Lavitt came to MU from Raytown, Missouri, and went on to one of the great careers in Tiger track history. Lavitt claimed four Big Eight Conference hurdling titles and was a four-time all-American in three different hurdling events from 1977-80. Lavitt led Missouri to the Big Eight Indoor Championship in 1979 – its first since the national championship year of 1965, and MU’s last indoor title. He set the school record in the 110-meter high hurdles (13.53 seconds in 1980) and was the fastest collegiate time in the nation that year – even faster than hurdling legend Renaldo Nehemiah). Lavitt also ran on MU’s 1,600-meter sprint medley relay team in 1979 that set a world record of 3:12.5. His highest finish at the NCAAs was third in 1980 (indoor 60-yd. high hurdles). He also played one year of football for the Tigers. He went to dentistry school after his time at Missouri then set up his practice in Columbia and Jefferson City.
