1936 Track: Hilltoppers’ Pole Vaulter Saves Area From State Meet Shutout
It almost was all quiet on the San Diego County track and field front.
Pole vaulter Bob Henderson of San Diego high tied for second in the state meet at 12 feet, 9 inches, and was the only local entry to score.
Henderson had a career best of 13 feet and teammate Ben Sohn was one of the better shot putters in Southern California with a best of 50 feet, 8 1/4 inches.
4/2/36
Metropolitan League nomenclature was changing.
A Class C competition was being added in the upcoming league meet at San Diego State and joined by Class A and Class B entries.
The Metro was formed in 1933 and league championship meets in the first three years included two classes, Unlimited and Limited.
Classes are to be determined by exponents, i.e., height, weight, and age.
With 259 entries from eight schools, competition will begin at 10 a.m. and continue until the late afternoon, according to meet director Morris Gross.
4/4/36
Rain washed out the Metropolitan League championships at San Diego State.
4/11/36
San Diego won the sponsored De Molay track meet, part of the Pacific Exposition in Balboa Park and on an apparent temporary track and field site at the Exposition site.
The Hilltoppers had 38 points, followed by Whittier, 33; Montebello, 32; Compton, 21; Sweetwater, 5; Oceanside 3, and Point Loma, Huntington Beach, Coronado, Hoover, and Santa Ana, 1 each.
Five-foot, 8-inch Bob Henderson won two of the Hilltoppers’ five first places, pole vaulting 12 feet, 9 inches, and high jumping 5-11 ¾.
Ben Sohn hurled the shot 50-8 ¼, bettering the school record of 49-6 ½ by Ray Russell in 1930. Leslie Webb won the 120-yard high hurdles in :16.6 and C.P. McVay won the discus throw at 117-7.
Virgil DeLapp of Montebello created buzz when he won the 880-yard run in a blazing 1:54.6, but twice around the track oval was determined to cover only 796 yards.
4/17/36
San Diego was first in 10 of 13 events and won its Coast League meet at Santa Ana, 83-30.
Ben Sohn won the shot put at 50-3, Bob Henderson the pole vault at 12-3, and Jerry Rudrauff the broad jump at 21-8 1/2.
Bob Henderson and sophomore future star Bob Logan tied for first in the high jump, each clearing 5-9 7/8.
4/18/36
Grossmont coach Ladimir (Jack) Mashin, described as the “Greyhound of the Foothills,” (later known as the Fox of the Foothills) suggested to fellow coaches during the San Diego State-La Verne-Whittier triangular meet that Mashin could run eight laps on the Aztecs’ oval in 14 minutes.
Coaches Hal Niedermeyer of Coronado; Lawrence Carr of La Jolla, and Joe Beerkle of Point Loma, and two others each ponied up $1.
Mashin covered the two miles in 13:43.5 and walked away with $5.
—Hoover’s Don Grenfell was reported to be timed in :22.2 for first place in the 220 in the Davis Relays, near Sacramento.
4/20/36
Billy Gray set a Grossmont school record when he ran :25.5 in the 220 low hurdles at San Diego State, where the Aztec freshmen defeated the Foothillers, 71-28.
4/21/36
San Diego outscored Hoover, 82-31, in their annual dual meet, and set four meet records.
Leslie Webb ran the 120-yard high hurdles in :15.9. Bob Henderson pole vaulted 12 feet, 9 inches. C.P. McVay whirled the discus 114-6, and Ben Sohn heaved the shot 48-9 ½.
Dick Grenfell was a double winner for Hoover, :10.1 in the 100-yard dash and :23.2 in the 220.
Jerry Rudrauff of San Diego won the broad jump with a leap of 22-1 ½.
4/23/36
Grossmont’s Billy Gray, who set a school record three days before in the 220-yard low hurdles and a consistent 45-foot shot putter, was declared ineligible for the Metropolitan League finals.
CIF boss Seth Van Patten upheld a league ruling after Grossmont coach Jack Mashin took the matter to the higher authority for clarification.
Metro bosses cited Gray for playing in a Sunday baseball game on April 12, a week after the original date of the league track finals.
Someone in the Metro ratted out Gray for a seemingly minor transgression.
4/24/36
METROPOLITAN LEAGUE FINALS @SAN DIEGO STATE
Grossmont could not defend its league championship, finishing fourth in team standings, the loss of Gray meaning expected points in the hurdles and shot put, and in the 880-yard relay, in which the Foothillers did not run.
Oceanside was first in Class A with 48 points. La Jolla led Class B with 45 points, and Coronado’s 35 was first in Class C.
A total of 22 records were set in the 32 events.
Oceanside’s Billy Huntales raced to a :10.2 win in the 100 and broad jumped 21-6 for two Class A records.
Jerry Soule of La Jolla set three Class B records, 5-10 ½ high jump, :09.6 70-yard high hurdles, and :14.4 120-yard low hurdles and Class C teammate Jim Tripp also tripled, :10.8 100, 20-6 broad jump, and record, :24.8 220.
—San Diego went North to Alhambra without shot putter Ben Sohn, who apparently missed the bus. The Hilltoppers still won, 72 ½-46 ½, and Charles Bell, not Jerry Rudrauff, was reported to have won the broad jump at 22 feet, 2 inches.
5/2/36
BAY LEAGUE FINALS, @LONG BEACH WILSON
Hoover was seventh in a field of seven teams with 12 points as the Wilson Bruins ran away with the team championship with 64 ½ points, outdistancing Santa Monica, which had 35 ½.
Hoover’s Dave Grenfell was fourth in the 100 and third in the 220, races with winning times of :10 and :21.7.
Hoover’s Bud Berg was timed in 2:04.2 and was fifth in the 880 behind the winning 2:02.7.
The Cardinals also were last in Class B with 6 points and were blanked in Class C.
COAST LEAGUE FINALS, @ALHAMBRA
Glenn Broderick’s Hilltoppers rebounded from the 59 ½-53 ½ dual meet loss to Long Beach Poly.
The border city team won two events and tied for first in another, enough for the Hilltoppers to edge Long Beach Poly, 65 1/6-61 2/3, in the team race.
Leslie Webb’s :16.1 in the 120-yard high hurdles, Bob Henderson’s 13-foot pole vault, and Rudy Gonzalez’ 6-1 ¾ high jump, which was matched by a Long Beach Wilson jumper, put Broderick’s thinclads over the top.
5/8/36
CIF DIVISIONAL, @SAN DIEGO STATE
Bill Huntales won a heat in the 100-yard dash in :10.2 and broad jumped 22 feet, 1/2 inch to lead Oceanside to the team lead with 38 points.
Entries were from the Metropolitan and Imperial Valley leagues.
First-place finishers automatically qualified. Others could advance after their marks were compared with those from other divisional meets.
5/8/36
CIF DIVISIONAL, @GLENDALE HOOVER
San Diego High entries were aligned against qualifiers from the Bay, Foothill, and Prep leagues.
Bob Henderson of San Diego tied for first with Dave Bodkins of Inglewood at 13 feet in the pole vault. Hilltopper John Barnhill also qualified, but did not clear 12-3.
Ben Sohn of San Diego was second in the shot put at 48-9 ¼ and teammate Jerry Rudrauff was third in the broad jump at 21-5.
CIF FINALS, @LONG BEACH WILSON
5/16/36
San Diego scored 9 ½ points to finish sixth in team scoring as seven Wilson athletes scored 27 ½ points.
Los Angeles Jefferson, 1935 champion, did not participate as the school had joined others in forming the L.A. City Section.
Pasadena Muir was second with 14 ½, fired by the early-in-the-meet victory at 23 feet, ¾ inches in the broad jump by Jackie Robinson.
Eddie Arnold, Robinson’s teammate, won the Class B broad jump at 23-2 ½.
Bob Henderson of San Diego tied for first with Dave Bodkins of Inglewood at 12-6 in the pole vault; Henderson’s teammate, John Barnhill, was third at 12 feet, and Ben Sohn was fourth with a 50-2 ¼ effort in the shot put.
5/23/36
22nd STATE MEET, @GRIDLEY HIGH.
About 125 athletes, including one from San Diego, competed in 90-degree weather at the high school 55 miles North of Sacramento.
Bob Henderson of San Diego tied for second in the pole vault with Jim Peterson of Carpinteria, behind the 12-11 by Dave Bodkins of Inglewood.
Pasadena Muir Tech, aided by a CIF decision to allow Southern Section Class B broad jump champion Eddie Arnold to compete, upset Long Beach Wilson, 18-15 in final point totals.
Arnold, who set a Class B meet record of 23-2 ½ a week before, won the event with a jump of 23-1 ¾. Jackie Robinson was not listed as placing in the top five.
