Gerry Preston was a four-year letterwinner in football and baseball and received the J.H Booth Award in 1987. In football, Preston finished his career as a running back with 2,698 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns, ranking him 3rd all-time in both categories at induction. He holds a Willamette career record with 4,398 all-purpose yards. He earned All-Northwest Conference of Independent College (NCIC) honors in 1984, and was named All-Columbia League and NAIA All-District 2  in 1985 and 1986. Preston was chosen as an NAIA District 2 First Team Scholar-Athlete in 1986 and was named to the Second Team in 1985. He was the Bearcat MVP in 1984, 1985 and 1986. Preston played second base on the 1986 NCIC Championship baseball team. When inducted, he ranked sixth all-time at Willamette with 41 career stolen bases. In 1987, Preston received an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. He was awarded the full-tuition Florian von Eschen Scholarship twice.