A cross country All-American in the fall of 1966 when he finished 10th in the NAIA national meet,  Willie Rios of Lawton was also a track and field All-American in the spring of 1967 when he finished second in the mile at the NAIA national outdoor meet.

He won eight individual Oklahoma Collegiate Conference championships: mile run in 1967, 1968 (tie), 1969, and 1970; 880-yard run in 1968 and 1969; two-mile run 1969; and cross country in 1970.

He set an OBU record of 4:07.5 in the mile run in 1968. Rios ran a 9:14.1 2-mile in 1967.

He ran the 1500 meters for Puerto Rico in the 1968 Olympics.

After graduating from OBU, Rios served in the U.S. Army. He earned a law degree and is now in the practice of law.