Dewey J. (Mike) Morrow, a University of California at Berkeley graduate from Montana, returned from the war to San Diego High and coached the Hilltoppers to his eighth CIF Southern Section championship in Morrow’s 16 seasons and first since 1939.

Writer Norrie West of the Evening Tribune said of Morrow’s return:

“Not a soul will deny that Mike has baseball ‘know-how’, but fundamentally it’s the never-say-die spirit this lean master infuses into his team that seems to give them that extra something.”

West was fond of repeating one of Morrow’s favorite maxims.  “Every afternoon in Balboa Stadium you can hear Mike bawl in his foghorn voice: “’Run it out—maybe he’ll throw it away!’”

The Hilltoppers always got the message behind the words.

Morrow’s ace lefthanded pitcher Gene Richardson, who posted a 14-1 record, was the Southern Section player of the year.

Catcher Jerry Dahms, who also doubled as a shot putter on Bill Patten’s track team, led the Hillers with a .376 batting average.

3/6/46

The Martinez All-Stars defeated pitcher Gene Richardson and San Diego High, 3-2, in Balboa Stadium.  The win evened the series between the Hillers and former preps from the area at two wins apiece.

3/8/46

Bill Dugan homered and San Diego won a practice game at Point Loma, 10-4.

3/12/46

Ragged was the word for these preseason games.  Point Loma won, 15-11, at La Jolla as the teams combined for 16 errors.  Eight errors were recorded in St. Augustine’s 7-6 loss at Grossmont.

3/14/46

The Point Loma varsity topped the visiting San Diego junior varsity, 11-5, behind the four-hit pitching of Joe Medina.  It was the Hilltopper youngsters’ first game.

3/15/46

La Jolla’s Bud Relyea gave up an unearned run in the second inning and hurled a no-hitter in a 9-1 victory over guest St. Augustine.

3/20/46

San Diego defeated the Vick’s Nationals team, 10-8. Point Loma rapped St. Augustine, 12-3, and Sweetwater knocked off El Centro Central, 14-3.

3/22/46

Joe Medina scattered three hits and survived five errors, and Point Loma won a six-inning, nonleague game, 8-6, against Victory League opponent and host Sweetwater.

3/27/46

La Jolla stopped host Escondido on three hits, 7-5, behind the pitching of Bud Relyea, Cyril Guthridge, and Dan Butcher.

3/28/46

Pitchers John Brown, Jerry Dahms, and Pete Corona combined to limit visiting  Sweetwater to three hits in San Diego’s 8-3 victory.

–Hoover’s Ken Clary struck out 14 and set down visiting Point Loma and Pointers ace Joe Medina, 4-2.

–Grossmont at La Jolla was postponed because of wet grounds.

4/4/46

Hoover collected three hits and Grossmont botched its way to seven errors and dropped a 10-4 decision to the visiting Cardinals.

–San Diego and Hoover remained the Victory’s League’s only undefeated teams, each 2-0, when the Hilltoppers rocked La Jolla, 14-3.

The Hillers piled 14 hits and John Brown cuffed the Vikings on two hits.

–Joe Medina struck out 14 batters and Point Loma, with a four-run eighth inning, edged Sweetwater, 5-4.

4/5/46

Gene Richardson gave up four hits and pitched San Diego High to a 6-2 win at Fullerton. The Hillers’ John Verdusco doubled and singled twice.

–Hoover lost the first of a three-game series at Santa Barbara, 5-3.

4/6/46

Hoover collected 19 hits and restricted Santa Barbara to six as the Cardinals swept a double header, 8-2, and 15-8.

John Hedquist gave up three hits in the opener and contributed with a two-run home run. Ken Clary and Roy

Wayne each added a triple.

Clary allowed only three hits and collected three hits in the nightcap, but did not receive sterling defense. The Cardinals threatened to compromise things with four errors.

4/11/46

Joe Correia’s three-run home run and solo shot by Joe Medina presented Point Loma a 4-0 lead in the first two innings at San Diego.

The Hillers erupted for eight runs in the third inning and rolled, 18-4.

–Hoover slugged 16 hits and drubbed La Jolla, 17-2, at Horace Mann playground.

–Tony Castro homered and pitched Sweetwater to a 7-2 victory over Grossmont’s Art Preston.

4/15/46

San Diego, Hoover, and Point Loma represented the area in the 13^th Pomona 20-30 Club tournament.

Coach Mike Morrow’s top-seed Hilltoppers, winners in six of the nine previous years in which San Diego High teams entered, were in the 32-team field for the first time since 1941.

—San Diego defeated Anaheim, 9-4, in the morning and Pasadena, 7-6, in the afternoon.  Hoover edged Santa Monica, 5-4, and returned with a 4-2 win over Point Loma in a contest that went two extra innings.

(Point Loma had won its first-round game, 10-8, over Azusa Citrus).

—Ken Clary and Jack McColl homered in Hoover’s opener.  Winning relief pitcher Harvey Jones drove in Roy Wayne with the winning run and the Cardinals clinched the second game with a successful squeeze play in the ninth inning.

4/16/46

Hoover got four-hit, shutout pitching from John Hedquist in a 5-0 quarterfinals victory over Covina and earned a trip to the Pomona 20-30 Club finals with a 7-4 triumph over Santa Barbara.

San Diego was eliminated in the morning quarterfinals by El Monte, 3-1. The Lions lost in the semifinals, 4-0, to Orange, which qualified to meet Hoover.

—La Jolla’s Bud Relyea struck out 18 and allowed only a scratch single in a 7-0 home victory over Escondido.

4/17/46

Ken Clary scattered six hits and weathered a three-run, ninth-inning by Orange as Hoover claimed the Pomona 20-30 Club championship, 5-3.

Roy Wayne’s 2-for-5 performance at the plate, led the Cardinals, who took a 2-0 lead in the third inning and scored single runs in the fifth, seventh, and eighth.

4/23/46

They would play for the Victory League championship later in the week, but Hoover and San Diego warmed up, the Cavers winning a nonleague contest in Balboa Stadium, 16-9.

Bobby King’s double with the bases loaded helped the Hillers to a 5-0 lead in the third inning.  Hoover scored six in the eighth inning after reliever Pete Corona walked six batters.  The Hillers recovered with five in the bottom of the eighth.

4/25/46

Anticipation resulted in the Hoover-San Diego Victory League title decider being switched to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot diamond.

–Joe Correia was 3 for 4 and hit a home run in Point Loma’s 11-6 victory against the Hoover junior varsity in a game slowed by 13 combined errors.

4/26/46

Gene Richardson did not allow a runner to reach third base and San Diego clinched a tie for the Victory League championship, 4-0, over Hoover at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot.

Ken Clary gave up six hits including a two-run double to Chuck San Fillippo in the second inning and John Brown’s run-scoring triple that followed Fred Flores’ single in the eighth.

—Ralph Silva’s triple scored pitcher Don Larsen with the winning run as Point Loma beat Grossmont, 6-5, in 10 innings.

—Visiting La Jolla’s Bud Relyea gave up only three hits, but Sweetwater’s Tony Castro allowed two and the Red Devils earned a 4-0 win.

4/29/46

Paul Kaneyuki’s triple followed Joe Henning’s single and Point Loma outlasted the San Diego junior varsity, 4-3, in 15 innings on the Pointers’ field.

4/30/46                                                                                                                  

Ken Clary pitched and hit Hoover to a 5-3 win over San Diego in Balboa Stadium.   Clary kept the Hilltoppers at a distance for the first five innings, then moved to right field and homered, finishing the day 3 for 4.

San Diego won the three-game series, 2 games to 1, after outscoring the Cardinals, 16-9, and 4-0, with only the shutout counting in Victory League standings.

–Grossmont’s Bobby Lamp tripled in 2 runs in the seventh inning and pitched the Foothillers to a 3-2 win over visiting Calexico.

5/1/46                                                                                                  

San Diego won the Victory League championship on the road, with Gene Richardson outpitching Grossmont’s Art Preston, 5-4.

Richardson’s triple climaxed a five-run fifth inning that overcame the Foothillers’ four-run lead.

Preston gave up only three hits but coach John Hancock’s team committed five errors.

5/2/46

—Hoover, Sweetwater, and Point Loma tied for second behind San Diego in the Victory League final standings, each with a 3-2 record.

—Sweetwater surprised Hoover, 9-7, at Horace Mann Playground, and Point Loma, behind Don Larsen’s two-hit pitching, won at La Jolla, 27-2…yes, 27-2.

VICTORY LEAGUE STANDINGS

TEAM	W-L	PCT.	GAMES BEHIND
San Diego	5-0	1.000	—
Point Loma	3-2	.600	2
Sweetwater	3-2	.600	2
Hoover	3-2	.600	2
Grossmont	1-4	.200	4
La Jolla	0-5	.000	5

5/4/46

John Verdusco hit a grand slam home run and Bobby King a solo shot leading San Diego to a 12-5 win over Long Beach Wilson in Balboa Stadium.

John Brown pitched the first seven innings and Gene Richardson the final two for the Hillers.

5/8/46

Brown Military was not a welcome guest at Julian, where the Cadets hammered the Eagles, 35-6, in a Southern Section Group 12 game mercifully called after seven innings.

Brown’s score almost doubled its hits, 18.  Julian committed five errors and two pitchers walked many, unnumbered amount of batters.

5/9/46

As part of a four-day road soiree  leading to a three-game series in Tucson, the Hillers opened Southern California playoff competition with a 24-3 win at El Centro Central.

5/10/46

An overflow crowd estimated at 3,000 persons saw Tucson High beat John Brown and the San Diego Hilltoppers, 3-0, in the Arizona city.

Brown gave up only four hits but walked seven as the Bears scored single runs in the first, second, and eighth innings.

5/11/46

Gene Richardson walked no one, struck out 13, and gave up four hits as San Diego evened its series in Tucson, 7-1, and then completed a double header sweep in the afternoon, 10-6.

The defeats reportedly were the first for the Bears in three years.

Charles Norman was the winning pitcher and catcher Jerry Dahms and first baseman John Brown each was 3 for 5.

5/16/46

San Diego’s second-round CIF playoff with Orange was moved to Lane Field so that a Reserve Officer Training Corps review could be conducted in Balboa Stadium.

5/17/46

Gene Richardson struck out 19 and Richardson and eight of his teammates contributed at least one hit in a 12-hit attack as San Diego blanked the Orange Panthers, 6-0, in a second-round playoff.

Richardson, John Brown, and John Verdusco each had two hits.

5/24/46

The Hillers moved on to the CIF finals with a 9-2 win over Pasadena at Lane Field.  The Bullpups entered the game with a 16-2 record and were led by future major league outfielder and San Diego Padres manager Dick Williams.

Gene Richardson struck out 16 and added two hits and scored two runs as San Diego overcame a 2-0 Pasadena lead with three runs in the fifth inning and followed with two each in the sixth, seventh, and eighth.

5/29/46

Inglewood, 20-8 coming in, was no match for San Diego’s 17-hit attack in an 18-0 rout of the Sentinels in the championship game at Lane Field.

The Hilltoppers scored 4 runs in the third inning and seven in the fourth.

An infield single by Teruto Kaneka in the seventh inning was the only base hit allowed by Gene Richardson, who struck out 19.

The Hillers rapped 15 singles and two doubles (John Verdusco, Charles Norman) and concluded their season with a 24-7 record.

Fred Pierce was 4 for 5 and Charlie Coffee 3 for 3 to lead the San Diego attack.

San Diego batsmen, when the game was out of hand, switched.  Righthanded hitters became lefthanded hitters and vice versa.

San Diego High, led by quartermiler Norman Stocks, sprinter-broad jumper Jimmy Barrera, hurdler Harry West, shot putter Joe Acevedo, and half-miler Harry Taylor, among others on a deep and talented squad, was in full force, posting an 8-0 record in dual meets, winner of 16 in a row, and 20-2 since Bill Patten became coach in 1944,  their only losses, 54-50 to Grossmont, and 55-48 to Hoover, in Patten’s first season.

The CIF Southern Section meet, held in Balboa Stadium for the first time,  could have been a reference point for when the San Diego Section won the right to host the 1967 and 1975 state meets.

The Stadium configuration, which did not provide a straight distance for races of 220 yards, eventually proved to be an Olympic-style  model.  Starting in 1967, all 220-yard events were on a curve, according to track historian Russ Reabold.

The season of 1946  also was the last in which the 220-yard hurdle race was contested.  The CIF reduced the distance to 180 yards in 1947. The CIF would reduce the 120-yard high hurdles clearance from 42 inches to 39 inches the following year.

3/1/46

San Diego won a 65-38 decision against La Jolla, with Norm Stocks setting the pace by winning the 440 in :51.6 and taking the baton to the finish line of a 1:32 victory in the 880-yard relay.  Bobby Smith pole vaulted 11 feet, 6 inches, for the Hilltoppers and George Pinnell had a 48-9 shot put for La Jolla.

3/8/46

A Hoover team of John Mhoon, Chuck Whitmarsh, Rudd Hanna, and Kempton Blair ran the relay in 1:35.5 and its winning five points allowed the Cardinals to deadlock Grossmont, 52-52, in a controversial Victory League dual at Hoover.

Chuck Evins of Grossmont won the 220-yard low hurdles but was disqualified when Evins drifted into another lane on what an Evening Tribune reporter described as poorly marked boundaries.

Grossmont’s Duane (Bud) Close staggered and fell across the finish line in the 440-yard run.  Officials ruled that Close had breasted the tape first in :53.6, although had he not fallen Hoover’s Kempton Blair would have won.

—Norman Stocks won the 100 in :10 and 440 in :50.3, and broad jumped 21 feet, 10 inches, as San Diego whipped Point Loma, 74-30. Stocks teamed with Harry West, Cosimo Cutri, and Jimmy Barrera in a 1:31.9 Hilltoppers relay victory.

Bobby Smith of San Diego pole vaulted 12 feet and Harry Taylor of the Hilltoppers logged a 2:04.3 880.  Point Loma’s Bob Smith ran a 4:44 mile.

3/15/46

Writer Norrie West of the Evening Tribune noted that Point Loma’s 53-51 dual meet victory over Hoover was result of the Pointers’ 1:36.2 triumph in the 880-yard relay final event, traversed on the peninsula team’s 330-yard oval.

But West credited the Point Loma victory to John Chasey, who scissored 5 feet, 9 inches, on his third and final try in the late-finishing high jump.  The second-place and three points by Chasey narrowed a Hoover lead to 51-48 heading into the relay.

–San Diego’s Harry West covered the 220-yard hurdles in :25.5 and teammate Fred Deewall ran the 220 in :22.8, and the Hilltoppers won all 12 events in the 89 ½-14 ½ rout at Sweetwater.

–Bud Held’s 12-2 ½ pole vault was instrumental in Grossmont’s 89 ½-14 ½ win over Kearny.

3/19/46

A “gooey track and half-hour downpour” didn’t make the Balboa Stadium layout unusable, while other Victory League duals were postponed in what had become a wet spring.

San Diego loafed to a 93 ½-10 ½ win over Coronado. Jimmy Barrera broad jumped 21-8 into a messy pit.  Norman Stocks jogged to a :54.8 win in the 440, and anchored a 1:41.6 victory in the relay.  Stocks and his three associates ran the race without removing their sweat suits.

3/20/46

Grossmont won all 12 events and the meet, 85-19, at Sweetwater despite losing its top sprinter, Dick Johnston, who pulled a muscle in the 100-yard dash.

3/22/46

More than 100 athletes from Victory League schools Grossmont, Coronado, Point Loma, San Diego, Hoover, and Coronado converged on Huntington Beach High with 34 other schools for the 25^th Southern Counties’ Invitational.

Grossmont took large school honors with 21 1/5 points to San Diego’s 20 1/5. Redondo Beach Redondo Union was third with 16 and Hoover fourth with 14.

Ish Herrera of Grossmont won the high jump at 6-1 and Chuck Evins was clocked in :25.4 by coach Jack Mashin for third place in the 220 hurdles.  Bud Held tied with four others for first in the pole vault at 12 feet. Harry West of San Diego was second to Bob Bacon of Redondo in the lows.

Norman Stocks of San Diego and Bud Close of Hoover each won one of the two 440-yard dashes, Stocks finishing in :51.4 and Close in :53.1.  Stocks anchored the Hilltoppers’ 1:32 win in the relay.

Hoover’s Earl Caldwell was second in :15.5 to the :15.2 in the 120-yard high hurdles by Redondo’s Bob Bacon.  Rolland Nelson won the mile in 4:42, followed by teammate Paul Juette.

Wally Hawke of Coronado pole vaulted 11-4 for first in the small schools competition.

3/26/46

Graydon Calder of San Diego high jumped almost a foot over his head when he cleared 6 feet, 3 inches, in the Class B meet with visiting La Jolla.

The 5-foot, 5-inch Calder bettered the CIF Southern Section B meet record of 6-1 ¾ by a Santa Ana jumper in 1938.

San Diego won the varsity portion of the Balboa Stadium event, 83-21.  La Jolla’s Art Barnard edged Norman Stocks in a :10.3 100, but Stocks came back to run the 220 in :22.4 and Harry Taylor posted the season’s best 880 time, 2:02.4.

—Hoover won its first dual meet, 64-40, although visiting Sweetwater’s Bob Tomlinson cleared 11-5 in the pole vault and 5-8 ½ in the high jump, and Cy Young beat favored Bobby Rodriguez in the 880 in 2:05.8.

3/30/46

Grossmont’s Bud Held cleared 12 feet, 4 7/8 inches in the pole vault and teammate Ish Herrera cleared 6-1 3/4 in the high jump at the San Diego State Aztec Relays.

4/5/46

San Diego won the battle of Victory League heavyweights, defeating Grossmont, 61-43, as Norman Stocks and Jimmy Barrera scored two victories each.

Stocks ran :10.4 in the 100-yard dash and :50.2 in the 440.  Barrera broad jumped 21-4 ½ and ran :23.3 in the 220.

Grossmont’s Franklin (Bud) Held pole vaulted 12-1 3/8 and Chuck Evins set a school record of :15.9 in the 120-yard high hurdles.

–George Pinnell hurled the shot 49 feet, 6 inches, but Hoover beat La Jolla, 68-36.

4/10/46

John Janney posted a win-aided :10.0 in the 100 and Maurice Lawford logged a 2:06.5 880, but Grossmont swept the late-finishing high jump and eked out a 52 ½-51 ½ victory over host Point Loma.

4/11/46

Joe Vargas and Brown Military held sway in the CIF Group 12 League finals at San Dieguito. Vargas was reported to have run :10 in the 100 and :22.5 in the 220, and was third in the shot put for a total of 21 ½ points. Brown scored 76 ½, followed by San Dieguito, 65 ½, Vista, 53, Escondido, 45 ½, Oceanside, 28, and Fallbrook, 7 ½.

4/12/46

Norman Stocks’ :10.2 100 and :50.8 440 and Jimmy Barrera’s :22.7 220 and 21-7 ½ broad jump were augmented by Joe Acevedo’s 49-6 ½ shot put and 2:06.5 880 by Harry Taylor in San Diego’s 73-31 win over Hoover.

Half-miler Taylor also joined Stocks, Barrera and John Holloway in a 1:31.3 880 relay victory

Hoover’s only victories came from Earl Caldwell’s :16.2 in the 120 high hurdles and Paul Juette’s 4:46.2 in the mile.

4/17/46

A ferry trip across the bay to Coronado was just part of a leisurely afternoon for coach Raleigh Holt’s Hoover Cardinals.  They beat Coronado, 76-28, winning 10 of 12 events (11, but disqualified in the relay) and Earl Caldwell was a double winner in short hurdles races, :09.5 in the 70-yard highs and :14.3 in the 120-yard lows.

Hoover also swept to victory in classes B and C but the Islanders’ Jike Wong made things interesting for the home team, winning the Cee 50 in :5.9 and broad jump at 20 feet, 3 inches.

4/27/46

Jimmy Barrera broad jumped 22-2 1/2 to set a Victory League record and Norman Stocks tied a 220 record by running :22.3 on the Balboa Stadium curve. Harry Taylor logged a 2:03.5 880.

San Diego wrapped a 5-0 dual-meet league season with the  81-23 win over Kearny.

–Bob Tomlinson ran :25.7 in the 220-yard low hurdles and pole vaulted 12 feet, but Point Loma defeated Sweetwater, 71-33.

–George Pinnell put the shot 50 feet, 2 inches for La Jolla and Chuck Evins broad jumped 21-4 in Grossmont’s 76-28 win.

4/30/46

Buster Bennett, the No. 3 runner on La Jolla’s 880-yard relay team, stumbled and fell during his 220-yard leg, opening the door for a Point Loma win in 1:34 and a 53-51 Pointers’ Victory League dual meet finale victory.

5/5/46

Norman Stocks set a meet record of :50.0 in the 440 and won the 100-yard dash in :10 as San Diego took the Victory League meet championship with 46 ½ points. Grossmont followed with 27, Hoover, 23, La Jolla, 15 ½, Coronado, 5, and Sweetwater, 4.  Kearny was blanked.

Seven meet records were broken.

Harry West of San Diego ran :25.3 in the 220-yard low hurdles.  George Pinnell of La Jolla hurled the shot 51 feet, 9 inches. Maurice Lawhead of Point Loma covered 880 yards in 2:02.7. Ish Herrera of Point Loma high jumped 6 feet ½ inch,  and a San Diego quartet of Jimmy Barrera, Harry West, John Holloway, and Norman Stocks set a record of 1:30.8 in the 880 relay.

Larry Boerner of Grossmont ran the mile in 4:39.2, beating the favored Rolland Nelson of Hoover, second in 4:40.7, ahead of teammate Paul Juette.

5/11/46

Norman Stocks continued his pursuit of Irvine (Cotton) Warburton’s 440-yard dash school record (:49.6) with a :49.9 clocking before about 200 competitors from 23 schools in the Victory, CIF Group 12, and Imperial Valley who attempted to extend their seasons in a Southern Section Divisional meet at San Diego State College.

Stocks, battling blustery weather on the one-turn race, was caught in :49.7 on one official’s stopwatch and :49.8 and :50 on others.

San Diego led all scorers with 43 ½ points and had additional first places in the 100 (Stocks, :10.2), 880 (Harry Taylor, 2:03.5), broad jump (Jimmy Herrera, 21-7 ¾), and 880 relay (1:31.4).

Grossmont’s Bud Held, a future world record holder in the javelin throw (268 feet, 2 inches in 1955), and a 1952 Olympian, was first in the pole vault at 12 feet, ½ inch. La Jolla’s Art Barnard was timed in :25.0 in the 220 hurdles.

Winners automatically advanced to the CIF championships the next week but second and third place finishers had to await an announcement from CIF boss Seth Van Patten after marks were compared to those in two other divisional meets.

5/14/46

San Diego High hurdler Harry West and shot putter Joe Acevedo did not meet the qualifying standard as CIF boss Seth Van Patten announced a total of 29 Victory League entries in classes A, B, and C along with those from divisional meets at Oxnard and Inglewood for Saturday’s Southern Section championship in Balboa Stadium.

5/16/46

Meet director John Brose promised a well-run, informative event for those attending the 28^th CIF championships, held for the first time in San Diego’s Balboa Stadium.

Sixty-two schools had 220 athletes who qualified.

Athletes not in direct competition will be staged in the Southwest corner of the stadium, assuring fans of a clear view of the 440-yard oval, said Brose. American flags will indicate national records in field events and red flags will indicate CIF records.  A stadium public address will follow runners in longer races and large signs will mark the height pole vaulters and high jumpers will attempt.

5/18/46

San Diego scored 11 points, with Norman Stocks winning the 440 in a County record :49.3; anchoring the Hilltoppers to a second place in the 880-yard relay, and Jimmy Barrera finishing fourth in the broad jump in the Southern Section championships.

Stocks did not place in the 100-yard dash but made up eight yards on Redondo Beach Redondo Union’s anchorman to finish second to the Sea Hawks’ 1:29.1.

–Maurice Lawhead of Point Loma was fifth in the 880, won by Clarence Witt of Redlands in 1:58.7.

–Paul Juette of Hoover was fifth in the mile won by Chuck Kohl of Compton in 4:30.7. Victory champion Larry Boerner apparently did not enter after an article in The San Diego Union had cast doubt on his participation because of the flu.

–Earl Caldwell of Hoover was fifth in the 120-yard high hurdles.  Grossmont’s Bud Held tied for fourth in the pole vault.  La Jolla’s George Pinnell was fourth in the shot put.

Redondo won the team championship with 24 ½ points.  Los Angeles Cathedral was second with 12 1/5.

L.A. Mt. Carmel’s John Helwig set a meet record of 59 feet in the shot put.

5/25/46

Norman Stocks was a double winner with another :49.3 in the 440 and by anchoring San Diego to a 1:29.2 victory in the 880 relay in the final event of the afternoon-evening, 30^th state track meet at Compton College.

The Hilltoppers were fourth in team scoring with 10 points.  Redondo Beach Redondo Union won with 21, followed by Alameda, 12, and L.A. Cathedral, 11.

George Pinnell of La Jolla was third in the shot put to John Helwig’s national record 59-5 7/8. Hoover’s Paul Juette was fourth in a record-setting mile of 4:24 by Bob McMillan of L.A. Cathedral. Bud Held of Grossmont tied for fourth in the pole vault, won at 12-6.

San Diego’s surprising, late-season ride on the left arm of pitcher Brent Strom resulted in the Cavers’ first major championship since they won the Southern Section title in 1952.

And it was to be the Cavers’ last, ending a run that began with a state championship in 1918.

Changing demographics, new schools, new neighborhoods, revised enrollment borders, and a continually growing population, finally caught up with the Cavers in the early ‘sixties.

There were more teams and more players to challenge  a program that became legendary after the arrival of coach Dewey (Mike) Morrow in 1927, during the Roaring ’20s, before prohibition.

Morrow was 281-49 (.852) against high school teams and 86-48 with four ties (.638) against collegiate, semi-pro, and professional squads from 1927-50.

Morrow’s overall record was 367-97-4 (.788) with 10 Southern Section championships and many league and tournament titles when he left the Hilltoppers and moved to San Diego Junior College in 1951.

Les Cassie, who switched positions with Morrow, was the Hillers’ coach from 1951-59 and won one Southern California crown.

Cassie went into administration after a decade in which his teams were 217-33 (.868) against all opponents.

Jerry Dahms was 70-26 from 1960-63 and Bernie Flaherty 51-22 from 1964 through this season, Flaherty’s last as he  was moving to San Diego City College.

Coaching records courtesy Don King’s Caver Conquest.

COLTS CORRAL TITLES

Crawford, the team San Diego defeated this year, was one example of  the city’s growth and movement, having opened on 55^th Street in East San Diego in 1958, less than two miles from Hoover’s 44th Street campus.

The Colts had become the premier franchise, winning 10 section titles since 1960 in basketball (1), baseball (3), football (1), golf (1), and gymnastics (4).

Baseball coach Bill Sandback, who came to Crawford in 1961, was 88-32 (.733) with 3 wins in 4 title games.

5/7/66

Final regular-season standings in the seven San Diego Section leagues, including 42 teams.  GB=Games Behind:

EASTERN

TEAM	W-L	PCT.	GB	OVERALL
Crawford	10-4	.714	—	16-5
San Diego	10-5	.667	½	14-8
Lincoln	9-6	.600	1 ½	15-8
St. Augustine	8-6	.571	2	11-10
Hoover	4-10	.286	6	8-13
Morse	2-12	.143	8	4-17

WESTERN

TEAM	W-L	PCT.	GB	OVERALL
Kearny	10-5	.667	—	16-8
Clairemont	10-5	.667	—	14-8
Madison	10-5	.667	—	13-10
Mission Bay	8-7	.533	2	12-11
Point Loma	7-8	.467	3	10-12
La Jolla	0-15	.000	10	0-22

METROPOLITAN

TEAM	W-L	PCT.	GB	OVERALL
Hilltop	8-3	.727	—	14-9
Escondido	7-4	.636	1/2	14-6
Chula Vista	6-6	.500	2 ½	13-11
Sweetwater	6-6	.500	2 ½	9-12
Coronado	5-7	.417	3 ½	9-11
Castle Park	4-8	.333	4 ½	12-12
Mar Vista	4-8	.333	4 ½	8-12

GROSSMONT

TEAM	W-L	PCT.	GB	OVERALL
Grossmont	12-2	.857	—	15-5
Helix	10-4	.714	2	16-8
El Capitan	7-6	.538	4 ½	9-10
Monte Vista	7-7	.500	5	11-11
Mount Miguel	5-9	.357	7	11-12
Santana	5-9	.357	7	9-13
Granite Hills	5-9	.357	7	9-14
El Cajon Valley	4-9	.308	7 ½	7-17

AVOCADO

TEAM	W-L	PCT.	GB	OVERALL
Oceanside	11-4	.733	—	12-10
Orange Glen	8-7	.533	3	10-9
University	7-8	.456	4	13-9
Fallbrook	7-8	.456	4	9-12
San Dieguito	6-9	.400	5	8-14
Vista	6-9	.400	5	8-12

PALOMAR

TEAM	W-L	PCT.	GB	OVERALL
Poway	11-4	.733	—	16-5
Marian	10-5	.667	1	14-8
Carlsbad	9-6	.600	2	12-8
San Marcos	7-8	.467	4	11-12
Ramona	6-9	.400	5	7-15
Army-Navy	2-13	.133	9	2-16

 SOUTHERN PREP

TEAM	WL	PCT.	GB	OVERALL
San Miguel	5-1	.833	—	13-7
La Jolla Country Day	3-3	.500	2	7-7
San Diego Military	1-5	.167	4	2-10

5/10/66

Western League bosses, faced with choosing between 3 teams,  Kearny, Clairemont, and Madison, each with a 10-5 record, for two postseason invitations, opted for a playoff, or “play-in” game, at Mesa College following a  contentious meeting and vote.

The bosses picked coach Ernie Beck’s Clairemont Chieftains as the Western’s No. 1 squad and forced Madison to play another game with Kearny, although the Warhawks held a 2-1 advantage in regular-season games with the Komets.

LIONS TOURNAMENT ROUT

A Western League insider told Harlon Bartlett of the Evening Tribune that the thinking of the bosses probably was influenced by Kearny’s 10-0 win over Madison in the Lions Tournament.

“I feel we earned the playoffs,” Madison coach Bob Bacon offered after the 2-0 victory over Jack Taylor’s Komets.

“We honored the league ruling even though many in the Madison baseball community questioned the ruling,” said Bacon. “We played it with no questions asked.”

A Kearny error on Bob Nunley’s slicing double in the first inning resulted in Greg Gunter’s scoring and a 405-foot triple to the base of the centerfield fence by Greg McElroy in the fourth inning turned into a faux home run when the Komets juggled the relay.

5/13/66

2-A PLAYOFFS

The Metropolitan League, considered by many of the local cognoscenti as being inferior to the two city leagues, wanted some respect.

Especially after Chula Vista had won the Lions Tournament but was third in regular-season standings to Hilltop and Escondido.

Hilltop knocked out Madison, 2-1, and Escondido topped Clairemont, 10-5, in first-round (quarterfinals) games.

Clinging to a one-run lead, Hilltop weathered a Madison threat in the seventh inning, when the Warhawks (13-11) loaded the bases with two outs.

Terry Davis hit a line drive between third base and shortstop that was speared by a diving Ed Saffer to end the game.

Hilltop scored twice in the bottom of the first inning on singles by Ward Lannom and Ray Sorenson, a sacrifice, and an outfield error. Jerry Peik’s single in the fourth  put Madison on the scoreboard.

The Lancers’ Jeff Klibbe allowed four hits in outdueling the Warhawks’ Mike Raney, who gave up three hits.

—“Our big test is San Diego and I think we have a real good chance,” said Grossmont coach Jerry Lewis. “If we beat San Diego we’ll go all the way.”

San Diego eliminated The Foothillers (15-6), 8-4, as Brent Strom made his ninth consecutive start, bettering the presumed record for a city league pitcher. San Diego’s Dick Floberg made eight straight starts in 1957.

Strom gave up early home runs to Cal Meier and Bernard Linn. The Cavers won by scoring four runs in the top of the seventh inning.

—Dan Gabbard hit two doubles and drove in three runs and Gil Pumar added three singles and a run batted in as visiting Escondido rapped three Clairemont (14-9) pitchers for 15 hits.

—Paul Kaufman homered and Ed Ramage (13-2) kept Helix (16-9) at bay, allowing two hits as Crawford advanced, 2-1, at Wells Park in El Cajon.

1-A PLAYOFFS SEMIFINALS

The Palomar League’s Poway defeated the Southern Prep League’s San Miguel School (13-8), 9-5, after falling behind the National City club, 5-0, at Palomar College.

Jerry Carpenter, who gave up 4 runs in the first inning, struck out 12, including 5 of the Knights’ last six hitters.  Jack Ashby and Mike Ward each had three hits for the Titans.

Poway advanced to the championship against Avocado League winner Oceanside, which was byed into the finals.

5/17/66

2-A SEMIFINALS

“If he can brush his teeth (and floss) he’ll be in there Friday (in the championship game against Crawford),” said San Diego coach Bernie Flaherty.

Strong-armed lefthander Brent Strom (14-3), making his 10^th consecutive start for the Cavers, won a 14-inning duel with Escondido’s Tom Johnson (10-3), 1-0, at Beeson Field on the Marine Corps Recruit Depot.

“I’ll be pitching, don’t worry,” said Strom of the upcoming championship game . “There’s nothing to save yourself for now.”

Strom,  7-3 over the 10-game stretch, fought off the 15-7 Cougars, who threatened in the third, fourth, fifth, 10^th, and 14th innings.

Strom got out of trouble by striking out 20 and walking two while allowing 11 hits.

The Cavers, who loaded the bases in the ninth and 10^th innings, finally won when Johnny Williams doubled home Dale Davis in the bottom of the 14^th.

“On paper these kids have no right to win,” a grinning Flaherty said of his team, “but they don’t read so well.”

—Crawford gained the finals for the third consecutive year as Ed Ramage (14-2) set down Hilltop, 5-1, at Beeson Field and dealt the loss to Don Klibbe (9-5).

Ramage retired 13 of the last 14 Lancers, allowing only a walk to Don Chew in the sixth.  Tim McClure’s two-run homer in the third inning followed a shaky Hilltop defense that contributed to three Colts runs in the first two innings.

2-A CHAMPIONSHIP

5/20/66

Brent Strom was working on a no-hitter and 4-0 lead entering the sixth inning, when Crawford scored three runs on four hits.

The Colts had momentum and recent history on their side, but Strom recovered to complete a 4-3 victory and earn San Diego’s first championship since a Southern Section title in 1952.

The loss was Crawford’s first in the finals after three consecutive championships and a 12-0 post-season record.

Ed Ramage (14-3) was the losing pitcher to the 15-3 Strom.  Third baseman John Meiers supported Strom with a two-run home run and single.  Johnny Williams also had two hits.

San Diego finished the season with a 17-8 record, Crawford with 18-6.

1-A FINALS

Oceanside (13-10), coached by football legend-to-be Herb Meyer, defeated Poway (16-6), 3-1, after losing twice to the Titans in previous finals.

The 1-A division playoffs were between Avocado, Palomar, and Southern Prep League champions.

See additional narrative, 1966 Baseball I, by searching “Recent Posts”.>

On March 21 the Hoover student body announced a fund-raising drive for a new baseball facility, Ted Williams Field, in honor of the January, 1937,  graduate and major league baseball Hall of Fame inductee.

For years the Cardinals played home games in the school’s football stadium, with a rightfield fence, beyond the track,  a Little League-dimensioned 185 feet from home plate.

Hoover coach Jerry Bartow  sometimes was  accused of tailoring the distance of a faux left field, where it was said a cab ride was necessary to the distant fence facing Monroe Avenue.

Low hurdles borrowed from the practicing track team served as the left field “fence”, the distance from home plate adjusted to the offensive prowess of an opponent by moving the hurdles back and forward, according to some observers.

Home runs in right field had to be north of a tall wooden post  overlooking the press box and stadium seating.

Leftfield at the proposed Ted Williams will be 300 feet from home plate, 409 to center, and 323 to right.

A goal of $25,000 to build the facility next to the boys’ gymnasium and facing 46th Street was announced by vice principal Les Cassie, a teammate of Williams’ at Hoover; Williams’ close friend and Hoover alum Bob Breitbard of the Breitbard Athletic Foundation, and student Bill Finley, the school’s commissioner general.

3/2/66

Writer Harlon Bartlett described the weather as “better suited for the Central New England dog sled races” and that Grossmont coach Jerry Lewis was “bundled up to the size of Yogi Bear and huddled beside a heater in the dugout.”

Plus, Lewis’ centerfielder had a broken jaw from a motor scooter accident, pitcher Bernard Linn was temporarily ineligible, and the flu had visited Lewis and two starters.

The coach shook off the chilly, cloudy weather, but the Foothillers (1-0-1) couldn’t shake St. Augustine (0-1-1) as the teams battled to a nine-inning, 2-2 tie.

—Andy Morgan’s grand slam home run in the first inning propelled Hoover, playing its last season on the football field, to a 13-2 win over El Capitan.

—Luther Espy allowed four hits and Al Salvatierra hit a grand slam home run in the first inning of Lincoln’s 9-0 shutout of Chula Vista.

—Steve Bell drove in seven runs with two home runs, including a grand slam as Kearny beat Hilltop, 10-2.

—Steve Wyer clubbed a grand slam as La Jolla Country Day routed the Santana freshmen, 15-1.

3/9/66

“We don’t have any big stars and that’s the best thing that could happen to us,” said coach Robert (Bull) Trometter of University, which improved to 5-0 with a 5-1 win over Monte Vista.

—Crawford also was 5-0 after Larry Forest’s three-hitter and second shutout of the season stopped Helix, 3-0.

—Brien Bickerton homered and doubled, driving in three runs, and gave up two hits in five innings before Larry Falls mopped up Santana’s 7-0 win over Oceanside.

—Lincoln (4-0) beat host Clairemont, 4-1, behind Luther Espy’s 10-strikeout, four-hit pitching.

Hornets coach Bob Ganger did not want to hear that his team, often touted but never finishing higher than third, would be favored in the Eastern League.

“Don’t mention it,” Ganger said, frowning at Harlon Bartlett’s suggestion.

3/11/66

San Diego (4-2) won its Eastern League opener at home, 1-0, over 5-1 Crawford as Brent Strom struck out eight, doubled for one of the Cavers’ three hits, and was credited with four assists and two putouts in the field.

—Craig Brewer’s home run in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Hilltop a 2-1 win over Mount Miguel.

—University, now with a County-leading 6-0 record, struggled 10 innings before edging Vista, 5-4.

3/15/66

Santana’s first-year Sultans (4-3) rode with 6-foot, 3-inch, 170-pound sophomore lefthander Brian Bickerton to a one-hit, 3-0 win over Helix (2-4) in a Grossmont League opener.

—Mount Miguel’s Bill Lockhart also hurled a one-hitter in a 3-0 win over Granite Hills.

—Rick Dixon’s three-run home run in the top of the eighth inning was the difference in Clairemont’s 9-6 victory over La Jolla in the Western League lid-lifter.

–University bumped its record to 7-0 with an Avocado League-opening-game, 4-2 decision over Orange Glen.

3/18/66

“We don’t have a bonehead on the club; we’re going to have a lot of fun this year,” said St. Augustine coach Bill Whittaker.

The Saints’ 2-1 victory over Hoover, behind Jim Addesso’s three-hit pitching, marked the first time in five years they had beaten the Cardinals and San Diego in the same week.

—After winning four Grossmont League championships from 1960-64, El Capitan was 5-16 in ’65 after the arrival of neighboring Santana.

“We would have had (Brian) Bickerton and (Dennis) Forrester,” Vaqueros coach Art Preston noted of the two Santana stars.

El Cap survived a two-hour, 45-minute, 17-hit, 23-walk (by both teams) struggle with Mount Miguel, winning, 12-9, and improved to 3-4.

An infield throwing error broke an 8-8 tie in the sixth inning and the Vaqueros scored three more in the seventh.

3/25/66

George Zorn gave up three hits and University won its 10^th in a row without defeat, 6-2 over Fallbrook.

—Madison (6-4) moved into a tie with Kearny for first place at 4-1 in the Western League after a 7-4 win over the Komets.

Bob Nunley had a three-run triple and sophomore Greg McElroy three hits for the Warhawks.

—Brent Strom pitched a six-hitter and hit a two-run home run and San Diego beat Hoover, 5-2.  Steve Shepherd added a two-run homer for the Cavers.

—Frank Alfano, Bob Petretta, and Danny Coronado hit home runs and Crawford beat Lincoln, 9-4.

3/29/66

George Gregoroff fought off several University threats and pitched Vista to a 2-0 victory over the 10-1 Dons, who still led the Avocado League with a 5-1 record, ahead of four others’ 3-3.

—Don Bair struck out 12 and limited Point Loma to two hits and Mission Bay edged Point Loma, 1-0.

3/30/66

In announcing pairings for the 32-team, 16^th annual Lions, tournament bosses said first-round games will be played at Navy Field No’s. 1 and 2, Clairemont, Mount Miguel, Kearny, and San Diego High.

Six teams, plus San Bernardino San Gorgonio, will compete in the second North County Lions tournament with games at Oceanside Recreation Park and MiraCosta College.

4/1/66

Point Loma scored two runs in the last of the seventh inning to edge Madison, 6-5.

The Pointers were 4-3 and in a three-way tie for first with Madison and Kearny in the Western League.

“Every time I tell the kids we’ve got to win this one, we win it,” said Pointers coach Kermeen (Punky) Fristrom.  We do a good job when we have to win.”

Except on Tuesdays.  The peninsula squad is 1-4 on that date and 6-1 on others.

—Craig Tepel hit two home runs and drove in five and Jake Molina hit a three-run homer in Clairemont’s 12-6 win over La Jolla.

—Crawford and Hoover were deadlocked, 7-7, after nine innings.  The game would be replayed only if a playoff berth were at stake.

—Oceanside won its fourth in a row, 4-3 over Vista behind William Rodriguez’ three-hitter, which followed a no-hitter in Rodriguez’ last start versus San Dieguito.

—Marian took over the Palomar League lead, 9-7 against San Marcos. Poway and Carlsbad battled through 11 scoreless innings and then called it a day.

4/4/66

Ed Ramage scattered six hits and top-seeded Crawford took advantage of four Madison errors and defeated the Warhawks, 7-1, in the opening round of the Lions Tournament.

—Defending champion San Diego rode a grand slam home run by Steve Shepherd to knock off El Cajon Valley, 8-5.

—Chula Vista moved to an Unlimited Division quarterfinals contest against Crawford on Gordy Mitchell’s one-hitter, which shut out Grossmont, 1-0.

—Eight games produced 75 runs in the Limited Division, highlighted by an 18-hit attack and 13-2 win for Monte Vista over San Miguel School.

—Scott Martensen’s home run in the ninth inning gave Vista a 2-1victory over Fallbrook.

—San Marcos beat Poway, 6-1; San Gorgonio nipped Oceanside, 2-0, and San Dieguito’s three runs in the seventh inning were the difference in a 5-4 triumph over Poway.

4/5/66

San Dieguito did not lift a glove and gained finals of the North County Lions event.

San Marcos forfeited, 9-0, to the Mustangs, who will meet San Bernardino San Gorgonio, which advanced with an 8-7, eight-inning win over Vista.

–Oceanside edged Fallbrook, 2-1, and Poway beat Carlsbad, 5-4, in consolation games.

–The city’s two big ones, Crawford and San Diego met their matches.

Helix defeated Crawford, 1-0, and Chula Vista ousted San Diego, 5-2, in Unlimited Lions play, but St. Augustine upheld urban pride with a 1-0 win over Monte Vista in the Limited Division.

–Mike Odom’s three-hitter gave Chula Vista their morning quarterfinals victory and Bob Kennedy’s Spartans came back in the afternoon to beat Lincoln, 5-3, in eight innings and gain the finals of the 16th annual Lions Tournament.

–Helix defeated Mount Miguel, 9-5, in the semifinals to assure a Grossmont-Metropolitan League final.

4/7/66

Bob Kennedy, who had brought Chula Vista teams to the Lions Tournament since 1957, earned his first Unlimited Division championship, 2-1, over Helix at Navy Field.

Dave Gregg singled, Ken Ohlendorf sacrificed Gregg to second, then walks to John Pickrel and Roger Gregg loaded the bases in the sixth inning.

What followed was typical considering the Spartans’ reputation of good field, good pitch, no hit. Bill Cherico and Doug Craig executed consecutive squeeze bunts, scoring two runs.

“I had a pretty good idea that would be the only way we’d score,” Kennedy told the Evening Tribune’s Harlon Bartlett.

–Castle Park had a 3-0 lead but bowed to El Centro Central, 4-3, in the Limited Division championship.  Kearny won the Unlimited consolation crown, its first since 1954, 5-1, over Escondido. It was Hilltop 3, Coronado 1 in the Limited consolation final.

–San Bernardino San Gorgonio shut out San Marcos, 8-0, for the North County Lions title.  Poway nudged Oceanside, 5-2, for the consolation trophy.

4/12/66

Crawford was 5-2 and San Diego, Lincoln, and St. Augustine 5-3 after Eastern League teams returned to action following the Lions Tournament.

San Diego tightened the race when it beat Lincoln, 4-1, on Paul Dunn’s three-run home run.  Brent Strom stopped the Hornets on four hits.

—Crawford bombed Morse, 9-3, and St. Augustine beat Hoover, 5-1 on Skip Redondo’s three-hitter.

—Another three-hitter, by Kearny’s Mike Sigman, checked Point Loma, 8-2.  Mission Bay continued La Jolla’s misery, 5-2, for the winless Vikings’ 15^th loss in a row.

—Grossmont, 6-1 in the Grossmont League, let leads of 4-0 and 7-4 disappear before nosing out El Cajon Valley, 8-7.

—Mike Westphalin faced 22 hitters, one over the maximum, allowed one hit, struck out 11 and didn’t issue a walk in Granite Hills’ 3-0 win over Santana.

4/15/66

Crawford coach Bill Sandback was not a happy camper.

On what could have been a double play, St. Augustine’s Tom Spence slid into second base with arms high.

Second baseman Danny Coronado’s throw to first was deflected by Spence’s  extended limb, allowing Steve Ferrari to score in the bottom of the sixth inning of a 3-2 victory.

Sandback claimed interference.

“The base umpire said he didn’t see the play,” Sandback said.  “The plate umpire said it wasn’t  his play to call.  I hate to get beat on a call like that.”

“We got a break today and we’ll take it,” said Saints coach Bill Whittaker.

—Oceanside’s sixth straight win, 7-3 over Orange Glen, combined with University’s fourth straight loss, 2-1 to San Dieguito, put the Pirates in first place in the Avocado League with a 6-3 record.

4/19/66

“I like our chances with five (games) to go and two (games) ahead,” said Kearny coach Jack Taylor after a 4-1, Western League win over Madison.

“We play our last four games at home,” said Madison coach Bob Bacon. “If they lose one between now and when they come to our school, look out.”

Kearny is 14-5 overall and 8-2 in league, Madison 9-9 and 6-4.

The teams were to meet in the regular-season finale May 6.

4/22/66

on-Dan Gabbard’s two run home run in the top of the seventh inning was the difference in Escondido’s 5-3 win over Chula Vista and tightened the Metropolitan League race.

Chula Vista is 5-3 and Escondido and Hilltop are each 5-3-1.

—Fundamental orifices were flexing in the Western League, where Kearny’s lead was cut to one game when Kent Shearer singled in the winning run in a three-run sixth inning to give Clairemont a 5-4 win over the Komets.

—Marian sophomore Steve Bajo’s one-hitter stopped Poway, 1-0, and kept the Crusaders in a first place tie in the Palomar League with Carlsbad, which rolled with Louie Montanez’ one-hitter over Army-Navy, 8-0.

–Lincoln moved into a tie for first place in the Eastern with St. Augustine after a 6-1 win over the Saints and a Crawford loss, 4-3, to lefthander Brent Strom and San Diego.

4/26/66

Brent Strom’s fifth start in five games kept San Diego alive in the Eastern League, 5-0 over leading St. Augustine.

—Crawford kept pace, 1-0 against Hoover, and Lincoln hammered Morse, 9-2.

—Kearny, with home runs by Craig Wittler and Mike Dugan, beat Mission Bay and Madison stayed alive in the Western with a 10-inning, 3-2 win over Point Loma behind Greg Gunter’s walk-off single and Mike Raney’s six-hit pitching.

Raney struck out 10 and helped his cause with a double, single, and two runs scored.

—Chula Vista stayed percentage points ahead of Hilltop and Escondido in the Metropolitan as Gordy Mitchell’s four-hitter stopped Coronado, 3-0.

—Don Brunham’s three hitter beat San Diego Military, 1-0, and moved San Miguel School closer to the Southern Prep League title.

4/29/66

Bernard Linn’s season 10^th victory, 5-2 over Mount Miguel, allowed Grossmont to keep pace with Helix each with a 10-2 record in the Grossmont League.

—Ed Ramage won his 10^th game against two losses as Crawford (8-4) took over first in the Eastern with a 9-0 shutout of Morse.

See additional narrative,1966 Baseball II, by searching “Recent Posts”.

Arnie Robinson was coming to the end of four brilliant seasons at Morse.

Robinson high jumped 6-7, long jumped 24 feet, and won the 120-yard high hurdles in :14.8 in his last competition (see below) at the school on Skyline Drive in Encanto that Robinson watched open in September, 1962.

The nephew of 1940s San Diego High stars Ermer and Ivan Robinson went on to Mesa College, San Diego State, and, later, to international acclaim.

Arnie won the Olympic gold medal in the long jump at the 1976 Olympics after earning a bronze in 1972.

Robinson, who eventually returned to teach and coach the Mesa track team, had career bests of 6-10 in the high jump, 27-4 ¼ in the long jump, and 51 feet in the triple jump.

2/28/66

Madison’s Dennis Smith cut almost 10 seconds off his 1965 school record when he ran 10:04.7 in the two-mile, but Granite Hills, defending San Diego Section team champion, won the season-opening meet at Madison, 82-31.

3/2/66

San Diego defeated Point Loma, 67-46, as Doyle Steele doubled in the high jump (5-10) and long jump (22-7) and Orvin Romo logged 1:58.7 in the 880.

Steele could have gone much higher, said coach Martin Pedigo, but the event was halted after the takeoff area became slippery and unsafe because of rain.

3/4/66

Doyle Steel tied Bob Logan’s 1938 school high jump record of 6 feet, 5 ½ inches.  Steele also won the long jump at 23-1 and the triple jump at 43-3, but San Diego dropped a 72-59 decision to Grossmont.

—Crawford routed Kearny, 90 ½-17 ½, and future decathlete Don Bajema set a school record of 6-1 ½ in the high jump and won the long jump at 21-9.

3/11/66

Lincoln’s Johnny Mack Ellis demonstrated strength and speed when he pole vaulted 11-6 and won the sprints in :09.8 and :21.5 and anchored a 1:30 relay victory in Lincoln’s 85-28 win at Kearny.

Ted Scales ran :14.3 in the 120 highs and David Edwards took the 180 lows in :19.3.

Marks were complemented by the breezes that blow off the Kearny Mesa.

—Arnie Robinson long jumped 23-10 ½ in Morse’s triangular meet with Chula Vista and Mission Bay, which the Tigers won with 79 points to the Spartans’ 44 and the Bucs’ 17.

Chula Vista’s Tim Danielson, idled by the flu last week, won the 440 (:50.7) and mile (4:24.2).

3/17/66

Lincoln’s dual-meet power, enhanced by the arrival of Johnny Mack Ellis from Tyler, Texas, rolled on usually respectable Crawford, 84-29.

Ellis took advantage of the Crawford track, elevated, on a mesa and in line with westerly breezes, beat the Colts’ Danny Patton (:09.9) with a :09.7 100, took the 220 on the curve in :22.1, anchored a 1:30.1 relay victory, and pole vaulted 12 feet for a four-win, golden spike afternoon.

—El Cajon Valley’s Armando Valencia took the state lead with a 1:54.9 880 and broke Jack Hudson’s 1958 school record of 1:55.9 in the Braves’ 71-60 loss to Granite Hills and Hilltop’s Terry Rogers, who would win the 880 in the state meet in June, ran 1:55.5 as the Lancers defeated Escondido, 71-60.

3/23/66

Morse would not compete three days later in the National City Junior Chamber of Commerce Relays at Sweetwater, but the Tigers showed they would have been contenders for the team championship by defeating Helix and San Diego in a triangular meet that featured events of the relays.

The Tigers scored 79 points to Helix’ 45, and San Diego’s 32.

Tigers high jumpers Larry Greenwood (6-7 1/2), Paul Lee  (6-2), and Arnie Robinson (6-0) cleared an aggregate, average height of 6-3 ½.

3/26/66

Tim Danielson took the national lead with a time of 4:11.2 in the mile in the 12th annual National City JC Relays, with Terry Rogers of Hilltop, the leader until final 110 yards, second in 4:12.2.

Problem.

The track was yards short of the typical 440-yard oval, but no matter to Danielson.  He had several times better later in the season on other tracks.

3/30/66

St. Augustine’s Tom Eklund tossed his hat into the 880-yard ring with a 1:54.8, topping by 1/10 second that which El Cajon Valley’s Armando Valencia negotiated earlier.

Eklund’s mark did little to help the Saints, 85-18 losers to San Diego.

“I’m using starting blocks, so it will get me out there quicker,” said Eklund of his :54 first quarter. “Then it will let the second quarter take care of itself.”

Eklund was third in 1:55.2 in the San Diego Section championships in 1965 and his best this season before today was 1:56.4.

4/1/66

Tim Danielson took a shot at the 880 and ran 1:53.2, fourth fastest in area history, and Chula Vista won at Escondido, 87-26.

–The wind blew and the marks flew at Morse, where the Tigers’ Donald Anders beat Crawford’s Danny Patton in a :09.8 100 and Patton beat Anders, :21.3 to :21.4, in the straight 220.

–Rick Rubin set a Helix record of 4:20.6, but Armando Valencia won the mile in 4:16.1, although Valencia and his El Cajon Valley teammates were on the short end of the 91-40 score.

4/6/66

–Ira Raibon set an Oceanside record of 6-2 3/4 in the high jump.  Terry Rogers broke Hilltop’s two-mile mark with a 9:41.8 and Brent Rowlett ran 9:50.8 for an Oceanside record. Fred Logel lowered the Morse mile to 4:38.6 and teammate John Roberts hurled the shot 51-2 ½ for another school record.

4/9/66

Hilltop won the Dean C.E. Peterson trophy for the outstanding performance and Lincoln hurdler Ted Scales for the outstanding individual performance in the seventh San Diego (formerly Easter) Relays in Balboa Stadium.

The Lancers’ distance medley team of Bruce Pradels (440), Bernie Calderon (880), Jimmy Gelsomini (1,320), and miler Terry Rogers, who anchored in 4:16.1, completed the distance in a County-record 10:23.4.

Scales came from behind on the last hurdle to nip teammate David Edwards in the 120-yard high hurdles in :14.1, best ever in the area, and Monte Vista’s 4-man, 4-mile relay team of  Dave Matheny, Rod Stephens, Mark Clark, and Don Olsen clocked 18:06.08, another all-time best.

4/15/66

Arnie Robinson won the 120-yard high hurdles in :14.8, high jumped 6 feet, 7 inches, and long jumped 24 feet in Morse’s 71-42 win over Hoover, the same school that had beaten the first-year Tigers, 103-1, in 1963.

Of one of the most impressive three-event performances in area dual-meet history, Robinson said, “It was my last meet at home and I wanted to do good.”

“Arnie had the spirit today,” remarked teammate Harold Greenwood after Robinson reached 24 feet on his first try.  Robinson and Greenwood tied in the high jump but Arnie had fewer misses.

Another Robinson teammate, Donald Anders, won the 100 in :09.9 and 220 in a school-record :21.5.

–Johnny Mack Ellis ran :09.8 and :22.2 in the 100 and 220 and pole vaulted 12-6 as Lincoln erased any drama in the usually heated rivalry with San Diego, 74 ½-38 ½.

The Hornets even topped the Cavemen with essentially a backup relay team of Louis King, James Gunn, Albert Quinn, and Leroy Davis, which ran 1:30.

–Terry Rogers of Hilltop turned in a 1:54.4 880 and barely minutes later tried to double in the 440, finishing last.   Sweetwater won the 880 relay in 1:33.4 and the meet, 59-54.

–Oceanside’s Ira Raibon high jumped 6-2 and long jumped 23-2 and Bill Reilly put the shot 55 feet in Oceanside’s 74-52 win over Orange Glen.

4/22/66

George Brown was almost 10 feet better than his father.

The senior Brown, an El Cajon doctor and former all-America football player at Navy, set a Hoover High record of 51 feet, 11 inches, in the shot put in 1941.

The younger George III, a muscular 220 pounds, heaved the 12-pound ball 60-10 ½, seventh best in County history, and defending champion Granite Hills stayed alive in the Grossmont dual-meet race with Grossmont and Helix.

The Eagles, who lost to Grossmont, 67-64, last week, defeated favored Helix, 70 ½-60 ½.  With the meet in the balance, Granite Hills’ Donald Evans anchored a 1:30.2 victory in the 880 relay after topping the Highlanders’ Ralph Lavage in :09.9 and :22.2 in the sprints.

Granite’s Bruce Rickett’s (:49.5) edged Helix’ Ron Koenig (:49.8) in the fastest 440 in the area this season.

–Armando Valencia’s 9:15.7 two-mile was the fastest this year in California and left Valencia and his coach Joe Brooks wondering.

“If Danielson and Rogers run the mile and 880, we might go in the two-mile,” said Brooks. “It would really give our area a real shot at three first places in the state meet.”

–Point Loma ended Mission Bay’s two-year rule in the Western League, 75-38, and will meet Kearny for the title next week.

Grossmont (5-0) must get past Helix (4-1) for an outright Grossmont title next week.

Lincoln, 91-14 over St. Augustine, goes for the Eastern crown against Morse, 61-52 over San Diego, next week.

Chula Vista, 81-32 over Hilltop, and Sweetwater, 95-17 over Escondido, will settle matters in the Metropolitan League.

4/29/66

Grossmont nipped Helix, 67-64;  Lincoln rolled Morse, 80-33; Chula Vista edged Sweetwater, 59-54, and Point Loma routed Kearny, 74 ½-38 ½, to either claim league titles outright or face only virtual formalities in the final week of dual meets next week.

–Grossmont secured its win over Helix with a 1:30.8 victory in the relay.  Crawford did the same in a 58-54 thriller with San Diego as Danny Patton anchored a 1:29.8 win after taking the 220 in :21.8 on the Balboa Stadium curve.  The Colts’ Jim (Big Game) Hunter ran :14.8 in the 120-yard highs.

–Terry Rogers threw down on the state’s 880-yard run aspirants with his 1:53.2, which tied Tim Danielson’s area season best.

–Rick Geer set a Monte Vista record with a 162-8 discus throw and doubled with a 50-11 shot put.  Granite Hills’ George Brown heaved the shot 59-4 and teammate Mike Bimer set a school record with a discus throw of 160 feet.

–Tom Danielson jogged a :50.4 440, teammate Johnston ran a 1:59.7 880, Jim Baldwin hurled the shot 54-6 1/4, and Don French covered the 120 high hurdles in :14.7, all of which helped Chula Vista to a 61-51 win over Sweetwater,  which embraced a school-record 22-11 1/4 long jump by Jim Rice, minimally longer than Burte Jackson’s 22-10 1/2 in 1965.

See additional narrative, 1966 Track II, for more information.

 

 

 

 

Tim Danielson, Terry Rogers, and Doyle Steel were state champions and would have been favored in their events if there were a prep national championship meet.

Chula Vista’s Danielson, the second to better four minutes in the mile, was undefeated  on the prep level the last two years  and he competed nationally and internationally well into the summer.

Following a two-mile victory on June 18 in Sacramento’s Golden West Invitational, Danielson also ran the mile  in the National AAU meet in New York, running nonwinning 4:07.4 in the trials on June 25 and 4:03.3 in the finals on June 26.

Danielson’s last significant event was the Police Games in Toronto, Canada, where he ran 4:03.9, in late July.

Steel, who set a national record in the long jump, and Rogers, the national No. 1 runner in the 880, made for a tremendous San Diego Section season.

5/6/66

Tim Danielson ran the two-mile in 9:04.7, fastest ever in the county and No. 6 in the country this season, as Chula Vista wrapped the Metropolitan League dual meet championship, 87-26, over visiting Mar Vista.

Grossmont claimed the Grossmont League dual-meet title with a 90-41 win over El Cajon Valley, whose Armando Valencia posted a 4:12.9 mile.

Danielson will drop the two-mile for the mile and Valencia will leave the mile for the two-mile in league meets.

Granite Hills’ George Brown put the shot 60 feet, 5 ½ inches;

Chula Vista’s Don French ran :14.4 in the 120-yard high hurdles;

Sweetwater’s Bill Yahnke logged a :09.9 100 and :21.5 220 on the notoriously breezy Castle Park straightaway.

EASTERN LEAGUE TRIALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Otis Martin shaved more than 25 seconds off his two-mile time with a 9:16.1 and Lincoln teammate David Edwards cleared the 120-yard high hurdles in :14.3.

Edwards equaled the league record set by Jimmy Fox in 1964 and Martin smashed his 9:41.3 in the 1965 meet.

The Hornets led with 23 qualifiers, followed by San Diego (18), Hoover (16), Morse (15), Crawford (13), and St. Augustine (8).

Class B field event finals saw Hoover’s Lance Ruff set a record of 50-9 ½ in the shotput, more than 6 feet further than the 44-5 ¾ by Jerry Darr of St. Augustine in 1963.

Mike Johnson of Lincoln pole vaulted 12-6, a foot higher than the 11-6 in 1963, ’64, and ’65 by representatives of three different schools.

Doug Jones of Lincoln high jumped 6-2 ¾, tying  Arnie Robinson’s 1964 Class B record.

WESTERN, @CLAIREMONT

Point Loma’s Bob Chavez set a 220 record of :21.7, erasing the :21.8 by Clairemont’s John Procsal in 1963.

The 4:26.3 mile by Barry Richardson of Kearny was better than the 4:27.5 by La Jolla’s Jeff Dragila in 1965.

Frank Heitman of Clairemont ran 1:58.9 in the 880, gutsy and notable because Heitman’s dislocated shoulder was harnessed after an injury sustained playing volleyball.

5/9/66

GROSSMONT, @GROSSMONT COLLEGE

Dan Ungricht of Monte Vista tied the 880 record of 1:56.6 by El Capitan’s Tad Hendrickson in 1964.

That Ungricht was wearing shoes did not fit the category of breaking news.

Footwear was not new to the Spring Valley community, where Ungricht lived, but was seldom the choice of the Monarchs’ runner or his distance-running teammates.

“In cross country we always go barefooted,” said Ungricht.  “Your feet feel lighter.”

Ungricht said he usually dumped his shoes for the longer races.

The prospect of going barefoot didn’t appeal in shorter events.

Granite Hills’ Donald Evans, appropriately shod, tied a record he shared with two others when he ran :09.9 in the 100.

METROPOLITAN, @MAR VISTA

The :14.6 in the 120 high hurdles by Chula Vista’s Don French broke the record of :14.7 by El Cajon Valley’s Dave Landis in 1960.

5/15/64

FINALS

METROPOLITAN

Tim Danielson, in a rare attempt at the 440, was first in :50.2 and added a 4:13.3 mile as Chula Vista ran away with the team championship with 63 points to runner-up Sweetwater’s 29.

The evening’s top mark was the U.S.-leading 1:51.8 by Hilltop’s Terry Rogers in the 880.

“No one told me my time at the 660 mark,” Rogers told Bill Weurding of the Evening Tribune, “so I was running mentally, according to the way I felt.  I didn’t believe it was that fast.  I still can’t believe it.”

GROSSMONT

Granite Hills outscored Helix, 66-58, fired by a triple win from sprinter Donald Evans, who won the 100 in :10, 220 in :23.2, and anchored a 1:30.3 victory in the 880 relay.

Evans’ teammate, George Brown, set a record with a 60-7 1/2 shot put.

Mount Miguel’s Pat Ela doubled with a 13-foot, 7-inch pole vault and a record 23-3 long jump.

Dan Ungricht of Monte Vista ran the 880 in 1:56.5, knocking 1/10 off the record he tied in the trials.

Rick Olander, the leading pole vaulter at 14-7, was byed into the CIF trials because of an injury.

AVOCADO

Vista’s Rick Fox set the pace with a 4:20.8 mile but Oceanside won the team championship with 49 points to the arch-rival Panthers’ 18.

PALOMAR

Mike Turnipseed, a Class B entry for Carlsbad, won the 100 in :09.8 and 220 in :21.7.

EASTERN

Several jumpers of beyond 23 feet would be cut to three for the San Diego Section trials.

Lewis King of Lincoln won at 24 feet, 2 ¾ inches.  Henry Woods of San Diego was second at 23-4 ¾ and Morse’s Arnie Robinson, who had a best of 24 feet, was third at 23-3.

Missing was San Diego’s Doyle Steel, who earlier had gone 23-9 ¾ but was sidelined with an ankle injury.

It was revealed that Eastern League coaches had voted prior to the meet to bye Steel into the CIF trials.  Robinson, who would win the 1976 Olympics gold medal, was out.

CIF commissioner Don Clarkson dismissed complaints, saying they were “league matters”.

SAN DIEGO SECTION TRIALS

5/22/66

About 450 competitors descended upon Balboa Stadium, where at the end of the day four records had been set, one tied, and the number of survivors for the finals was winnowed down to approximately 265 in 33 varsity, Class B and C events.

Chula Vista’s Tim Danielson continued undefeated and unchallenged, setting a section mile record of 4:08.2, closing in on his best of 4:08 in the 1965 state meet and better than Danielson’s 4:08.7 in the ‘65 San Diego Section trials.

Tall Point Loma junior Bob Chavez, bothered off and on since last season by a muscle pull, barged into the sprint conversation with a record :21.5 on the stadium’s curved 220, topping Byron Olander’s :21.6 in 1964.

Chavez, 10 yards behind on the anchor exchange, also caught and passed Granite Hills’ Donald Evans and brought the Pointers home in a Lincoln-and-San Diego-like 1:28.5 in the 880 relay.

SIBLINGS

Morse’s Harold Greenwood, younger brother of Hoover’s Norris and Lincoln’s Larry, tied the 1964 high jump mark of 6-8 by Hoover’s Eddy Hanks.

Carlsbad’s Mike Turnipseed ran the B 100 in :09.9, knocking down the :10 flat Turnipseed had run a year before.

Lincoln’s Doug Jones high jumped 6 feet, 5 inches, to improve on the B record of 6-2 3/4 by Arnie Robinson in 1964 and Jones the previous week.

Johnny Mack Ellis and Ted Scales of Lincoln were individual double winners.

Ellis ran :09.7 and :21.8 in the 100 and 220.  Scales tied with teammate David Edwards in :15.1 in the 120 high hurdles and won a 180 lows heat in :20.1.

Terry Rogers of Hilltop won one 880 heat in 1:52.3 and Tom Eklund of St. Augustine took the other in 1:53.3.

Lincoln led all varsity qualifiers with 17, Oceanside had 11 (to Lincoln’s 10) in the Bees, and Grossmont led the way with 9 (to Lincoln’s 8) in the Cees.

SAN DIEGO SECTION FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

5/29/66

Tim Danielson and Terry Rogers were forced to give up the limelight to the glare that was coming from the long jump pit.

Lincoln’s Lewis King drew a roar from the crowd of about 4,000 when he soared 24-5 1/4 early in the competition.

Doyle Steel, an injured nonparticipant in the Eastern League meet two weeks before and then quietly byed into the trials, suddenly became airborne and landed at a national-record 25 feet, 5 ½ inches, 1/4 inch beyond what a jumper from Pacific Grove, California, did in 1964.

Steel, whose jump could have been declared a foul, because he walked back through the pit before exiting, had gone a foot and a half further than his previous best of 23-11 ½.

Lincoln, paced  by Johnny Mack Ellis’ 0:9.8 100, :21.4 220, and anchor of the winning 880 relay team that tied the record of 1:27.2,  scored 65 points to 15 each by runners-up Chula Vista and Granite Hills.

RECORDS

TWO-MILE RUN

New: 9:10.8, Armando Valencia, El Cajon Valley.  Old: 9:17.8, Otis Martin, Lincoln, 1965.

120-YARD HIGH HURDLES

New: :14.2, David Edwards, Lincoln.  Old:  :14.4, Mike Swaim, Oceanside, 1963; Harold Burt, Morse, 1965.

HIGH JUMP

New:  6-8 ¼, Harold Greenwood, Morse.  Old:  6-8, Eddy Hanks, Hoover, 1964.

LONG JUMP

New:  25-5 ¼, Doyle Steel, San Diego.  Old: 24-5 1/4, Lewis King, Lincoln, 1966.

220

New:  :21.4, Johnny Mack Ellis, Lincoln.  Old: :21.5, Bob Chavez, Point Loma, 1966.

MILE

New: 4:06.2, Tim Danielson, Chula Vista.  Old:  4:08.2, Danielson, 1966.

880 RELAY

Tie:  1:27.2,  Lincoln (Lewis King, Leroy Davis, David Edwards, Johnny Mack Ellis).  Lincoln, 1962; San Diego, 1963.

STATE TRIALS, @BERKELEY

6/5/66

Lincoln had eight athletes in eight events and a total of 11 entries.

The Hornets were given a chance to win the team championship, although Los Angeles Dorsey and Pasadena Muir were favored, having come through the larger, more competitive L.A. City and Southern sections.

San Diego Section entries met with success in the Friday afternoon portion of the meet at 22,000-seat Edwards Stadium on the University of California campus.

Terry Rogers, Tim Danielson and Doyle Steele won their preliminary tests, as did Lincoln’s Johnny Mack Ellis, first in one of the 100-yard dashes.

Lincoln pole vaulter Mike Johnson was among qualifiers at 13-3 ½ in the pole vault.

The top three finishers in each of three heats and usually 11 or 12 in field events moved on to the finals. Parenthesis indicate place in respective heats, with San Diego Section qualifiers in italics.

NAME, SCHOOL	EVENT	TIME	LEADER
Ellis, Lincoln	100	:09.9 (1)	:09.8, Hill, Stockton Edison; Masters, El Cerrito; Underwood, L.A. Dorsey.
Belle, Lincoln		:10.0 (4)
Chavez, Point Loma	220	:20.9w (3)	Underwood, L.A. Dorsey. :20.5.
Ellis		:21.2 (2)
Ricketts, Granite Hills	440	:50.5 (9)	:47.5, Collett, Gardena.
Quinn, Lincoln		:50.3 (6)
Rogers, Hilltop	880	1:52.7 (1)
Eklund, St. Augustine		1:53.6 (3T)
Danielson, Chula Vista	Mile	4:18.7 (1)	Mattingly, L.A. Loyola, 4:15.9
Fox, Vista		4:21.1 (4)
Edwards, Lincoln	120HH	:14.2 (2)	Parish, L.A. Dorsey, :13.9.
Scales, Lincoln		:14.5 (4)
King, Lincoln	180LH	:20.2 (7)	Farmer, La Puente, :18.6.
Edwards		:19.0 (4)
Robinson, Morse	High Jump	6-4 (12T)	11 at 6-6.
Greenwood, Morse		6-4 (12T)
Steel, San Diego	Long Jump	24-3 ¾ (1)
King		22-11 ½ (11)
Brown, Granite Hills	Shot Put	58-6 ½ (9)	64-¼, Hubbell, Long Beach Poly
Rielly, Oceanside		49-8 (24)
Johnson, Lincoln	Pole Vault	13-3 ½ (1T)
Griffiths, Mar Vista		13-0 (17T)
Gold, Grossmont	Discus	156-8 /1/2 (14)	183-4 /12, Peters, Piedmont
Geer, Monte Vista		Fouled 4 throws
Point Loma	880 Relay	1:29.1 (3)	1:27.3, Garden Grove Bolsa Grande
Lincoln		1:28.7 (3)	1:27.5, L.,A. Manual Arts

6/6/66

FINALS

Tim Danielson, Doyle Steel, and Terry Rogers helped produce a San Diego Section record three gold medals, but Lincoln finished far down the pack with 3 points, two for Johnny Mack Ellis’ fourth place in the 100 and one for Otis Martin’s fifth in the two-mile run.

Rogers began the day holding off a late charge by Karl Henry of Rialto Eisenhower to win the 880 in 1:51.5, same time as the runner-up.

Steel had to rally on his last jump, reaching 25 feet, 3 1/4, to finally beat back the challenge of L.A. Loyola’s Henry Harris, who was leading in the final flight of jumpers at 24 -7 ¼.

Danielson was taking on superstar status.  He won the mile by at least 35 yards in a state meet record of 4:07.    Second place finisher Wally Mattingly of L.A. Loyola clocked 4:13.4.

San Diego Section scorers in italics.

NAME	SCHOOL	EVENT	TIME	WINNER
Johnny Mack Ellis	Lincoln	100	:09.7 (4)	:09.6, Underwood, L.A. Dorsey
Ellis		220	:22.0 (6)
Bob Chavez	Point Loma		:22.1 (6)
Terry Rogers,	Hilltop	880	1:51.5 (1)
Tom Eklund	St. Augustine		1:57.4 (10)
Tim Danielson	Chula Vista	Mile	4:07 (1)
Otis Martin	Lincoln	Two-Mile	9:10.1 (5)	9:01.6, Gamez, Berkeley
Armando Valencia	El Cajon Valley		Did not finish
David Edwards	Lincoln	120HH	:14.7 (8)	:13.9, Parish, L.A. Dorsey
Doyle Steel	San Diego	Long Jump	25-3 ¼ (1)
Lewis King	Lincoln		23-2 (6)
George Brown	Granite Hills	Shot Put	58-7 ¼ (8)	66-11, Hubbell, Long Beach Poly
Mike Johnson	Lincoln	Pole Vault	13-0 (14T)	15-3/4, Meyers, Sacramento Foothill
	Point Loma	880 Relay	1:33.4 (7)	1:26.4, Pasadena Muir
	Lincoln		Did not finish.

6/11/66

Danielson, Rogers, and Steel each competed in the San Diego Invitational, which included former Olympians and an international field.

Danielson continued to rock, finishing fourth in the mile in 3:59.4 and becoming the second high school runner after Jim Ryun in 1964 to break four minutes.

Terry Rogers was last in a six-man 880 field but his 1:50.4 was No. 6 all-time in the U.S.

Doyle Steel jumped 24-5 ½, behind Ralph Boston’s winning 25-3 and Gayle Hopkins 24-11, but Steele impressed track and field expert Dick Bank of Los Angeles.

“He looks like the guy who could take (world record holder) Boston’s place,” said Bank.

“This is the thing that impresses me,” Bank said of Steel, “the conditions weren’t good but he was jumping right with those guys.”

6/18/66

Danielson set a record of 8:55.4 in the two-mile at the Golden West Invitational for athletes from California and the U.S. in Sacramento.

Steele won the long jump at 25-5 and Rogers was the winner in the 880 at 1:51.8.crol

See additional narrative, 1966 Track I, by searching “Recent Posts”.