1939 Track: Hilltoppers’ Heredia Barely Missed State Championship
San Diego High’s defending state championship team had the splendid miler, Al Heredia, but it was a quiet season overall in the militarily vital Coastal zone. The young men of the area undoubtedly were aware of the war clouds in Europe that would lead to World War II.
3/16/39
Oceanside won the 880-yard relay in 1:36.2 and the five points secured a 55-49, Metropolitan League victory at Escondido.
Jerry Williams of the losing Cougars set school records of 6 feet in the high jump and 21-1½ in the broad jump.
3/18/39
Defending champion San Diego was sixth with 9 1/2 points in team scoring in the Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach High.
Al Heredia was a winner in 4:49.1 in the mile. Chuck Hertzog was fourth in the broad jump at 21 feet, 1 inch. Jim Brewer was fourth in the 880 and the Hilltoppers were third in the 880-yard relay, won by Com[ton in 1:32.5.
Compton won the large school championship with 33 points. Garden Grove won the small schools title with 20 points. Coronado was third with 17, Grossmont fourth with 16, and Vista tied for ninth with 3.
Eddie Morris of Huntington Beach, on his home track, ran :09.7 in the 100-yard dash and :21.0 in the 220.
3/31/39
Chuck Hartzog broad jumped 22 feet, 2 ½ inches for the best mark in San Diego’s 90-32 Coast League dual meet rout of the host Alhambra Moors.
Robert Estavillo was a triple winner in :10.2 and :23.6 in the 100 and 220-yard dashes and anchored the 880-yard relay team to a 1:33 victory. Al Heredia won the mile in 4:49 for the Hilltoppers.
—Don Hayden won three events, 70-yard high hurdles (:10.1), high jump (5-feet-6), and pole vault (10-feet-8) at Vista swept a triangular meet with San Jacinto’ and Wildomar Elsinore.
The Panthers got the best of the two teams called Tigers, 67 points to 37 for San Jacinto and 27 for Elsinore and also swept classes B and C.
—Ramona scored 29 points, Fallbrook 25, and Mountain Empire 23 in a Southern Prep League triangular at Ramona.
Marr, Wise, and Elliott, the only Mountain Empire entries, won 4 events. Marr won the 100 (:10.8) and 220 (:24.8), Wise the 440 (:55.6), and Elliott the high jump (5-3).
4/10/39
Don Harden won three events and Vista defeated Ramona, 81-26, in a Southern Prep League meet.
4/12/39
Hoover defeated Alhambra, 86 1/6-35 5/6, in a quickly organized Coast League meet. Alhambra balked at the under-the-lights Friday, April 15, date at Hoover.
The Moors would have had to travel three hours and 125 miles on the often foggy Coast Highway as evening was setting in.
4/13/39
Tom Herrin, his Point Loma baseball team’s game rained put, switched uniforms and helped the Pointers beat Grossmont, 73-31, in a Metropolitan League dual.
Herrin was second to teammate Bill Fitzgerald in the 100 and 220 and won the broad jump at 20-5 7/8 and shot put at 43-1 ½. Fitzgerald’s winning times were :10.6 and :24.1.
—Long Beach Poly won the Coast League’s big meet, 69½-52 ½, over visiting San Diego. Poly’s Tommy Davies won sprint duels from San Diego’s Robert Estavillo in :09.9 and :23 and anchored the Jackrabbits’ 1:32.2 win in the 880 relay.
The Hilltoppers’ Al Heredia won the mile in 4:43. Chuck Hartzog took the broad jump at 21-1 /3/4 and John Macevicz beat teammate Jim Brewer in a 2:01.3 880.
—Vista stayed unbeaten in the Southern Prep League by sweeping classes A, B, and C from Brown Military. The Panthers outscored the Cadets, 72-36, in Class A.
4/18/39
Escondido outscored visiting Hoover, 52 2/3-51 1/3, in a nonleague dual meet. Bob Gain set a school record with a :10.2 victory in the 100-yard dash and teammate Jerry Williams set another with a 6-1 high jump.
4/20/39
Coronado won at Sweetwater, 66 2/3-37 1/3, clearing the decks for a showdown between the Islanders (4-0) and Escondido (3-0) four days later.
Point Loma (4-1) was lying in the weeds, the Pointers’ only loss to Escondido and still to meet Coronado.
4/21/39
The first annual All-City Relays at Hoover matched the Cardinals and Point Loma against San Diego and La Jolla.
Twenty events with combined squads in varsity, Class B and C, from the opening, four-man shuttle hurdles, to the final, Football Lettermen’s 400-yard relay (in full uniform and a football to serve as the passing baton), drew about 1,400 persons.
Hoover-Point Loma outscored San Diego-La Jolla, 88-72, with scoring at 5 points for first and 3 for second. The Cardinals and Pointers combined for 14 first places. San Diego was forced to enter four men in some events as La Jolla did not have personnel.
Best performance probably was by the four Hilltoppers runners in the four-man, two-mile relay.
Bill Chapman, Jim Brewer, John Macevicz, and Al Heredia covered the distance in 8:22. Macevicz was timed in 2:03 and Heredia anchored in 2:01.5, crossing the finish line 150 yards in front of the Hoover-Point Loma entry.
4/24/39
Coronado’s Tommy Miller overtook Escondido’s Jerry Williams in the 880 relay and the Islanders came from behind to win the important Metropolitan League dual, 52 ½-51 ½, with a school-record time of 1:35.1.
Bob Gain, who won the 100 (:10.3) and 220 (:23.7), gave the Cougars a lead on the opening leg of the relay and that held up until Miller caught Jerry Williams about 15 yards from the tape.
Williams had won the high jump (5-8) and broad jump (20-9 1/8) and was second in the 120-yard low hurdles. Howard Bob White of Escondido won the 880 in a Metro best of 2:09.3, narrowly beating Coronado’s Tom Rice.
4/28/39
The powder blue pants of San Diego High coach Joe Beerkle caught the attention of the crowd, which gathered under the lights at Hoover as the Hilltoppers surprisingly dominated, 74 2/3-47 1/3.
Al Heredia pulled away to beat Cardinal Art Nash by 20 yards in 4:38.2, stamping Heredia as a CIF contender. Glendon Armstrong and Bob Klicka tied for first in the 440 in :51.8.
—Escondido would get an opportunity to tie for the Metropolitan League dual meet championship with a 76 1/3-27 2/3 win over Sweetwater.
—Point Loma defeated Coronado, 56-48, as the Islanders’ Tom Rice set a school record of 4:53.5 in the mile and the Pointers’ Parkinson set a school record of 5-8 7/8 in the high jump.
Escondido had only La Jolla remaining on the schedule. An expected win by the Cougars would give the three contenders 5-1 records.
5/2/39
La Jolla, citing a lack of personnel, forfeited the final dual meet to Escondido, creating a three-way tie for the dual meet title between the Cougars, Point Loma, and Coronado.
5/5/39
Johnny Bauer, who set a CIF Class C record of 53 feet 5 inches with the eight-pound shot in 1938, won the Coast League Class B competition at Alhambra by pushing the 10-pound ball 52-4.
Rodney Cole of Hoover was second in the pole vault but set a school record of 12 feet, ½ inch.
Hoover won the Class B championship, edging Long Beach Poly, 61-60.
5/6/39
Grossmont, undefeated in Class B and C dual meet competition entered 52 athletes in a field of 265 in the sixth Metropolitan League trials and championships at San Diego State. Trials were to begin at 10 a.m., with finals getting underway at 1:30 p.m.
The 17th Coast League finals were at Balboa Stadium and the third Southern Prep League championships were at San Dieguito.
Al Heredia continued his late-season push when he ran the mile in a 4:33.2 that smashed the meet-record of 4:38 by Evan Dowers of San Diego in 1930.
A month ago Heredia was running in the 4:40s and John Macevicz was one of the top half-milers in Southern California. Sinus problems forced an end to Macevicz’s season this week, but Jim Brewer stepped up to win the 880 in 2:01.
Long Beach Poly outscored San Diego, 75 ½-68, for the team championship. Hoover and Alhambra finished third and fourth with 38 ½ and 9.
Bill Hite of Poly logged :50.4 in the 440 to better the record of :50.5 by Maynard Shove of Pasadena in 1927 and Hite was part of the 880 relay squad which won in 1:30.7.
—Point Loma’s Richard Marques set a Metro mile mark of 4:44.9, which broke a record of 4:48.8 by Sweetwater’s Clair Berdel in 1935.
Marques’ teammate, Tom Herrin, and Oceanside’s Bruce McAllister were double winners, Herrin with a 21-6 7/8 broad jump and 45-8 shot put and McAllister with a :10.2 100 and :22.6 220.
Point Loma won the team title with 43 points, with Coronado (22), Oceanside (21-1 ½), Escondido (16 ½), Grossmont (10) and Sweetwater (8) trailing.
—Ten meet records were broken and Vista outscored San Dieguito, 67 to 62, for the team Southern Prep League championship. Leo Swain of San Dieguito had the day’s best effort with his record 2:07.7 in the 880.
5/13/39
DIVISIONAL @SAN DIEGO STATE
San Diego and Hoover of the Coast League was joined by athletes from the Metropolitan, Southern Prep, and Imperial Valley loops.
The often afternoon cold wind was prevalent as San Diego’s Al Heredia won his mile race in 4:42. Sophomore Lou Barrera led teammate Robert Estavillo and Escondido’s Bob Gain in a :22 flat 220.
5/20/39
SOUTHERN SECTION FINALS, @L.A. COLISEUM
San Diego’s Al Heredia set a school record and won the mile in 4:29.3. Jim Brewer ran the 880 in 1:59, second to the 1:58.6 by Beverly Hills’ Paul Christianson, for another Hilltoppers record.
Lowell Donnelly tied for third in the high jump at 6-1 and Chuck Hartzog was fifth in the broad jump at 21-9. The 880 relay team, of Lou Barrera, Bob Klicka, Glendon Armstrong, and Robert Estavillo, was third as Compton won in 1:28.9.
Tom Herrin of Point Loma reached 44 feet, 6 ½ inches and won the hop, step, and jump.
Long Beach Poly led in team scoring with 24 points, with Compton second with 21, San Diego tied for third with Glendale Hoover with 15.
5/27/39
25TH STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS, @L.A. COLISEUM
Al Heredia was so close to winning that his second-place time of 4:26.8 was the same as the winner, John Hall of Torrance, second to Heredia in the Southern Section meet last week. Heredia’s school record wouldn’t be broken for almost 30 years, by John Jacobsen, who ran 4:22 in 1967.
Jim Brewer was runner-up again to Beverly Hills’ Paul Christenson, who ran 2:01.3 in the 880.
Tom Herrin of Point Loma did not compete in the hop, step, and jump because it was an exhibition, non-scoring event.
San Diego was sixth in team scoring with 8 points. Bakersfield won with 16.
