From the 1990s to 2006 the club was restricted to masters athletics and still produces national champions in older age classes.
[1] The club was formed originally in the fall of 1955 by five elite athletes; Olympic multiple Gold Medalists Mal Whitfield, George Rhoden, silver medalist Meredith C."Flash" Gourdine, NCAA Champions Lang Stanley,[2] and George Brown.
[3][4] In its day it laid claim to being "largest and strongest multiracial track-and-field club in the history of the sport.
Among the people to wear the Striders uniform were: Rafer Johnson, Ralph Boston, Bill Toomey,[8] Mike Larrabee,[9] Bob Seagren[10] John Rambo,[11] John Smith,[12] Fortune Gordien,[13] Ronnie Ray Smith,[14] Larry Stewart,[15] Marshall Clark,[16] Otis Burrell, Charles Dumas, Ed Caruthers, Bob Avant,[17] Leon Coleman,[18] Don Quarrie, Adolph Plummer, Chuck Smith,[19] Ulis Williams,[20] Rex Cawley, Wayne Collett, Ralph Mann,[21] Ron Whitney, Geoff Vanderstock,[21] Jim Cerveny, Jim Dupree,[22] Jerome Walters, Bob Seaman,[23] Paul Wilson, Ron Morris, Dick Railsback,[24] John Pennel, Dave Volz,[21] Art Walker,[25] Parry O'Brien, Dallas Long,[26] Peter Shmock[27] Rink Babka,[21] Ben Plucknett,[28] Ed Burke, Hal Connolly[29] Larry Young,[21] Mike Manley[30] and Max Truex.
Plucknett set the still standing United States record in the Discus while wearing the Southern California Striders uniform.
At the 1978 Sun Devil Relays, USC Trojans set a 4 × 200 m world record (1m 20.26s) despite losing to the Tobias Striders: the Striders' mark (1m 20.23s) was ineligible as a record because the team was of mixed nationality: Guy Abrahams (Panama), Michael Simmons (USA), Don Quarrie (Jamaica), and James Gilkes (Guyana).
[34] With the egalitarian attitude professed at its inception, the team catered almost exclusively to male athletes.
The President of the Striders during the 60's was Dr. Jerry Bornstein,[35] who put together a team of fellow doctors to provide medical care, and sometimes airline tickets, for the athletes out of their own pockets.
Doctors Whitmore, Silver, Mels and Barnes and trainer Paul Schechter were part of this team.