1961 Track: First-Year Section Finding Its Way

Divorced from the Southern Section after 47 years, the new San Diego Section was one of the smallest in the state, 28 schools, and found itself with one automatic qualifier for each event in the state meet.

The legislation by the state CIF ended the possibility, however unlikely, of as many as three in each event, the number which graduated to the state meet from the Southern Section in previous years.

One was more than enough this year. See the subhead 6/3/61 below.

El Cajon Valley’s Mike Graves, with coach Joe Brooks, was San Diego Section’s first state meet champion, winning pole vault and had best of 14-3 1/2.

3/3/61

Bill Jones’ 6-5 high jump bettered Jones’ 6-3 ½ Grossmont record a couple weeks before.  The latter topped Joe Page’s 6-3 in 1947.

Ed Speed sent the 12-pound shot 61 feet, 1 inch, but didn’t break the Grossmont school record.

Speed was close to Jim Wade’s 61-5 7/8, with which Wade placed third in the 1957 Southern Section championships.

Speed and Jones were not enough as Lincoln won the nonleague dual, 57 1/2-46 ½.

3/10/61

About 1,500 persons converged on Grossmont to see Compton Centennial win a heralded triangular meet with 59 ½ points to Grossmont’s 45 ½, and San Diego’s 27.

Marks were disappointing because of wind and a slow Foothillers track, but Centennial ran 1:27.8 in the 880 relay (San Diego was second in 1:30.8), fastest ever on a local track.

Grossmont’s Ed Speed reached 61 feet in the shot put and Bill Jones won a high jump duel with the Apaches’ Cleve Liddell.  Jones cleared 6-4 and Liddell 6-3.

—Scott Knox ran the 880 in 2:01.8 and anchored Coronado to a 1:32.8 and school-record-tying 880 relay victory in a 58-46 loss to Chula Vista.

San Diego’s Thomas Phillips (left) was third and Grossmont’s Steve Adams fourth in 100-yard dash with Compton Centennial’s Cleve Tyler, winner in :10.1, and Donald Meadows.

3/14/61

Ed Speed set a County record of 61 feet, 6 ¼ inches in the shot put, his third meet with an attempt of at least 61 feet, and Bill Jones high jumped 6-5 in Grossmont’s 82 ½-21 ½ win over Granite Hills.

Granite Hills’ Ray DeBolt bettered two Grossmont runners with a 2:00.5 880.

—Vernus Ragsdale raced to a :09.9 100 and :51.6 440 and Del Cooper logged wins of :15 and :20.4 in the 120-yard high and 180 low hurdles, and Lincoln topped Kearny, 79-25.

Three Lincoln broad jumpers, Walter Scott (22-10) and sophomores Donell Belcher (22-8 ½), and James Kennedy (22-1/2) swept the event.

3/19/61

Grossmont (large schools), Lincoln (medium), and Mar Vista (small) were the division winners in the seventh annual National City Relays at Sweetwater.

Several outstanding running marks eventually were not recognized because the Sweetwater track was discovered to be yards short of a standard 440-yard oval.

3/24/61

“I just decided this morning,” said Point Loma coach Ed Thomas.  “I don’t think I’ve ever made a wiser choice.”

The Pointers boss had taken a gamble and inserted Steve Brown, a virtually unknown Class B 1320 runner into the Class A mile. Brown responded with a 4:42.3 victory, providing the pivotal points in the 55 3/5-48 2/5 win over Clairemont.

The dual meet victory would clinch the Western League championship and atoned for the surprising loss in the 1960 showdown with the Chieftains.

Clairemont’s Lou Dominy moved away from field in dual meet at Point Loma, where Dominy won 180-yard low hurdles in :20.8.

4/1/61

Steady breeze denied records at Sweetwater in the sixth annual Easter Relays.

Lincoln’s Del Cooper ran a heat in the 120-yard high hurdles in :14.4 and Lou White of San Diego won the final in :14.5.

Both marks would have exceeded allowable breeze of 4.47 miles an hour had a wind gauge been present. Same with the :09.7 100 by Lincoln’s Venus Ragsdale in the heats, but Ragsdale won the wind-allowable final in :09.8, ahead of San Diego’s Thomas Phillips and Escondido’s Dave Blunt.

Lincoln’s 1:28.8 in the 880 relay and San Diego’s :42.8 in the 440 were records but meaningless because the Sweetwater track was yards short of a regulation 440 yards.

—Coronado was second among 15 schools with 15 points in the Laguna Beach Trophy meet.  Islander Scott Knox won the 440 in :50.9 and Norm Alm the 880 in 2:03.8.

Coach Rudy Friberg had one star in the first season of Granite Hills, halfmiler Ray DeBolt. who ran the mile in state meet.

4/7/61

—Jeff Moran ran :21.9, the season’s fastest 220, and bettered the Mission Bay record of :22.2 by Jim Cerveny in 1957 in an 86-18 rout of La Jolla.

—Lincoln’s 75 ½-28 ½ win over Hoover was marked by broad jumps of 23-4 by Walter Scott and 23-¾ by Ed Goodman.

—Mike Rudd of Point Loma hurled the shot 54-2, breaking the school record of 52-3 1/4 by  William Bradford in 1958.

4/12/61

Lincoln still held sway over San Diego, despite the loss of academic casualties Vernus Ragsdale and Del Cooper.

The Hornets defeated San Diego, 57-47, and just missed closing out the meet with a victory in the 880-yard relay.

The San Diego team of Eddie Logans, Raymond Dixon, Eddie Frost, and Thomas Phillips raced to 1:28.5 with a Lincoln foursome of James (Preacher) Johnson, Walter Scott, Ed Goodman, and Curtis Meekins a tick behind at 1:28.6.

—Clairemont’s John Stancil, Larry Godfrey, John Swallow, and Tom Rutkoske ran a school record 1:29.9  in the Chiefs’ 84-20 rout of Kearny.

—Jack Wilson’s :51.3 set a Helix 440 record as the Scots remained undefeated in dual meets, 77-26 over Sweetwater.

—El Cajon Valley’s Larry DePaul “won” a shot put competition against Mount Miguel with a toss of 49-6.  Assistant Mount Miguel coach Dick Ridgway, official judge of the event, ruled the attempt a foul because the shot landed outside the throwing area boundary.

El Cajon Valley would win the meet if the throw were ruled legal. El Cajon Valley coach Joe Brooks protested.  Days later the issue still was not resolved after a meeting of the San Diego Track and Field Officials’ Association at the Breitbard Athletic Foundation office.

Metropolitan Northern Division honchos eventually and surprisingly ruled in El Cajon Valley’s favor and the Braves scored a 53 1/3-50 2/3 victory.

Crawford’s Bill Rainey won San Diego Section 880 in 1:58.8, with Sweetwater’s Rick Lehtola in pursuit.

4/21/61

Helix ended Grossmont’s streak of 29 consecutive Metropolitan League dual meet victories, 55 2/3-48 1/3.

Déjà vu.

The Highlanders were the last team to beat the Foothillers, 56 1/3-47 2/3, in 1957.

This Highlanders team clinched the meet with a 1:32.5 triumph in the 880 relay.

Grossmont’s trio of shotputters, Ed Speed, Brad Baer, and Dave Eichorst, usually good for a 9-0 sweep, had to be satisfied with a 6-3 scoring advantage.

A huge crowd of spectators lined the area around the competitors and saw Speed win at 59-7 ¾, but the Highlanders’ John Pottinger set a school record with his second-place 57-9 ¾.

Bob Vezza won the 100 in :10, 220 in :22, and advanced the school record to 22 feet, 6 inches, in the broad jump, and ran a leg in the relay. Vezza, Jack Wilson, and Larry Aiken staked Charles Hahn to a 10-yard lead at start of the relay anchor leg.

Hahn, who earlier set a school record of :51.2 in the 440, managed to hold on for the relay victory despite an unofficial :21 flat anchor by Grossmont’s Steve Adams, who closed to within two strides of the leader.

—Dave Price a future 60-foot thrower with the collegiate and international, 16-pound implement, reached 54-4 in the shot put for Clairemont.

4/28/61

Mission Bay’s Jeff Moran ran a school-record :09.8 100 in the Buccaneers’ 78-26 loss to Clairemont. The Chieftains’ John Stancil edged Moran in a :21.9 220.

—Walter Scott broad jumped 23-9 and teammate Ed Goodman 23-3 as Lincoln wrapped  the Eastern League championship, 82 1/3-21 /2/3, over Crawford.

—Point Loma claimed the Western league dual title, 59 ½-43 ½, overcoming Komet Bob Richardson’s double in the low hurdles (:20.3) and high jump (6-3/4).

—Granite Hills’ Ray DeBolt won an 880 showdown with Mount Miguel’s Gerry Mavrinac, running a career best and besting his rival by 10 yards in 1:59.7.

5/2/61

Helix’ John Pottinger became the all-time, sixth 60-foot thrower in the area, reaching 60-1 ¾ with the 12-pound shot in a Southern Division dual at Mount Miguel.

5/5/61

Chula Vista’s Gary Coleman logged a 4:29.8 mile, but Helix, lifted by John Pottinger’s 59 3 3/4 shot put, won the dual meet, 66-37.

–Grossmont’s Ed Speed went 58-7 in the shot and the Foothillers raked Sweetwater, 94-10.

–Escondido won the Vista Relays with 54 points. El Cajon Valley’s Mike Graves, the area leader at 13-6 in the pole vault, did not begin competing until the bar was at 13 feet and missed all three attempts.

Hoover’s Alan Duke, with coach Raleigh Holt, was one of San Diego Section’s leading sprinters with bests of :09.9 wind and :21.7 legal.

5/9/61

LEAGUE TRIALS

EASTERN, @CRAWFORD

Lincoln, the dual-meet champion, led with 15 qualifiers, followed by San Diego with 14, but the Cavemen sustained one of the day’s biggest setbacks.

Thomas Phillips, third in the Southern Section finals 100 in 1960, pulled a muscle winning his 100-yard dash heat in :10.1.

Phillips scratched from the 220 but hoped to run the 100 and relay in the league finals in three days.

San Diego’s Lou White ran a not-wind-aided season-best :14.6 In the 120-yard high hurdles.

WESTERN, @CLAIREMONT.

Clairemont led with 19 qualifiers eight more than runner-up Point Loma.

Best event of day was a 440 heat in which Point Loma’s Ron Steele (:50.3) edged Clairemont’s Larry Godfrey (:50.9).

San Diego’s Lou White finished fifth in :14.5 in state meet 120-yard high hurdles.

5/9/61

METRO NORTHERN DIVISION, @EL CAPITAN

Escondido’s Dave Blunt, who turned out for track this season after playing baseball for three years, ran the 220 in :21.8 and won a 100 heat in :10.1.

“I think when he goes against some of those city sprinters he’ll improve even more,” said Cougars coach Charlie Bonebrake, whose squad qualified 14, behind El Cajon Valley’s 17.

Granite Hills’ Ray DeBolt, a favorite in the 880, with a best time of 1:59.7, switched to the mile and won his heat in 4:36.

DeBolt was the Southern Section champion in the Class B 660 in 1960  in 1:23.8.

METRO SOUTHERN DIVISION, @GROSSMONT

Helix and Grossmont each qualified 13 entries, but top mark went to Mount Miguel’s Gerry Mavrinac, who logged a 2:00.1 880.

AVOCADO LEAGUE, @VISTA

Scott Knox of Coronado raced to a :50.3 clocking in the 440 for the day’s top performance.  Teammate Norman Alm won an 880 heat in 2:04.7.

Knox and the Islanders led with 17 qualifiers.  Defending champion Mar Vista had 14.

5/12/61

FINALS

WESTERN LEAGUE, @LA JOLLA

Clairemont won the team title before about 1,500 persons at Scripps field on the Vikings’ campus.

John Stancil surprised teammate Larry Godfrey and Point Loma’s Ron Steele with a 440 win in :50.2 and Dave Price put the shot 54 feet, 2 ¾ inches.

The Chieftains outscored Point Loma, 63 1/2-51, although the Pointers’ Ray Alexander doubled in the 100 and 220 in :10.1 and :22.6 and anchored the winning 880-yard relay team to a 1:33.6 victory, and Steve Brown won the mile in a season-best 4:36.5.

Lincoln’s Curtis Meekins (right) won 100-yard dash in :09.9 in dual meet with San Diego. Cavers’ Thomas Phillips (second from left) was second. Ed Goodman of Lincoln was third and Eddie Frost of San Diego fourth.

EASTERN LEAGUE, @BALBOA STADIUM

Curtis Meekins’ :09.8 100, :22.2 220, and the last leg of a winning, 1:30.2 in the 880-yard relay led Lincoln to the team championship.

The Hornets outscored San Diego, 79 1/2-44 ½.

Hoover half milers John Garrison and Ralph Havens, ran 1-2 in the 880, Garrison winning in 2:00.4 to Havens’ 2:00.6.

Lou White ran :14.9 and :20 to win both hurdles races. White’s San Diego teammate Thomas Phillips, third in Southern California in 1960, was unplaced in the 100 but ran a leg on the relay despite a muscle pull sustained in Tuesday’s trials.

AVOCADO LEAGUE, @VISTA

Scott Knox logged a :50.0 quarter mile and Coronado outscored Mar Vista, 76 ½-56 ½, for the team championship.

Norm Alm won the 880 in 2:04.4 and the Islanders completed their domination with a 1:32.2 win in the 880 relay.

SOUTHERN PREP, @CAMP PENDLETON

Matt Burnett (:15.5, :19.9, 19-11 ½) won three events, highs and low hurdles and broad jump, to lead Army-Navy to the team title with 73 points to Ramona’s 49.

METRO NORTHERN DIVISION, @ESCONDIDO

Dave Blunt broke the oldest record on the books, running :21.4 in the 220, erasing the :21.5 by Oceanside’s Bill Huntales in 1937.

Blunt also won the 100 in :09.9 and anchored the host Escondido Cougars to a 1:31.8 win in the 880 relay.

El Cajon Valley’s Mike Graves, who couldn’t muster 13 feet in the Vista Relays one week before, cleared 14 feet in the pole vault, top mark in Southern California.

Escondido outscored El Cajon Valley, 59 3/4-56 ½, for the championship.

METRO SOUTHERN DIVISION, @Chula Vista.

Ed Speed of Grossmont and John Pottinger of Helix drew a crowd around the shot put ring.

Speed’s 60-10 effort had been bettered only by his 61-6 ¼ earlier this season.  Pottinger was second at 59-8 7/8.

Sixth-place Bill Burnett of Helix reached 52-5 1/8, which would have been first in the Eastern, Avocado, and Southern Prep leagues.

Grossmont edged Helix in the team race, 48 ½-45 ½.

Clairemont had  speed group of (from left) Tom Rutkoske, John Stancil, and John Swallow.

5/19/61

SAN DIEGO SECTION TRIALS, @KEARNY

A sprint duel was promised when Lincoln’s Curtis Meekins won his heats in :09.9 and :21.6 and Escondido’s Dave Blunt won his in :09.9 and :21.7.

Coronado’s Scott Knox became the favorite when he ran the 440 in :49.7.  Point Loma’s Ron Steele won his heat in :50.7.

Casualties included San Diego’s 880-yard relay team, disqualified for passing out of its lane; Walter Scott, 23-10 broad jumper from Lincoln, and Mount Miguel half-miler Gerry Mavrinac.

Lincoln led with 13 qualifiers.  Clairemont was next with 8.

5/26/61

SAN DIEGO SECTION FINALS, @KEARNY

Only one record was accepted in any sprint race as wind blew off the Kearny Mesa.

Escondido’s Dave Blunt won the 100 in a wind-aided :09.7 but his :21 flat 220 was under the legal limit of 4.47 miles an hour.

Scott Knox of Coronado won the 440 in :49.2, fastest ever in San Diego County, and bettered the school record of :49.5 by John Fawcett in 1937.

The day’s outstanding performance was the 14-foot, 3 ½-inch pole vault by El Cajon Valley’s Mike Graves, who also was competing on a runway that had the breeze at his back.

Lincoln won the team championship with 28 points to San Diego’s 22.

Bruce Long (left) was one of  the area leaders in pole vault at 13 feet, 1/2 inch.  Long broke the school record set by Bryce Santry (right), who cleared 12-9 in the 1935 Metropolitan League finals.

6/3/61

Three of the 12 San Diego entries, one for each event, scored in the morning-afternoon, 43rd state track meet at East Los Angeles College.

Mike Graves of El Cajon set a meet record of 14 feet, 2 ¼ inches, in the pole vault.

“I was pretty sure of myself,” said Graves.  “I wasn’t sweating too many people.   Figured once I got over 14 feet I could win it.”

Collectively this was the finest group of prep vaulters in one setting.  The next four tied at 13-10, marking the first time any group of five had gone that high.

Lou White of San Diego was fifth in :14.5 in the 120-yard high hurdles. Bill Jones of Grossmont tied for fifth in the high jump at 6-4.

None of the other San Diego competitors finished better than eighth (Crawford’s Bill Rainey, 1:58 in the 880).  Granite Hills’ Ray DeBolt ran his best time, 4:26.8 in the mile, but was ninth.

BETTER DAYS AHEAD

Escondido’s Dave Blunt was unplaced in the 100 trials in the morning and qualified at :21.5 in the 220, but was ninth in :22.2 in the final.

Blunt continued on in track at the University of Oregon and was one of the nation’s top 220 runners, finishing fourth in the national collegiate meet in 1965 with a wind-aided :20.7.