University of Missouri Athletics

Gartiser, from Webster Groves, Missouri, was a four-time conference champion in the hurdles for track coach Tom Botts. He won a Big Six Conference indoor title in the 60-yard low hurdles in 1947, tying the conference record with a 6.9 clocking. He also won Big Seven indoor titles in both the 60-yard low and high hurdles in 1948, helping Mizzou to the team title. He won the 1948 Big Seven outdoor 120-yard hurdle race with a conference-record 14.3 second time. He broke the unofficial (the IAAF did not recognize indoor records at the time) world record in the 60-yard low hurdles at the Big Seven meet, running 6.8 seconds. He ranked third in the world in the 220-yard hurdles in 1948 with a time of 22.6. Gartiser finished ninth in the 110-meter hurdles at the USA Olympic Trials in 1948 in Evanston, Illinois and placed sixth at the AAU Championships the same year in the event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.