San Diego could have locked up another Southern California championship, but the Hillers, who had won team titles in 1929, ’38, ’41, ’42, and ’48, were outscored by a tall timber topper from Glendale Hoover.
Hurdler, jumper, and anchorman Jack Davis scored 19 of the Tornadoes’ 24 points, leaving the defending champion Hillers in second place with 16 points. Third was Grossmont, with 13.
The 6-foot, 3-inch Davis, who earned Olympic silver medals in the 110 meters in 1952 and ’56, was a four-time national collegiate hurdles champion at USC and held the world record of :13.4 in 1956.
Davis became a real estate developer who also helped found the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista in 2007 and lived on Point Loma for many years before passing in 2012.
Meanwhile, coach Bill Patten’s San Diego squad and Jack Mashin’s Grossmont thinclads dominated the Coast League, and Sandy MacLaren’s La Jolla Vikings were a Metropolitan League power.
Grossmont’s Duane Pusey’s 13-foot, 3/8-inch pole vault was third highest in the country and Hal Norris’ 57-1 shot put was fifth.
2/24/49
Hal Norris of Grossmont put the shot 53 feet, 8 inches, and Hal Espy of San Diego ran the 100-yard dash in :10.1 in the first annual San Diego High Relays at Balboa Stadium.
Grossmont scored 56 points in Class A, 56 ½ in B, and 54 in C to sweep the field. San Diego was runner-up in all three classifications with 41, 55 1/2, and 34, respectively.
3/4/49
Jerry Mock doubled in :10.2 and :23.5 in the 100 and 220 and Metropolitan League favorite La Jolla defeated Point Loma, 65 ½-38 ½.
3/15/49
Duane Pusey set a school record with a pole vault of 13 feet, 3/8 inches, and Hal Norris put the shot 53-1 ½ in Grossmont’s 81 2/3-22 1/3 win over Hoover.
The Foothillers won 11 of 12 events, with Alan Archard and Jim Weed doubling for wins in the hurdles and dashes, respectively.
Jerry Mock won the 100 in :10.5, 220 in :23.1, and the shotput at 46 feet in La Jolla’s 79 2/3-24 1/3 win over Sweetwater.
Ken Farnsworth ran :15.3 in the 120-yard high hurdles and :22 in the 180 lows, and Kearny outscored Escondido, 61-42.
3/18/49
Point Loma almost won out and wiped out Oceanside, 101-3, with a cumulative advantage of 248-19 in A, B (86-4), and C (63-12) in a Metropolitan League meet.
3/19/49
San Diego (34 ½) and Grossmont (21 ½) were 1-2 in large schools’ team scoring and La Jolla (35) won the small-schools competition in the 28th Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach.
Charlie Davis won the 100-yard dash in :10.3 and contributed to the Hillers’ other first place, a 1:33.6 effort in the 880 relay.
Hal Norris was first in the shot put at 54-4 ¾ and Duane Pusey cleared 12-6 in the pole vault for Grossmont’s firsts.
La Jolla’s Jerry Mock won a 100 heat in :10.4. Teammates Jesse Estrada, 880 heat in 2:02.3, and Riley, mile in 4:44.2, also were victorious.
3/27/49
San Diego beat visiting Compton 75 2/3-28 1/3, as Charlie Davis won three events with season bests, 10 seconds in the 100, :22.8 in the 220, and 22-6 ¾ in the broad jump. Davis finished his day anchoring San Diego to a season best 1:32.9 relay.
John Davis of the Hillers reached 52 feet, 3 inches in the shot put and Albert Rodin cleared 12-8 in the pole vault.
3/29/49
Hank Cagle squeezed in between two Grossmont runners for second place in the 880 and that was the difference in San Diego’s 52 2/3-51 1/3 showdown dual meet victory over Grossmont.
The Cavers still had to win, as expected, in the 880 relay. Charlie Davis, Herb McClister, Darnes Johnson, and Hal Espy clocked a season best 1:31.7.
Dick Swanson also came through for San Diego with a 4:38.9 mile. Hal Norris’ season best 55-1 ½ led the Foothillers.
4/2/49
Jim Weed and Alan Archard combined to separate Grossmont from Compton in a 62-42 victory at the Northern school. The duo scored 23 points.
Archard doubled with wins of :20.5 in the low hurdles and 20 feet, 6 inches, in the broad jump, and was second in the high hurdles.
Weed won the 440 in :51.8 and 100 in :10.2.
–Fentriss Neal set a school record of :52.3 in the 440 but Chula Vista bowed to Point Loma, 58 ½-45 ½. Homer Broome doubled in :10.3 and :22.6 in the 100 and 220 for the Pointers.
4/8/49
La Jolla swept Classes A, B, and C and improved to 6-0 in all three divisions in a Metropolitan League dual at Escondido.
The Vikings of coach Sandy MacLaren defeated the Cougars, 89-14, in A, 70 ½-24 ½ in B, and 45-32 in C on the Grape city team’s layout. Escondido had been unbeaten in Class C.
Jerry Wood, Jesse Estrada, and Jerry Mock wheeled for six individual victories.
Wood won the 120-yard high hurdles (:15.6) and 180 lows (:21.6), Estrada the 880 (2:06.3) and broad jump (20-6 ½), and Mock the 100 (:10.1) and 220 (:23.1).
–Hoover dropped a Coast League dual at Compton, 69 ½-32 ½, but the Cardinals’ Malcolm Herbert turned in the best time of the season, clocking :15.2 in the 120-yard highs.
4/20/49
Alan Archard tied for first in the 120-yard low hurdles in :13.3. Hal Norris hurled the shot 53-11 ½, and Duane Pusey pole vaulted 12-9 as the traveling Foothillers outscored Pasadena, 70 ½-32 ½, and Pasadena Muir, 92 ½-10 ½, in a Coast League triangular.
–San Diego dominated Hoover, 79 2/3-24 1/3, in a Coast League dual under the lights in Balboa Stadium.
Malcolm Herbert of Hoover ran the year’s fastest high hurdles race, :15. Dick Swanson of San Diego ran the mile in 4:39.4.
4/21/49
Fentriss Neal won the 100 in :10.3 and set a school record of :22.7 in the 220 in Chula Vista’s 64-40 win over Kearny. Ken Farnsworth doubled in the hurdles (:15.4 and :20.3) for the Komets.
4/22/49
With Grossmont out of the Metropolitan League and now a member of the Coast, the coast was clear for La Jolla and the Vikings made a clean sweep of dual meets.
La Jolla beat Oceanside, 93-11, in class A, 89-5 in B, and 57-20 in C to finish with a 7-0 record in all classes.
4/23/49
San Diego did not win an individual event but rolled with its winning relay team (1:31.7) and piled up seconds, thirds, and fourths, and took the championship with 43 ½ points at the Compton Gold Cup invitational.
Grossmont was fourth behind the Hillers, Compton, and Long Beach Poly, with 23 points. Hal Norris set a meet record of 56-4 in the shot put and Duane Pusey was first in the pole vault at 12-9.
4/27/49
Grossmont qualified 24 entries in Class A. San Diego had 17, Compton 13 and Hoover 11 in the Coast League trials at San Diego State.
Malcolm Herbert of Hoover set a meet record of :20.1 in the 180 low hurdles and Hal Norris of Grossmont bettered the shot put record with a toss of 55-2 1/2.
4/28/49
La Jolla and Point Loma, 1-2 in the dual meet season, each qualified 13 entries in the Metropolitan League trials at San Diego State.
Chula Vista’s Fentriss Neal, one of the league’s best sprinters, was forced to withdraw because of illness, depriving a matchup with La Jolla’s Jerry Mock, who took the lead in the 100 with a time of :10.
4/30/49
COAST LEAGUE FINALS, @COMPTON
Coach Jack Mashin, aptly known as the Fox of the Foothills, saw his Grossmont High squad surprise in the Coast League finals with a team-leading 69 1/2 points.
San Diego, the regular-season champion and a one-point dual meet winner over Mashin’s group, was second with 52. Compton had 38 and Hoover 11 ½.
Grossmont’s Alan Archard set a school record of :15.2 in the high hurdles and won the lows in :20.1, each time defeating favored Armstrong of Compton and Malcolm Herbert of Hoover.
The Foothillers’ Hal Norris set a meet record with a shot put of 56-6 ½. Teammate Jim Weed took the 440 in :51.2. Class B shot putter, sophomore Clyde Wetter, posted a record 51-3 with the 10-pound weight.
SOUTHERN PREP FINALS, @VISTA
San Dieguito scored 122 1/3 points, with second-place Vista far behind with 70 points.
Jack Albrecht of Army-Navy put the shot 45-7 ½ and Williams of Ramona ran the mile in 4:58.2 for meet records.
METROPOLITAN LEAGUE, @SAN DIEGO STATE
5/2/49
Eddie Davis of Chula Vista ran the mile in 4:35.7, breaking the school record of 4:39.2, set in 1946, but La Jolla continued its dual-meet dominance with 62 points and won the team championship.
Jerry Mock of La Jolla was a double winner at :10.2 in the 100 and :22.5 in the 220. Ken Farnsworth of Kearny also doubled, winning the high hurdles in :15.5 and lows in :20.9.
5/7/49
San Diego led all qualifiers with 10 in the Southern Section Divisional trials at San Diego State.
The Hillers’ 880 relay team of Charlie Davis, Herb McClister, Darnes Johnson, and Hal Espy clocked 1:31.6, their best time of the year.
Charlie Davis edged La Jolla’s Jerry Mock in a :10.1 100 and Mock topped Davis with a :22.2 220. The Hillers’ Rudy Graham won the broad jump at 21 feet, 6 inches.
Competition involved qualifiers from the Coast, Imperial Valley, Metropolitan, Southern Prep, and Sunset leagues.
5/14/49
Jerry Mock of La Jolla was a double winner in the Divisional semifinal meet at San Diego State, winning the 100 in :10.2 and 220 in :22.2.
San Diego High was the unofficial team winner with 25½ points, Grossmont second with 19, La Jolla third with 18, and Compton fourth with 15.
5/21/49
San Diego’s defending Southern Section team champion finished second to Glendale Hoover, which had 24 points to the Hillers’ 16. Grossmont was third with 13.
The meet at Long Beach Wilson saw the Tornadoes’ Jack Davis win the high hurdles (:14.5), lows (:19.2), finish second in the broad jump (23-7 ¼), and anchor the winning relay team (1:29.8) as Davis, trailing San Diego’s Hal Espy by two yards at the baton exchange, got to the tape two inches ahead of Espy, according to the report by the Los Angeles Times’ John De La Vega.
–San Diego had the same relay time as the winner.
–Jerry Mock of La Jolla was third and Charlie Davis of San Diego fifth in the 100, won in :09.9 by Russ Miller of Long Beach Poly.
–Eddie Davis of Chula Vista was third in the mile, won in 4:30.6 by Bob Simon of Pomona.
–Jim Weed of Grossmont was fifth in the 440, won in :50.6 by Jerry Borlin of Glendale Hoover. Duane Pusey of Grossmont won the pole vault at 12-6 and teammate Dave Smith tied for third at 12 feet. Alan Archard was fifth in the 180 lows.
–Hal Norris of Grossmont was second in the shot put at 56-10 ½, won at 57-9 ¼ by future world record holder Parry O’Brien of Santa Monica.
–John Davis of San Diego was third in the shot put at 52-10. Hal Espy was second, four yards behind Miller of Long Beach Poly, who won the 220 in :21.5.
5/28/49
The 31st state meet at the L.A. Coliseum was in the evening following afternoon trials.
–Hal Norris reached a career high of 57-1 in the shot put, ahead of Southern Section champ Parry O’Brien’s 55-2 3/4 and second to the 57-3 1/3 of Merced’s Elmer Wilhoite.
–John Davis of San Diego was sixth in the shot at 53-3 ¼.
–Norris was fourth at 45-9 1/2 and Davis fifth at 45-4 5/8 in the exhibition 16-pound shot, won by O’Brien at 47-11 ¼.
–Hal Espy of San Diego was fifth in the 220 in :22.1. The 880 relay squads of San Diego and L.A. Jefferson were disqualified for lane violations in the trials.
–Duane Pusey was second in the pole vault at 12-9, won by Bob Widman of Harbor City Narbonne at 13-4 ½. Grossmont’s Dave Smith tied for fifth at 12-3.
Your use of Hillers confused me at first since Grossmont now uses the term as a short version of Foothillers. I was under the impression that San Diego used the term “Cavers” (for Cavemen) but perhaps Hillers was a previous term.
Thanks for writing, Ted. The most accepted version is in the “Resembling Early Man” subhead of the 1922 narrative which explains the origin of “Cavemen”. They originally were known as Hilltoppers (the school was on a hill looking toward downtown) and that eventually was shortened to Hillers. Cavers came later.