The thinclads were so good that several made national lists.

Roscoe Cook of San Diego High held the national record in the 100-yard dash, if only for a few days.  Mission Bay’s Jim Cerveny came close to the national record in the 880-yard run.

Bobby Staten, Jim Wade, Luther Hayes, Ed Buchanan, and Dick Verdon also made their marks and would remain historic names.

San  Diego and Hoover still were entrenched powers in the City Prep League, but Lincoln, in its third year, established itself. County leagues Avocado and Metropolitan had their moments, but urban forces held sway.

The Cavemen of coach Birt Slater won the Southern California team championship for the first time since 1948, outscoring heavily favored Compton Centennial.

2/15/57

Lincoln announced itself as a City Prep League contender, winning 10 of 12 events in a 74-29 win at Chula Vista.

After the dual meet Tom Rice, the coach of the Spartans, requested that Lincoln coach Walt Harvey not report the results to the downtown newspapers.

Unbeknownst to the coaches, I was there as a representative of the Lincoln High Buzz and collected $5 for reporting the results to The San Diego Union.

It was my first newspaper reporting payday.

The small story included the byline By Ricky Smith, Lincoln High correspondent.

Rice. who passed away  in Coronado at  age 100 in 2023, was surprised and unhappy.  Harvey, after seeing the result published and hearing from Rice, gave me a very mild rebuke.

Chula Vista’s Ed Fabisak had the day’s best mark, a school record of 4:36.4 in the mile.

2/21/57

A show of City Prep League power:  San Diego rocked Grossmont, 76-28.

—Kearny defeated St. Augustine, 74-30.

—Hoover beat Sweetwater, 71 ½-32 ½.

—Mission Bay edged Oceanside, 58 ½-45 ½.

Roscoe Cook doubled in the 100-yard dash (:10.3) and 220 (:23.4) and got the Cavers off to a good start on the first leg of a 1:32.4 relay victory.

Dick Verdon pushed the shot 55-6 in Hoover’s win and Sweetwater’s George McElvain turned the 440 in :51.8.

2/26/57

Luther Hayes (6-foot, 2-inch high jump) and Russ Boehmke (:23.4 220) set school records as Lincoln beat El Cajon Valley, 70-34.

Jim Cerveny ran :51.7 in the 440 in Mission Bay’s 62-42 win over St. Augustine.

3/3/57

The ninth annual City Prep League relays were canceled because of wet grounds in Balboa Stadium.  San Diego High coach Birt Slater said the event would not be rescheduled.

3/5/57

Ed Buchanan, a junior at Kearny, raced himself into the sprint picture with a :09.7 in the 100 at Lincoln, which defeated the Komets, 62-42.

Buchanan returned to traverse the Lincoln curve in a eye-opening :21.2 220.

But the time for the race was exaggerated because there was no smoke from the starter’s pistol.  Smoke is seen before the sound, so timers, on the other side of the track, went with the delayed noise.

Hoover routed La Jolla, 92 ½-11 ½.  Dick Verdon pushed the shot a school-record 56 feet, 5 inches, almost an inch better than what Verdon reached in 1956.

3/8/57

More than 1,000 athletes in large and small schools divisions, including a sizable contingent of San Diego entries, converged on Huntington Beach High for the 36^th Southern Counties’ Invitational.

Rain had everyone running for cover after two events.  Compton Centennial’s Preston Griffin won the small schools 100 in :10 and Los Angeles Mt. Carmel Mike McKeever pushed the shot 55-9 ¼.

Ed Buchanan of Kearny and Jim Stewart of Sweetwater were second and third in the 100 and Larry Himmer of Sweetwater was fifth in the shot put.

The meet would not be rescheduled, according to Huntington Beach athletic director Alvin Reboin, former 1920’s star at Roosevelt Junior High in San Diego.

3/13/57

Ed Buchanan was not available, so Larry Ray took charge, winning the 100 in :10.3 and 220 in :22.6 and helped the winning relay team (1:35.2) as Kearny beat Point Loma, 68 1/3-35 2/3.

3/15/57

Dick Verdon set a County record of 60 feet, 10 inches, and led Hoover to an impressive 55-49 victory over Lincoln.  The score would have been 60-44 had not the Cardinals been disqualified for a lane violation in the relay.

“I didn’t think I was big enough to throw sixty feet,” said the 200-pound Verdon. In bettering his best of 56-5 1/8, Verdon served notice with practice throws of 58 feet.

Mike Madrigal and Denny Berg followed Verdon, giving Hoover a sweep and adrenaline charge early in the meet.  The Cardinals finished off the Hornets when Bill Stephenson and Chuck Hansen went 1-2 in the 180 low hurdles.

Despite the loss Lincoln still set three school records.  David Grayson won the 100 in :10.1, Bill Hultz the 120-yard high hurdles in :15.2, and Russ Boehmke the 220 in :22.7.

3/16/57

The third annual National City Junior Chamber of Commerce Relays were washed out by rain, joining the Southern Counties Invitational and City Prep League relays as weather casualties.

3/19/57

A triangular meet that had been scheduled at El Cajon Valley between the host Braves, San Diego, and Compton Centennial, which had come South for a dual meet with Grossmont in 1955, was postponed because of rain.

3/21/57

El Cajon Valley was not available, but San Diego and Centennial met in Balboa Stadium.

The Apaches won eight of 12 events and the meet, 60-44.  Roscoe Cook of the Cavers was second in the 100 and 220 and third in the broad jump.

Cook was stunned when he set a school record of 23-10 in the jump but was third, behind the 24-6 1/4 by Preston Griffin and 23-11 by John Blaylock of the visitors.

San Diego’s Bobby Staten won the 180-yard low hurdles in :19.2 and added a strong anchor leg in the relay, although Centennial won in 1:28.8 to the Cavers’ 1:29.

San Diego’s other victories came in the shot put, in which Bobby Hatcher reached 48-5; mile, with Ralph Holt running 4:46.5, and high jump, with Andrew Willis tying three Centennial jumpers at 6-feet, 2 inches.

Cook and the Cavemen would get another shot at Griffin and Centennial later.

3/23/57

Kearny’s Ed Buchanan posted the fastest 220 of the season, :21.5 on the Chula Vista straightaway and Kearny won, 83-21.

Sweetwater’s Jim Stewart logged a :09.9 100 and :22.7 220, but Helix hung on to win, 54-50, after a sweep and 9-0 start in the 120-yard high hurdles, paced by Gael Barsotti’s :15.8.

Larry Himmer set a Sweetwater record of 50 feet, 1/2 inch in the shot put.

Hoover routed Point Loma, 86 ½-17 ½, as the Cardinals’ Chuck Hansen ran :14.9 in the high hurdles and Bill Stephenson :19.5 in the lows. Dick Verdon got to 57-3 in the shot put.

3/26/57

Wendell (Bill) Ernest set a school 220 record of :22 and Larry Williams bettered the shot put record with a 51-6 ½ heave in Helix’ 69-35 win over defending Metropolitan League champion El Cajon Valley.

3/27/57

Mission Bay’s Jim Cerveny ignored his favored 880 and set Mission Bay records of :22.2 in the 220 and :49.6 in the 440 in the Bucs’ 58 2/3-45 1/3 win over Point Loma.

3/29/57

Sixteen-year-old Jim Wade, 6 feet, 5 inches, 210 pounds, hurled the shot 58-6 ½ after reaching 60 feet in practice and Grossmont went on to a 79-25 win over Chula Vista.

3/30/57

Lincoln stunned San Diego, 56-43, winning seven of 12 events.  The Hornets also finished first in the 880 relay but both teams were disqualified because of lane violations.

Luther Hayes doubled for Lincoln at 6-1 1/4 in the high jump and 23-3 in the broad jump. Scott Archibald set a Lincoln record of 50-5 ½ in the shot put.

3/31/57

Six meet records were bettered in the South Bay Relays at Sweetwater, where a carnival of events’ results were mostly team cumulative.

Helix’ Bill Ernest topped Sweetwater’s Jim Stewart in the featured 100-yard dash in :10.1.

Grossmont was the team leader with 36 ½ points, followed by El Cajon Valley,  29 ½.

4/5/57

Helix trailed, 46 2/3-42 1/3 with two events remaining against Grossmont, but sophomores Morris Nunez and Vic Berg led a 1-2 Highlanders finish in the mile and Bill Ernest anchored the Scots to a 1:32 flat win in the 880 relay and Helix had its first dual meet win over Grossmont, 55 1/3-47 2/3, clinching a tie for the Metropolitan League championship.

San Diego bombed Point Loma, 88-16, and, after winning the 880 relay, extended the race for another 880 yards, timing 3:01.9.

The eight runners were Fred Jackson, Art Buchanan, Richard Engler, Earl Kellough, Willie Jordan, Charles (Sugar Jet) Davis, Roscoe Cook, and Bobby Staten.

El Cajon’s Max Cheney ran a 1:59.4 880 but Hoover won the dual meet, 68 1/3-35 2/3.

4/9/57

The gap between the City and the Metropolitan League was glaring as Hoover won nine of 12 events and tied for first in another, and eased past Helix, 68 ½-36 ½.

4/12/57

City competitors were warming as was the weather.

Jim Cerveny took the national lead in the 880 with a 1:55.9 clocking.  San Diego’s Roscoe Cook ran :09.9 in the 100 and Bobby Staten :21.4 in the 220.  Lincoln’s Luther Hayes broad jumped 23 feet, 4 inches.

Cerveny and Mission Bay were on the receiving end of an 86-18 loss to Hoover, Kearny of a 79-25 loss to San Diego, and Grossmont of a 67 1/3-36 2/3 loss to Lincoln.

Curtis Tucker set a Lincoln record of :10 in the 100 and anchored a 1:30.7 record relay victory. Bill Hultz (:15) and Ronnie Grey (:19.5) also set school records in the 120-yard highs and 180-yard low hurdles.

4/26/57

Cleavon Little, destined for Hollywood and a legendary role in the movie “Blazing Saddles’, was credited with a broad jump of 23-4 in the Komets’ 61-38 win at La Jolla.

Bob Reynolds of Kearny became the sixth pole vaulter in county history to clear 13 feet.  Reynolds thrust was measured at 13-1/8.

El Cajon Valley’s Bill Logan cleared 13-6 in 1956, preceded by four San Diego High athletes:  Bill Hubbard, 13-2, 1926; Bill Miller, 13-3, 1929, Bob Henderson, 13-0, 1936, and Bobby Smith, 13-2, 1947.

—San Diego routed Hoover, 65 1/3-38 2/3 and created a three-way tie with Lincoln for the CPL dual-meet championship.

Roscoe Cook won the 100 (:09.9), broad jump (22-3), and ran a leg on the Cavers’ relay team that won in 1:29.9.

“I’ve always thought San Diego had the best team, even though it lost to Lincoln,” a perspicacious Hoover coach Raleigh Holt told Jerry Magee of The San Diego Union, before the meet.

—Don Magoffin set an El Cajon Valley shot put record of 49-4 ½ and the Braves defeated Chula Vista, 69-35.

—Grossmont’s Jim Wade hit a career shot put high of 59-11 ¾ but Sweetwater won, 64-40, as George McElvain led the way with a :51.4 440.

—Bill Ernest doubled in :09.9 and :22.2 in the 100 and 220 and Helix whipped Mission Bay 67 1/3-36 2/3.  Jim Cerveny stepped up to the mile for the Buccaneers and logged a CPL best 4:33.7.

4/30/57

CITY PREP LEAGUE TRIALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Ed Buchanan ran the 220-yard dash on the Balboa Stadium curve in a record :21.6. San Diego’s Bobby Staten ran :21.8 in the previous heat, which also had bettered the mark of :21.9 by Grossmont’s Bert Kohnhurst in 1952.

Buchanan and San Diego’s Roscoe Cook earlier had tied the 100-yard dash record of :09.9, set by the Cavers’ Herman Thompson in 1954.

The :19.3 clocking in the 180-yard low hurdles by Staten tied Thompson’s 1954 record.

San Diego led qualifiers with 14, followed by Lincoln, 11, and Hoover, 8.

Helix qualified 17 in Metropolitan League trials at El Cajon Valley, followed by Sweetwater, Chula Vista and El Cajon Valley with 11 each.

Coronado qualified 12 and Oceanside 11 to lead Avocado League entries at Vista.

5/3/57

CPL FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

San Diego was first six times, tied for first in another event, and scored in 9 of 12 races and field events to win the team championship in the  with 59 points.

Lincoln had 44 ½ points and Hoover 43.  Kearny followed with 19 ½, Mission Bay with 10, La Jolla with 8, and Point Loma with 7.

Five meet records were set or tied:

–Lincoln’s Bill Hultz ran the 120-yard high hurdles in :14.8, topping :14.9’s by Hoover’s Bernie Nelson in 1953 and San Diego’s Leonard Kary in 1955.

–San Diego’s Roscoe Cook tied the often-equaled :09.9 100-yard dash and Bobby Staten equaled the 180-yard low hurdles record of :19.3.

Mission Bay’s Jim Cerveny ran the 880 in 1:55, fastest in the nation, and bettered by two seconds the record Cerveny set in 1956

–Luther Hayes of Lincoln broad jumped 23 feet 10 ¾ inches, improving on his 23-9 ½ in 1956.

–The San Diego 880-yard relay quartet of Willie Jordan, Charles (Sugar Jet) Davis, Cook, and Staten ran 1:28.3, bettering the 1:30.1 of Hoover in 1955.

Lincoln led the Cavers until Cook passed David Grayson coming off the turn on the third leg.

Staten was a double winner, topping 100 runner-up Ed Buchanan in a  :21.8 220.

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE

El Cajon Valley edged Helix for the team title, 56 ¼-49 ¾.

Jim Wade of Grossmont set a shot put record of 61-2, third best in the country. The league record was 59-8 ¼ by Grossmont’s Dick Bronson in 1954 and Bronson had broken the record of 57-3 by another Foothiller, Clyde Wetter in 1951.

AVOCADO LEAGUE

Coronado won the relay in a meet-record 1:32 to claim the team title with 39 points.  Oceanside had 38, as did Vista.

Ron Sjoberg of Vista set a record of :15 in the 120-yard high hurdles.

5/11/57

Five-hundred athletes from the City Prep, Metropolitan, Avocado, Southern Prep, Sunset, and Rio Hondo leagues, and independent St. Augustine were prepared to compete in the CIF Divisional meet at San Diego State, but were rained out.

5/14/57

Three days later the venue was Balboa Stadium.   Lincoln led with nine qualifiers, followed by San Diego and Hoover with six each.  El Cajon Valley had five.

Best mark of the day was a :19.2 in the 180-yard low hurdles by Bobby Staten of San Diego.  Grossmont’s Jim Wade hurled the shot 59-5 /34 and beat Hoover’s Dick Verdon, who reached 57-9 ¾.

5/21/57

El Monte Arroyo was site of a Divisional semifinal meet that was almost as good as a championship.

—Jim Cerveny had launched a chase of the national record of 1:52.3 in the 880 and set a CIF record of 1:53.9, better than the 1:54.7 of Claremont’s Ernie Cunliffe in 1955.

—Roscoe Cook, a :09.7 sprinter a year ago, finally got below :09.9, winning his heat in a season best :09.8 and defeating Alhambra’s Rusty Weeks, who ran :09.6 in another divisional the previous week.

—Hoover’s Dick Verdon won a shot put duel with Grossmont’s Jim Wade, reaching 59-10 ½.  Wade was second at 59-1/2.

—An unheralded Lincoln relay team of Russ Boehmke, David Grayson, Ronnie Grey, and Curtis Tucker also qualified in 1:29.2.  San Diego won its heat in 1:28.3.

There was elation and disappointment for Lincoln hurdlers.

Football and basketball standout Leonard Burnett, lowered his best time from :15.1 to :14.8 and qualified for the finals in the 120 highs.  Bill Hultz ran :14.7 in another, faster heat but was third and nonqualifying.

Cook and Bobby Staten each showed their competitiveness and savvy against Jerry McCullough of Riverside Poly, Carl Skavarna of Ontario Chaffey, and Rusty Weeks, who were favored in the 100, 220, and 180 low hurdles because of their times during the season.

Up ahead was the CIF finals with the imposing Preston Griffin, who ran :09.5 in the other divisional today and who would lead favored Compton Centennial.

5/26/57

Also Search 1957: Cook’s and Cavers’ Great Day.

San Diego outscored Compton Centennial, 19 ½-16 ½, for the CIF team championship, coming up tough against the Apaches’ Preston Griffin.

Griffin was favored in four events, 100 (tied by Roscoe Cook), 220 (edged Bobby Staten), 880 relay (beaten by San Diego), and broad jump, defeated by Lincoln’s Luther Hayes, who had a season best 23-11.

6/1/57

Jim Cerveny again was dominating, setting a state record of 1:52.7 in the 880 and topping the 1:52.9 by Don Bowden of San Jose Lincoln in 1954 but falling short of Bowden’s 1:52.3.

Luther Hayes of Lincoln won the broad jump at 23-8 ½. Jim Wade was third in the shot put at 60-7 ¼ and flashed potential in a post-competition exhibition, going 50-6 with the 16-pound shot.

The state wouldn’t not become a two-day meet until 1963. The morning-afternoon format was not good for San Diego.

Roscoe Cook and Bobby Staten were required, in a space of a few hours, to run several races.

Bobby Staten had virtually no rest, with only a five-minute interval after the 220-yard dash, and pulled out of the 180 lows.

Cook was third in the 100 in :09.7 to Griffin’s :09.6 and :09.7 by Taft Union’s Doug Smith.  Ed Buchanan of Kearny was fourth in :09.7 and fifth in the 220 in :21.7.

Staten was third in the 220 in :21.4 and ran a tremendous anchor leg in the relay, almost catching Berkeley’s Fred DeWitt, who brought the Yellowjackets home in 1:27 to the runner-up Cavers’ 1:27.2.

San Diego and Centennial tied for second with 10 points each, behind Berkeley’s 22.

Track and field made a  leap with multiple outstanding performances in several events. All five area qualifiers scored points in the greatest state meet in history, witnessed by about 4,500 persons on a 100-degree day in Chico.

—Coach Raleigh Holt’s Hoover Cardinals won another City Prep League championship with depth in every race, jump, and throw, headed by miler Bob Monzingo, who finished third at the state meet with an all-time County best of 4:20.7.

Monzingo and Lincoln’s Luther Hayes, Mission Bay’s Jim Cerveny, El Cajon Valley’s Bill Logan, and Sweetwater’s Bill Walters were among state leaders and earned national rankings.

—El Cajon Valley, following Helix’ 1951 beginning, took a sizeable chunk of Grossmont talent and produced a first-year power that won the Metropolitan dual-meet championship and lost only to Hoover.

3/2/56

The eighth annual City Prep League Relays had a change of venue, moving from Balboa Stadium to Kearny, but the result was much the same as in 1955.

Hoover outdistanced San Diego with 66 points to 38 in  Class A, was runner-up to Lincoln in Class B, and dominated Class C.

Individual winners were La Jolla’s Lucian (Junior) Jackson in the 120-yard high hurdles and San Diego’s Roscoe Cook in the 100-yard dash.

Jackson tied the record of :15.1, set by the Vikings’ Jerry Wood in 1950, and Cook was first in :10.0.

Cook also ran the leadoff leg, connecting with Essex Hutton, Willie Jordan, and Bobby Staten, as San Diego raced 880 yards in 1:31.8, breaking the record of 1:32.2 by San Diego in 1951.

3/6/56

Dick Verdon pushed the 12-pound shot 55 feet, 4 ¾ inches, bettering his school record of 54-4 ¾ in 1955.

Verdon and his Hoover teammates eased past San Diego for the third time in four years, 60 ½-44 ½, winning seven of the 12 events and sweeping four.

Luther Hayes, who started at Lincoln in 1955, transferred to San Diego and was fourth in the Southern California broad jump, was back at Lincoln and jumped 22 feet in his first meet, an 82-22 victory over Point Loma.

3/10/56

LARGE SCHOOLS

Hoover’s Bob Monzingo smashed a 28-year-old mile record in the Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach High.

Monzingo covered the distance in 4:28.1, compared to the 4:29.4 by Santa Ana’s Harold Breeding in 1928.

Defending state 220 champion Bob Poynter of Pasadena won the 100 in :09.7, with San Diego’s Roscoe Cook second in 09.8.

Poynter returned to run :20.9 in the 220 with San Diego’s Bobby Staten second in :21.7.

Wes Hill of Point Loma broke the 880 record with a time of 1:59.8, better than the 2:00.5 by Bob Suess of the host school in 1952.

San Diego was seventh in team scoring with 19 points

SMALL SCHOOLS
First-year El Cajon Valley was second with 34 points to Compton Centennial’s 46. Lincoln was third with 13.

The Braves’ Max Cheney won one of two 880 races in 2:02.7 and Bill Logan was first in the pole vault at 13 feet.

Jack Ratelle finished second in :50.5 in one 440-yard dash and La Jolla’s Mike McCartney was third in another in :51.4.

3/13/56

Roscoe Cook ran the 100 in :09.9 and Bobby Staten the 220 in :21.9 as San Diego outscored visiting Sweetwater, 64 1/3-39 2/3.

Sophomore Windell (Bill) Ernest ran :10 flat in the 100 and :23.2 in the 220 and Helix topped Point Loma, 67-36.

3/16/56

Roscoe Cook logged :09.9 in the 100 and Bobby Staten doubled, winning the 220 in :22 and the 180-yard low hurdles in :20, but Mission Bay’s Jim Cerveny made the big news with a school record, 4:37.7 mile.

San Diego won the City Prep League dual, 69 ½-35 ½.

3/18/56

Grossmont’s Jim Griswold ran 4:28.6 in the mile, but upstart El Cajon Valley outscored seven other teams at Sweetwater in the second annual South Bay Relays, a meet that copied the format of the CPL Relays.

The Braves scored 41 points, Grossmont 35, Helix 26 1/2, Chula Vista 23, Lincoln 20 1/2, Sweetwater 8, Mar Vista 6, and Coronado 2.

Griswold’s time was third fastest of the season in Southern California.

3/23/56

Bill Walters’ departure from San Diego High was even more acute.  Imagine an 880 relay team with Roscoe Cook, Bobby Staten, Walters, and Willie Jordan or Essex Hutton?

Walters became one of the fastest sprinters in Southern California after transferring to Sweetwater for his junior year in 1955.

That was punctuated by Walters’ :09.8 100-yard dash in the Red Devils’ dual meet with rival Grossmont.

There were six watches on Walters and all agreed on :09.8, according to Sweetwater coach Dick Coxe.

The visiting Foothillers won, 54-50, overcoming an 18-0, Walters-led Sweetwater sweep in the sprints.

Grossmont’s Jim Wade hurled the shot 51 feet, 8 1/2 inches, and Sweetwater’s Keith Luhnow broad jumped 21-7.

Walters also won the 220 in :22.1 and anchored a 1:32.6 win in the 880 relay.

4/6/56

El Cajon Valley, spoiling for success, knocked off Grossmont, 60-44, in a stunning statement of first-season success.

The triumph, coupled with Helix’ 68 ½-35 ½ win over Sweetwater, set up a Friday the 13^th dual meet for the Metropolitan League title.

Grossmont was feeling the effects of losing several Class B and C performers to the Braves of coach Joe Brooks.

The pain was similar to what the Foothillers felt when Helix opened in 1951 and took several stars and prospects in the realignment of enrollment boundaries.

Surprise of El Cajon Valley’s diversity was a :51.9 victory in the 440 by Lester Hudson, who was expected to run the 880.

Sweetwater expected to battle Helix on more even terms but 440 star and sprinter George McElvain, with a best of :51.5, was declared out for the season with an intestinal ailment.

The Red Devils’ Bill Walters won the 100 in :10 and the 220 in :21.7 in a pair of duels with Helix sophomore Bill Ernest.

Charlie Love won the 120-yard high hurdles (:16.3), 180 lows (:21.1), broad jump (19-2), and ran a leg on the winning relay (1:37.9) for 16 ¼ points in Coronado’s 77-27 win over San Dieguito.

4/10/56

Bobby Staten’s :19.5 in the 180-yard low hurdles was second fastest in Southern California and San Diego’s 1:30.2 in the 880 relay was third.

San Diego won a 71-33 dual-meet decision over La Jolla.  Staten also won the 220 in :22 and Roscoe Cook took the 100 in :10, while La Jolla’s Mike McCartney ran the CPL’s quickest 440, :51.1.

4/16/56

Third-year Lincoln was getting better but not ready for prime time.

The Hornets extended San Diego but the Cavers wrapped a 55-49 dual meet victory by winning the 880-yard relay in 1:30.6.

Luther Hayes was first in the broad jump, edging San Diego’s Roscoe Cook, with a 22-3 effort and the Hornets’ Benny Sanders set a school record in the mile, 4:39.1.

4/18/56

Jack Ratelle of St. Augustine lowered his County-leading 440 time to :50.1 in a meet at Sweetwater. Surveys years later determined the Red Devils’ track was about three yards short of a full quarter mile.

Sweetwater won the triangular meet with 51 1/3 points to 33 1/3 for St. Augustine and 19 for La Jolla.

4/20/56

T.C. Johnson of Kearny and Jim Cerveny of Mission Bay set school records in Kearny’s 53-51 victory.

Johnson high jumped 6 feet, 3 1/8 inches, and Cerveny ran 1:59.3 in the 880.

Hoover shaded El Cajon Valley, 57 ½-46 ½ in a dual of arguably the best teams in San Diego County.

The Braves’ Doug Benson tied his school record of :09.9 in the 100.

Charlie Love of Coronado won the 120 high hurdles in :15.2 and set a school record of :20 in the 180 lows in the Islanders’ triangular triumph, 52 1/3 points to Escondido’s 44 5/6 and Oceanside’s 31 2/3.

4/23/56

El Cajon Valley won the Grossmont League showdown with visiting Helix, 58-46, to earn at least a tie for the Metropolitan league dual-meet title.

Helix sophomore Bill Ernest tied his school record of :09.9 in the 100 and set a school record with a :22.1 220.  Ernest also anchored the Scots to a school-record 1:33 in the 880 relay.

Ernest’s teammate, Gael Barsotti, also ran a leg on the relay and set a school record of 5-11 in the high jump.

4/24/56

Roscoe Cook logged :09.9 in the 100-yard dash and Bob Waterhouse broad jumped 22-3/4 as San Diego scored a 72-32 win over St. Augustine.

4/26/56

Don Brizendine’s :51.8 in the 440 broke the Chula Vista record of :52.3, set in 1949 by Fentriss Neal.  The Spartans beat Helix, 55-49.

4/27/56

Hoover wrapped a 6-0, City Prep League season with an 88-16 win over Mission Bay, which could point to an emerging Jim Cerveny, who set an 880 school record for the second time, 1:57.5.

Bob Waterhouse broad jumped 22 feet, 7 ¾ inches, taking the team lead from Roscoe Cook, who earlier had jumped 22-6 ½ as San Diego defeated Kearny, 70-34.

Had he not transferred back to Lincoln, Luther Hayes would have made it a trio of outstanding jumpers at San Diego.  Hayes set a Lincoln school record with a jump of 23-5, best in the County since John Parker leaped 23-9 1/2 at San Diego in 1951.

Sweetwater tied a school record of 1:31.5 in the 880 relay but Grossmont won the Metropolitan loop dual, 69-35.

5/1/56

CITY PREP LEAGUE TRIALS @BALBOA STADIUM

Lincoln was a surprise leader with 15 qualifiers, followed by Hoover, 13, San Diego and La Jolla, 8 each, Kearny, 5, and Mission Bay, 3.

San Diego’s Bobby Staten tied the 100 record of :09.9 record, set in 1954 by the Cavers’ Herman Thompson.

The Cavers’ scoring chances in Class A were diminished when Roscoe Cook moved down to Class B, in which he set a record of :10 in the 100, bettering Cook’s and Bill Walters’ :10.1 in 1955.

Chuck Hansen of Hoover ran :09.1 in the 70-yard high hurdles and Lincoln’s Eddie Hartman logged 1:24.9 in the 660.

Cook returned to run :22 in the 220, a B record for the Balboa Stadium curve.  Alfred Woerner of San Diego ran :21.6 on the Kearny straightaway in 1955, aided by over-the-limit wind.

Kearny’s George Williams leaped 21 feet, 11 inches in Class B.  Field event finals were in B and C.

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE TRIALS @SWEETWATER

Grossmont’s Jim Walton hurdled the 180-yard lows in :19.6, bettering the :19.8 by La Jolla’s Art Barnard in 1947.

Eight records were set in Classes B and C which held finals in field events.

 CLASS B

Armstrong of Grossmont went 52-1 in the 10-pound shot put, topping his record of 51-3 ½ in 1955.

Doug Benson of El Cajon Valley equaled the 100 record of :10.2, set in 1948 by Jerry Weed of Grossmont and equaled by Grossmont’s Jim Walton in 1955.

CLASS C

Jerry Carlton of Grossmont hurled the eight-pound shot 56-10, topping a mark of 50 feet in 1950.

Joe Rubidoux of El Cajon Valley’s :13.9 in the 120-yard low hurdles bettered a :14.1 from 1939 and his 20-2 1/8 broad jump improved on a 20-1 1/2 in 1937. Teammate Wendell Maize ran 1:28.7 in the 660.

An :18.7 in the 180-yard dash by Paul Adams of Helix smashed a record of :19.7 in 1948. Jim Stewart of Sweetwater ran :10.1 in the 100, breaking a 19-year-old record.

5/4/56

Laguna Beach won the eighth annual Vista Relays, outscoring a field of 12 teams with 41 points.  Vista was second with 36 ½, followed by Tustin, 32 ½, Escondido 28, and St. Augustine 26.

Also in the Vista field were Valencia, Army-Navy, Ramona, Fallbrook, San Dieguito, Oceanside, and Mar Vista.

5/6/56

AVOCADO LEAGUE FINALS, @ESCONDIDO

Charlie Love did all he could but Vista won the team title with 56 7/10 points to Coronado’s 49.

Love tied the meet record with a :15.5 triumph in the 120-yard high hurdles, set a meet record of :19.9 in the 180 lows, won the broad jump at 20-1 ¼, and anchored the Islanders’ 880 relay team to a record 1:34.3.

Five other meet records were set, including a 51-foot shot put by Coronado’s Jon Crawford and 2:03 880 by Vista’s Knox.

The high jump saw five contestants in an event won at 5-9 ½ tie for third, resulting in points rounding out to tenths.

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE FINALS, @CHULA VISTA

Coach Tom Rice’s Chula Vista Spartans were surprising winners of the team championship, outscoring dual meet champion El Cajon Valley, 42 3/8-42 1/8.

Sweetwater’s Bill Walters came from behind to top Helix’ rising sophomore Bill Ernest in a :09.9 100 and won the 220 by 10 yards in  :21.6.

Walters’ 100 was off the meet record of :09.8, set by Oceanside’s Bill Huntales in 1937.  Walters also came close to the 220 record, held by Point Loma’s George Able, who ran :21.5 in 1938.

Wendell Maize of El Cajon Valley topped the record he set in the Class C trials with a 1:27 in the 660.  Max Cheney of the Braves lowered the B 660 to 1:26.3 and Bill Hudson the B 1320 to 3:19.7.

CITY PREP LEAGUE FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Dual-meet champion Hoover needed a sweep of the mile and victory in the 880 relay to pass Lincoln, 50 points to 42, and win the team title.

Bob Monzingo bettered the meet record of 4:31.8, set by Kearny’s Jim Weir in 1954, with a time of 4:30.1, leading teammates John Thinnes and Bob Larsen.

The Cardinals also won the 880-yard relay in 1:32.2.

Luther Hayes’ 23-foot, 9 1/8-inch broad jump bettered the record of 23-6 by John Parker of San Diego in 1951.

Jim Cerveny’s 1:57 880 lowered the standard of 1:58.9 by Grossmont’s Jim Giyer in 1954, and McCartney’s 50-second 440 erased the :50.7 by Lee Buchanan of Kearny in 1954.

Point Loma’s Wes Hill set a fast pace with a :56 first quarter, but Cerveny pulled even in the final 200 yards and ran down Hill coming home, with the Pointer second in 1:57.4.

Roscoe Cook equaled his :10 flat 100 and anchored a 660 relay that tied the Southern California record of 1:07.  Cook’s teammates included Essex Hutton, Jiro Sato, and Willie Jordan.

Chuck Hansen of Hoover tied his Class B 70-yard high hurdles record of :09.1 and the 120-yard low hurdles record of 13.3 by Kearny’s John Rushing in 1951.

5/14/56

SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISIONAL, @SAN DIEGO STATE

Grossmont’s Jim Griswold was timed in 4:27 in the mile and finished third to Fullerton’s Grady Neal (4:25.7) and Hoover’s Bob Monzingo (4:26.3).

SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISIONAL SEMIFINALS, @ONTARIO

Roscoe Cook bettered Southern Section Class B records with a :9.7 100 and :21 flat 220 at Chaffey High, but the century record was disallowed because of a 5 miles-per-hour tail wind.

Cook, with an allowable breeze less than 4.447 m.p.h., took down the 220 record of :21.6 by Hoover’s Clyde Yakel in 1937.

San Diego’s 660-yard relay team bettered the CIF record with a time of 1:06.8 but was disqualified because Cook was judged to have cut in too soon on a Montebello runner.

Sophomore Windell (Bill) Ernest surprised with a :09.7 100 that edged San Diego’s Bobby Staten and Sweetwater’s Bill Walters.  Only two advanced in each race.

Walters came back to win his 220 heat in :21.1.

5/28/56

SOUTHERN SECTION FINALS, @INGLEWOOD

For a while it appeared San Diego had earned at least a tie for the Class B title after Roscoe Cook’s :09.8 and :22 flat sprint victories and a third in the 100 by Essex Hutton.

But a post-meet review of film of the race showed that a Long Beach Poly runner had earned a fourth in the 100-yard dash and the Jackrabbits won the championship with 14 1/2 points. San Diego and Rosemead had 13 each.

Cook was the only winner from San Diego, but Luther Hayes tied for first with Compton’s Bobby Smith at 22-9 ¾ in the broad jump.

Hayes was hampered by the extremely short broad jump runway at Inglewood High, forcing Hayes to start his approach beside an adjacent fence.

6/2/56

STATE MEET, @CHICO

Bill Logan of El Cajon Valley upset the field with a 13-foot, 6-inch pole vault, tying for first place after finishing second in the Southern Section the week before at 13-3 ½.

Bob Monzingo of Hoover ran 4:20.7 and was third behind Ron Larrieu of Palo Alto (4:20.1) and Grady Neal of Fullerton (4:20.6) in the mile.

Luther Hayes was fourth in the broad jump at 24 feet, 1/8 inch and Jim Cerveny tied for fifth in the 880 at 1:54.4, joining Monzingo as County record holders.

Sweetwater’s Bill Walters was fourth in the 220 in :21.3.

All five San Diego-area qualifiers earned points.

 

 

The lower classifications held sway.

Grossmont was the Southern Section team champion in Class B and most of the area’s future Class A champions were underclassmen, at least a year or two away.

Hoover was enjoying a period of dominance in CPL dual meets, routing San Diego, 64 1/3-39 2/3.  Grossmont also defeated the Cavers, 79 5/6-24 1/6.

Birt Slater took over for the retired Bill Patten as coach at San Diego High, destined to excel in this role and as a future head football coach at Kearny.

San Diego lost the potential for a big finish in the championship meets when Bill Walters, outstanding in the short races as a sophomore in 1954, transferred to Sweetwater and was the County leader with a :09.9 100-yard dash.

3/3/55

Two future stars, sophomore sprinters Bobby Staten and Roscoe Cook of San Diego, ran 1-2 in the 100-yard dash, but Hoover ran, jumped, and tossed its way to first place in the annual City Prep Relays in Balboa Stadium.

The Cardinals were first in the combined, three-man broad jump, shot put, and mile relay, showing strength on the track and in the field events.

Hoover scored 65 points to San Diego’s 45, and Kearny’s 44. La Jolla followed with 17. Lincoln and Point Loma had 10 each and Mission Bay 8.

Staten beat Cook in a :10.2 100 and teammate Leonard Kary topped La Jolla’s Junior Jackson in a :15.2 120-yard high hurdles race.

Hoover jumpers Denny Hill, Choc Sportsman, Jr., and Rod McMillan combined to reach a record 62-3 ¼ in the broad jump. Hill had the best jump, 21-3 ¼.

3/5/55

SOUTH BAY RELAYS

The first annual at Chula Vista High was similar to the established City Prep League Relays. Totals were combined for three-man events.

Bill Walters, who showed promise at San Diego High as a sophomore, was outstanding for Sweetwater, his new school.

Walters won the individual 100-yard dash in :10 and anchored Sweetwater to wins in the 440 and 880 relays.

Grossmont won the team title with 68 points, followed by Chula Vista, 38, Sweetwater, 36, Helix, 17, and Mar Vista, 5.

Grossmont’s Rene Rogers won the individual mile in 4:48.8 and teammate Jerry Kocourek the 180-yard low hurdles in :20.8.

3/9/55

Hoover’s Bob Monzingo beat Mission Bay’s Jim Cerveny in a 4:47.6 mile in a race of future stars.

Hoover had most of the stars, winning 92 1/3-11 2/3.

La Jolla was losing a huge link to talent in Mission Beach and Pacific Beach as Mission Bay would fill out a senior class in the next school year.

But not yet. The Vikings socked Point Loma, 71 ½-32 ½, behind a couple diverse performers.

Mike McCartney won the 440 in :55, the 180 low hurdles in :20.8, and was third in the broad jump. Junior Jackson won the 120 high hurdles in :15.5 and the shot put at 46 feet, 1 inch.

McCartney and Jackson ran the last two legs of the relay, which Vikings won in 1:35.3.

3/10/55

Bernard Harrod won the 220 in :22.3, 440 in :51, and anchored the winning relay (1:33.8) but San Diego claimed the dual meet, 54 ½-49 ½.

3/12/55

Bill Walters of Sweetwater split races with Compton Centennial’s Ken Dennis, winning the 220 in :21.4 after Dennis took the 100 in :09.9 in the 34^th Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach High.

Rene Rogers of Grossmont won one of the mile races in 4:31.

San Diego’s Leonard Kary was second in high and low hurdles races that were won in :15 and :19.7.

Hoover’s John Haley was second in an unofficial :21.6 to the 220-winning time of :21.5 by Joe Graham of Pomona.

North Phoenix pole vaulter Lee Bullard cleared 13-5 1/8, breaking the record of 13-3 by San Diego’s Bill Miller in 1929.

Sophomore Jim Brewer, Bullard’s teammate, cleared 13-0 and two years later would become the first prep to top 15 feet.

Walters joined San Diego’s Jimmy Willson (1929), Morris (Mushy) Pollock (1933), and Darnes Johnson (1950) in a group that had traversed the furlong in :21.4.

San Diego’s Glenn Willis (1942) and Grossmont’s Bert Kohnhurst (1952) ran :21.5.

Another San Diego runner, Harold Miller, clocked a wind-aided :21.2 in 1947.

3/17/55

Hoover stood only 5-16-1 since 1932, when the dual meet series started, after its 64 1/3-39 2/3 win over San Diego, but the victory was the Cardinals’ second in the last three seasons.

Leonard Kary of San Diego ran :14.8, the fastest 120-yard high hurdles of the season.  Kary also won the 180-yard lows in :20.2.

Hoover’s John Haley doubled in the sprints (:10.2, :22.7) and anchored the fastest 880-yard relay of the season, 1:31.7.

3/18/55

Lincoln outscored Point Loma, 57 ½-45 ½, in its CPL opener and celebrated its first-ever dual meet win after a 0-5 debut in 1954

Charlie Cox doubled in :10.3 and :23.8 in the 100 and 220 for the Hornets.

–John DeMarco flirted with the all-time CPL record, 12-foot, 5 1/16 inches by Helix Jim Terry in 1952.

The Kearny pole vaulter went over 12-3 1/8 in a 62 ½-42 ½ loss to La Jolla.

3/26/55

La Jolla won 5 of 12 events but was buried under an avalanche of Hoover depth, 71-33, in a meeting between unbeaten squads.

Bob Monzingo set a Hoover record of 4:34.2 in the mile and sophomore Dick Verdon set a shot put record of 54-4 ½, beating his older teammates, Tony Procopio and John Adams.

–Grossmont swarmed Mar Vista, winning the varsity dual, 97-7, Class B, 89-8, and Class C, 72-5.

3/30/55

Leonard Kary ran :14.8 in the 120-yard high hurdles and :20.6 in the 180 lows in San Diego’s 78-26 win over St. Augustine.

Alfred Woerner defeated sophomore teammate Roscoe Cook in a :10.1 100, won the 220 (:23.5), and hooked up with Cook as part of a 1:32.6 triumph in the 880 relay.

4/1/55

Grossmont took on Compton Centennial, a second-year school which already had already had won CIF Southern Section championships in track (1954) and football (1954) and would win this season in track.

The Apaches of coach Bill Gill won eight events and the dual meet at Grossmont, 59 ½-45 ½.

The Foothillers’ Rene Rogers logged a 4:30.9 mile, tops in the area this year.

–Darrel Sager’s 1:59.8 in the 880 and George McElvain’s :51.8 in the 440 set school records and McElvain was part of a foursome that included Eddie Vega, Waco Thrower, and Bill Walters that set a standard of 1:31.5 in the relay

–Lincoln was improving.  The second-year school was an 88 1/3-15 2/3 victim of powerful Hoover, a better result  than 1954’s 99-4 Hoover victory.

John Adams, Hoover’s 205-pound football star, equaled a City Prep League best when he clocked :10.2 in the 100. Adams returned to win the 220 in :22.6.

–Gil Bartell’s 2:03.4 880 and Jim Cerveny’s 4:45 mile set Mission Bay records, although La Jolla won the CPL dual, 74-28.

 

4/15/55

Grossmont and Sweetwater headed for a Metropolitan League collision, both undefeated after impressive victories.

The Red Devils defeated Chula Vista, 73-31, as Bill Walters won the 100 in :09.9, the 220 in :22.2, and anchored a 1:32.2 victory in the 880 relay.

Darrel Sager broke the school record in the 880 for the sixth time in the last two seasons, recording a 1:59.4 clocking.

–Hoover clobbered Point Loma, 94 2/3-9 1/3, as John Haley became the first CPL competitor  this season to run the 100 in 10 seconds.

4/22/55

Grossmont stunned Sweetwater, 75 ½-28 ½, in the big Metropolitan League dual, with Jerry Koucerek leading the way.

Koucerek won the 120 high hurdles in :15.4, 180 lows in :20.5, broad jump at 21 feet, 2 inches, and was a member of the school-record 880 relay squad that finished in 1:32.

Rene Rogers set another Grossmont record, winning the mile in 4:26.0 and bettering the all-time County best of 4:26.8 by San Diego’s Al Heredia in the 1939 state meet.

4/26/55

San Dieguito lost the relay as Vista set a school record of 1:36.4, but the Mustangs had enough points before the race and clinched the Avocado League dual-meet championship, 52 2/3-51 2/3.

Mustang Phil Medina won the high hurdles (:16), broad jump (19-7) and 440 (:53.1).

4/27/55

Denny Hill took the County lead with a 22-foot broad jump and Hoover completed an undefeated season with a 79-25 win over Kearny.

4/28/55

Bob Coon set a Chula Vista record of 2:01.3 in the 880-yard run, but the Spartans took an 80-24 licking from undefeated Grossmont in the season’s final dual.

Darrel Sager set another record for Sweetwater, but not in the 880.  So named “The Stork”, Sager strolled the mile in 4:34.3 and the Red Devils defeated Mar Vista, 86 2/3-13 1/3.

4/29/55

Luther Hayes, a sophomore mid-semester transfer from Lincoln, knocked Hoover’s Denny Hill from his two-day lead in the broad jump, reaching  22 feet, 1 inch, in the final dual meet of the season.

Hayes also won the 440 in :54.4 and ran a leg on the winning relay team (1:33.6) as San Diego defeated Point Loma, 72-31.

5/3/55

LEAGUE TRIALS

Sweetwater’s Bill Walters ran :21.5 in the 220 in the Metropolitan League preliminaries at Chula Vista.

Grossmont sent 41 entries in Varsity, Classes B, and C to the finals. Chula Vista actually had more varsity qualifiers, 16 to the Foothillers’ 14.

Jerry Koucerek tied a Grossmont record of :15.2 in the 120-yard high hurdles.

THOSE KEARNY MESA BREEZES

San Diego’s Alfred Woerner ran the 100 in :10 and 220 in :21.6, marks that would have set CPL Class B records but were aided by the usual wind at Kearny.

Hoover led all varsity qualifiers with 17, followed by La Jolla, 11.

San Diego’s Roscoe Cook (:10.1) and Bobby Staten (:22) had faster 100 and 220 times in Class B than that of varsity heat winners.

5/6/55

CPL FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Hoover romped to the team championship with 78 points to 36 for La Jolla, but the action was in Class B.

A team of Roscoe Cook, Dennis Russell, Alfred Woerner, and Bobby Staten covered the 660 relay in 1:07, setting a CPL record and tying the Southern Section meet record.

Hoover’s Bob Monzingo ran the B 1320 in 3:15.6, which tied the CIF meet record but was short of the City Prep League mark of 3:15.1 by Grossmont’s Rene Rogers in 1954.

CIF records could be set only in divisional or championship meets.

The Hoover quartet of Willie Kaufman, Bob Agnew, John Adams, and John Haley covered the 880 relay in 1:30.1, better than the 1:30.6 by San Diego in 1954.

La Jolla’s Cookie Taylor, with an all-time best of 6-4 in the high jump and the 1954 Southern Section Class B champ, did not qualify for the Divisional meet the next week.

T.C. Johnson of Kearny won at 5-9 ¾ and Taylor had more misses than the two jumpers with whom he tied for second.  Three qualified in each event.

AVOCADO FINALS, @ESCONDIDO

San Dieguito, with 45 ¾ points, took the team title in the first-year league.

Charlie Love of Coronado was a triple winner, :15.5 in the 120-yard high hurdles, :52.3 in the 440, and 20-5 ½ in the broad jump.

METROPOLITAN FINALS, @CHULA VISTA 

Grossmont swept all three classifications and qualified 46 entries in next week’s CIF Divisional meet.

Rene Rogers’ 4:24.3 mile smashed the record of 4:35.7, set by the Foothillers’ Jim Giyer in 1953 and bettered Rogers’ 4:26 County record.

Another Grossmont mid-distance runner, John Kershaw, won the 880 in 1:57.9.

Chula Vista’s Bob Coon trailed Rogers with an unofficial time of 4:33.

5/14/55

Hoover (15) and Grossmont (12) led in varsity qualifying on a cold, blustery Divisional day at San Diego State.

La Jolla’s Mike McCartney won a 440 heat in :51.5.  John Kershaw of Grossmont and Bob Gallaher of Hoover won 880 trials in 2:01.3 and 2:01.4, respectively.

Leonard Kary of San Diego (: 15, :20.3) and Junior Jackson of La Jolla (:15.3, :20.4) were winners in heats of the 120-yard high hurdles and 180-yard lows.

Ray Hiscock of St. Augustine led shot putters at 53-8 ½, and Hoover ran 1:30.7 to lead the 880 relay.

5/17/55

Rene Rogers became the Southern California leader with a 4:21.7 mile in the Divisional semifinals at Huntington Beach.

Rogers’ time threatened the CIF meet record of 4:21.2 by Torrance’s Louie Zamperini in 1934.

Grossmont placed 13 athletes in Classes A, B. and C for the championship meet later in the week.

Bill Hammond of Grossmont set a Class B pole vault record at 12 feet, 11 inches, and teammate Jim Walton set a school record of :13.3 in the 120-yard low hurdles.

San Diego’s Roscoe Cook won his 100-yard dash heat in :10.2 and teammate Bobby Staten rook a 220 race in :22.2.  Both ran on the wining, 1:07.8, 660-yard relay squad.

Hoover’s Bob Gallaher qualified at 1:58.8 in the 800 and Bob Monzingo won his 1320 heat in 3:14.6.

Leonard Kary of San Diego set the pace in the Class A hurdles, winning in :14.6 and :19.4.  Hoover’s relay team won in 1:30.2.

5/21/55

Gorgeous, perfect weather at Ontario Chaffey for the CIF championships.

Junior Jackson was fifth in the 120-yard high hurdles in :14.7, one tenth of a second off the school record of :14.6 by Jerry Wood in 1950.

Compton Centennial’s future San Diego Chargers great Paul Lowe won a tight duel with San Diego’s Leonard Kary, tying the meet record of :18.9 in the 180 low hurdles, with Kary nosing out Lowe’s teammate Ken Thompson for second in :19.

Rene Rogers of Grossmont led until tying up in the final 180 yards in the mile.  Newport Beach Newport Harbor’s Tod White came on to win in 4:23.2 and Rogers barely hung on for second in 4:25.9.

Sophomore Luther Hayes, who was running 440s for Lincoln early in the season and before transferring to San Diego, was fifth in the broad jump at 21-9, off his County-leading 22-1.

St. Augustine’s Ray Hiscock was fifth in the shot put at 55-1, a school record.

Riverside Poly won the 880 relay in 1:28.2, with Hoover third in 1:29.0.

FOOTHILLERS EXCELL

Grossmont won the Class B championship with 18 points, ahead of Compton Centennial, 17, and San Diego, 13.

Jim Wade won the shot put at 52-10 ½, with teammate Armstrong third at 50-11 ¼.  Bill Hammond was first in the pole vault at 12-9 and teammate Bill Logan tied for second at 12-6.

Bobby Staten of San Diego won the 220 in :21.8, followed by the Cavers’ Alfred Woerner. Roscoe Cook was third in the 100 and fifth in the broad jump at 21-3 ¼.

Hoover’s Bob Monzingo was second and Mission Bay’s Jim Cerveny third in the 1320, behind the record 3:11.9 of

Newport Beach Newport Harbor’s Don Beatty.

San Dieguito tied for fifth with 9 points in Class C as Funaki tied the 1938 meet record of :13.4 in the 120-yard low hurdles and was third in the broad jump at 20-9 ¼.

5/28/55

STATE FINALS @LOS ANGELES COLISEUM

Area representation could not have been thinner in the 35^th state meet at the Los Angeles Coliseum, scoring only from San Diego hurdler Leonard Kary.

Kary won his heat in the 180 lows in :19.3 in the morning trials and was third in the afternoon final in :19.4, behind Compton Centennial’s Paul Lowe (:19.2) and Los Angeles Jefferson’s Willie White (:19.3).

Grossmont’s Rene Rogers was a non-scoring sixth in the mile and Hoover was eliminated in its heat in the 880-yard relay.

San Diego High bounced back with a 7-0 dual-meet record after a mediocre season in 1953 and finished fourth in the CIF Southern Section championships.

It was a fitting farewell for coach Bill Patten, whose teams annually were among the best in Southern California since he became head coach in 1944.

Patten’s teams posted a 61-6-1 record in dual meets and from 1946, when postwar competition lengthened the season, through 1954 the Hillers finished at least in the top five in team scores at the Southern Section championships every year but 1953.

San Diego was second three times, third twice, and fourth once.  They won the team championship in 1948 and thought they were first in 1951 until a film review changed the final score.

FASTER, FURTHER

Times and distances were improving each year.

Herman Thompson of San Diego ran the first :09.7 100-yard dash and the first :19.2 180-yard low hurdles, although by all accounts Thompson received too much aid from a tailing wind.

Grossmont’s Dick Bronson set a record and ranked high nationally with a 60-foot, 4 1/2-inch shot put.  Jim Giyer of Grossmont was the first to shade 1:58 in the 880-yard run and Giyer and Jim Weir of Kearny ran the first sub-4:30 miles since 1939.

3/3/54

Darrell Sager of Sweetwater began what would become a frequent assault on the school record in the 880-yard run when he logged 2:07 in a 74 ½-29 ½ dual meet win over Escondido.

Grossmont coach Jack Mashin talked shotputting with Dick Bronson, Mel Kemp, and Richard Loftus (from left).

3/5/54

San Diego’s Herman Thompson won the individual 100 in :10.1 and Ron Wade of Grossmont took the 120-yard high hurdles in :16.0 in the City Prep League Relays. Other races and field events were scored by the teams’ three-man, combined efforts.

Thompson, Ardell Finley, and Bill Walters averaged 20 feet 8 inches, and won the broad jump.  Three Grossmont shot putters, Dick Bronson, Richard Loftus, and Mel Kemp, averaged 53 feet, 8 inches.

Grossmont won the team championship with 65 points to San Diego’s 45.  Hoover had 32 points, Kearny 27, Point Loma 20, and Helix 9.  La Jolla and Lincoln were shut out.

3/9/54

Grossmont made its CPL intentions even more clear when it topped defending dual-meet champion Hoover 67 ½-36 ½, and middle distance runners Jim Giyer and Rene Rogers pushed weightmen Dick Bronson, Mel Kemp, and Richard Loftus off center stage.

Giyer set a school record of 1:58.4 in the 880 and Rogers set a school mile record of 4:33.5.  Bronson won the shot at 55-1 ½.

La Jolla’s Billy (Cookie) Taylor set a school record of 6 feet, 4 inches, in the high jump, competing with the Class B squad, as La Jolla nipped Helix, 56-48.

Darrell Smith won the 800 in 2:00.5 and Vista beat San Dieguito, 61-43, in Metropolitan League dual competition.  Mark Shearer won the 100 (:10.5), 220 (:23.8), and anchored the Panthers to a 1:36.4 win in the 880 relay.

3/12/54

Darrell Sager’s Sweetwater school record in the 880 was lowered a third time from 2:05 to 2:04.8 and the Red Devils edged Coronado, 53-51.

3/14/54

Twenty-seven large schools, including San Diego, Hoover, and Grossmont, entered the 28^th annual Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach High.

Twenty-seven small schools, including Kearny, Vista, San Dieguito, Army-Navy, Fallbrook, La Jolla, and Coronado also were scheduled to compete.

Grossmont led a group of almost 100 entries from San Diego with 27.  Two-time small schools defending champion Kearny had 19.

3/15/54

Bolstered by Jim Giyer’s 4:29.9 mile, fastest of the season in Southern California, coach Jack Mashin’s Grossmont Foothillers were third.

The Foothillers scored 26 2/13 points, trailing Riverside Poly, which had 35, and Santa Ana, 27 2/13.

Grossmont’s power in the weigh event was prevalent as Dick Bronson won the shot put at 57-6 ¼, followed by Richard Loftus, third at 52-11 ½, and Mel Kemp, fourth at 52-6 ¾.

Rene Rogers was third to Giyer with a 4:31 mile and Parker Damon was second in the pole vault at 12-9.

Herman Thompson of San Diego finished second behind the :09.6 100-yard dash of Santa Ana’s Bill Swisshelm and Leonard Kary was second in the 120-yard high hurdles.

KEARNY FIRST, AGAIN

Kearny won the team title for the third consecutive year with 24 2/3 points to Hawthorne’s 19.

Charlie Cota won the pole vault at 12 feet, and Jim Weir took the mile in 4:34.  Paul Rushing was fourth in the 100 and Lee Buchanan third in the 440.

3/19/54

Grossmont took a rare trip to Long Beach Wilson for a triangular meet with the host Bruins and Santa Barbara.

Rene Rogers set a school record of 4:30.4 in the mile and Jim Giyer ran the 880 in 1:58.7 as the Foothillers won with 64 ¼ points to Wilson’s 55 ¾, and Santa Barbara’s 9 ½.

3/21/54

Don Wells set a school record of 50-1 in the shot put and miler Jim Weir showed what he could do at a shorter distance, running the 880 in 2:03.3 in Kearny’s 80-23 win over Lincoln.

4/2/54

It wasn’t raining but the wind blew and Herman Thompson flew at Point Loma, where San Diego was more hard-pressed than expected in a 60 ½-43 ½ dual meet victory.

Thompson set San Diego school records of :09.7 in the 100-yard dash and :19.2 in the 180-yard low hurdles.

Thompson also won the broad jump at 21 feet, 2 1/2 inches, and anchored the Hillers to victory in 1:33.5 in the 880-yard relay.

That Thompson was so significant did not go unnoticed by Point Loma officials, who were unhappy and had suspected San Diego High influence when Thompson transferred to the Hillers before his senior year.

Point Loma’s Tom Gueston set a school record of 6 feet, ¾ inches in the high jump and Ray Blasingame was second to Thompson’s windy low hurdles in :19.5.

Grossmont’s Jim Giyer ran the Southern California season’s fastest 880, logging a school record 1:58 in a 73-31 win over La Jolla.

George Paddick of Grossmont took the County lead with a 21-9 ½ broad jump. Rene Rogers added a 4:32.5 mile and Dick Bronson a 56-9 ½ shot put.

Lincoln, which in years to come would be a power throughout the state, was feeling the struggle of growing pains.

Hoover came up one point short of a century in a 99-4 carnage.

There was no third-place scorer in the pole vault, denying the Cardinals, who had two entered in the event and Lincoln none, a 100^th point…and saved the Hornets from a historic embarrassment.

4/6/54

Herman Thompson won three events and was part of a fourth as San Diego defeated Grossmont, 66 1/2-37 1/2.

Thompson ran the 100 in :10, 220 in :21.9, broad Jumped 21-6, and ran the anchor leg of a winning relay team (1:32.5).

La Jolla’s Cookie Taylor high jumped 6-4 in an 83 1/2-20 1/2 win over Lincoln.  Kearny’s Jim Weir logged a school-record, 4:29 mile and Don Wells joined Weir with a 51-9 1/2 shot put in a 60-44 win over Hoover.  Ed Perkins’ :10.1 100 tied Helix, school reord but Point Loma won the dual, 66-38, as Ray Blasingame cleared the 120 high hurdles in :14.8.

4/23/54

Grossmont coach Jack Mashin assayed the end of the shot put competition, in which Dick Bronson, a mid-40-feet tosser as a sophomore two years before, became the fifth U.S. prep to reach 60 feet, according event guru and historian Mashin.

The national record was set by Ontario Chaffey’s Don Vick at 62-5 ¼ in 1953.
Bronson’s throw, during Grossmont’s 73-31 win over Point Loma, was accompanied by George Paddick’s County-leading, 21-11 ¼ broad jump.

La Jolla’s Cookie Taylor won a duel with Kearny’s T.C. Johnson by clearing 6-3 in the high jump, but the Vikings lost, 63 2/3-40 1/3.

C.R. Roberts won his usual, unique triple in Oceanside’s 67-37 loss to Sweetwater.  Roberts clocked :10.8 in the 100, broad jumped 20-1 ¼ and claimed a personal best of 45 feet in the shot put.

4/26/54

Chula Vista earned its third consecutive Metropolitan League championship, 67 2/3-36 1/3, over visiting Vista.

The Spartans saved the best for last as a team of Benny Martin, Bill Lancaster, Don Moore and Wayne Eisenman set a school record of 1:33 in the relay.

Spartans coach Tom Rice said the relay win was “by one deep breath,” as Vista’s Mark Shearer almost caught Eisenman, who was staked to an eight-yard lead, according to Rice, when teams passed the baton for the final time.

Shearer set a Vista record of :10.2 in the 100 and won the 220 in :23.

4/30/54

Grossmont edged Kearny, 56 ½-47 ½, for second place and a 6-1 record in the CPL standings, but the Komets’ Jim Weir routed the Foothillers’ Jim Giyer and Rene Rogers, who had been unbeaten in the mile.

Weir’s time was 4:31.9 and his rapid pace took the finishing kick of Giyer’s, who was second about 15 yards behind.

San Diego whipped Helix, 76-28, to clinch the dual-meet championship with a 7-0 record.  It was the last dual that retiring Bill Patten would coach.

Herman Thompson sat out the 100, won by Ardell Finley in :10.1, but won the 180 low hurdles in :19.5 and minutes later turned in the season’s fastest 220, :21.8, on the Helix straightaway.

5/8/54

CITY PREP LEAGUE, @BALBOA STADIUM

Herman Thompson was party to three of eight records starting with his :09.9 100 that bettered Thompson’s :10.0 in the CPL trials earlier in the week.

Thompson set a record of :19.5 in the 180 low hurdles in the trials and returned to negotiate the stadium curve and break the record again with :19.3.

Lee Buchanan of Kearny ran :50.7 in the 440, bettering a record of :51.5 by Buchanan and Point Loma’s Jesse Denny in the trials.

Jim Giyer of Grossmont ran the 880 in 1:58.9, better than his 1:59.9 in the trials.  Giyer’s mile record of 4:32.4 in 1953 was broken by Kearny’s Jim Weir, 4:31.8.

Dick Bronson heaved the shot 59-8 ¼, better than Clyde Wetter’s 57-3 in 1951, and teammate Parker Damon cleared 12 feet ¾ inch to top the pole vault record of 11-10.

Thompson anchored a team that also included Ardell Finley, Lloyd McKinney, and Atron Gentry and set a third standard with a 1:30.6 win in the 880 relay.

San Diego won the team championship with 51 points.  Grossmont had 36, Point Loma 30 ½, Hoover 29, Kearny 22, Helix 16, and La Jolla 7.  Lincoln did not have a participant.

SOUTHERN PREP, @FALLBROOK

Army-Navy scored 72 ½ points, host Fallbrook 63 ½.

Darrough of Ramona ran 4:51.7 in the mile, better than the 4:56.2 by Wilson of Vista in 1951.

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE, @ESCONDIDO

Sweetwater’s Darrell Sager ran the 880 in 2:00.3, bettering the oldest meet record, 2:02.4 by La Jolla’s Earl Russell in 1934.

Mark Shearer of Vista was the meet’s only double winner, in the 100 (:10.3) and 220 (:22.7) and anchored the winning relay (1:35.8).

Chula Vista ran away with the team title with 53 points, to Vista’s 37, followed by San Dieguito, 23, Sweetwater, 21, Coronado, 18, Oceanside, 17, and Mar Vista, 9.  Escondido did not score.

5/15/54

San Diego led all Class A qualifiers with 12 at the Southern Section Divisional quarterfinals meet on a day marked by rain, cold, and blustery wind at San Diego State.

Santa Ana had 11 qualifiers, Point Loma, 9, and Grossmont 7 in a competition featuring advancers from the San Diego City Prep League, Imperial Valley, Sunset, and Orange league championships.

San Diego’s Herman Thompson won a 100-yard dash heat in :10.4.  CIF favorite Bill Swisshelm of Santa Ana won his in :10.

Lee Buchanan of Kearny and Charlie Love of Coronado were heat leaders in the 400 in :51.7 and :52.9, respectively.

Darrell Sager of Sweetwater (2:06.4) and Jim Giyer of Grossmont (2:01) set the pace in 880 trials.

Thompson qualified second in the 180-yard low hurdles in his best event, won by Jim Trainor of Laguna Beach in :20.2.

Mark Shearer of Vista won one of the 220s in :22.7 and Jim Weir of Kearny was first in a mile test in 4:30.  Dick Bronson of Grossmont, followed by teammates Mel Kemp and Richard Loftus, led shotputters at 59 feet, 9 ½ inches.

5/18/54

Competition moved to the Division semifinals at El Rancho High in Pico (eventually renamed Pico-Rivera) and at Carpinteria.

Pole vaulter Leon Doxey discovered that he left his implement at home when he arrived.

The San Diego High athlete borrowed a pole and cleared 12 feet, 4 inches, a lifetime best, and was one of five Hillers to qualify for the CIF finals a week later at Excelsior High in Norwalk.

Doxey’s teammate, Herman Thompson, advanced in the 100 and 180-yard low hurdles, second in the former and leader at :19.5 in the latter.

 

5/22/54

San Diego was a surprising fourth in the Southern Section finals with 10 ½ points.  Grossmont’s double first places put the Foothillers fifth with 10.

Thompson was second to Laguna’s Jim Trainor’s :19.7 in the 180 lows, an event that could have been disastrous.

Trainor was a clear winner.  Going over the last barrier Thompson, Whittier’s Mickey Machamer, and Compton Centennial’s Paul Lowe were “dead even,” according to John De La Vega of the Los Angeles Times.

Trainor’s three pursuers “bumped, all were thrown off stride and it’s a miracle nobody fell,” De La Vega wrote.

Thompson was awarded the runner-up spot after a review and Lowe was third.

FOOTHILLERS FIRST

Grossmont’s Jim Giyer won the 880 in 1:59.1 and Dick Bronson took the shot put at 59-5 1/8.

San Diego also got points from high jumper Don Strickland, tied for third at 6-1 ¾, and broad jumper Alex Hudson, fifth at 21 feet, 7 inches.

Kearny’s Jim Weir was second to the 4:25.8 mile of Bellflower’s Ty Hadley.  Cookie Taylor of La Jolla won the Class B high jump at 6 feet, 1 3/4 inches, and Helix’ Bob Withem won the 10-pound Class B shot with a put of 52-6,

5/29/54

Dick Bronson of Grossmont won a tight competition with Dan Everage of Los Angeles Jordan in the state meet at Berkeley.  Bronson’s winning toss was 59-7 1/8 to Everage’s 59-5 7/8.

San Diego’s Herman Thompson was fourth in a morning 100 trial, won by Delano’s Leamon King in :09.9, and unplaced in the final.

Thompson was second to Kingsburg’s Rafer Johnson, who ran :19 in Thompson’s heat. Thompson was fourth in :19.5 in the final, won by Piedmont’s Monte Upshaw in :19 after Upshaw set a national record of 25-4 1/4 in the broad jump.

Grossmont’s Jim Giyer ran a career best 1:57.6 in the 880 but finished sixth.

Hoover, led by high jumper-hurdler Bernie Nelson, stole thunder usually heard only by San Diego High opponents.

The Cardinals were 6-0 in dual meets and along with Grossmont and Point Loma won a dual meet from the usually unbeatable Hillers.

Nelson, who cleared 6 feet, 4 inches, was the County’s first state champion since Grossmont’s Hal Norris won at 56-5 ½ in the shotput at Sacramento in 1950.

Point Loma’s Herman Thompson made a splash in the 100-yard dash, and Dick Bronson continued Grossmont’s domination in the shot put.

3/4/53

Tom Williams of Vista set a school record of 4:55.4 in the mile as the Panthers defeated Mar Vista, 61-41, in a Metropolitan League dual meet.

3/6/53

Charlie Rose set a Coronado school record with a 6-foot, 1 3/4-inch high jump in the Islanders’ 57-38 dual meet win over St Augustine.

Oceanside won the 880-yard relay in 1:36.9 and defeated Metropolitan League rival Sweetwater, 53-51.

–Football star C.R. Roberts ran a leg on the relay, won the 100 in :10.8, and was second to John Foster‘s 21-10 ½ broad jump.

Point Loma scored 44 points to win the City Prep League relays, a series of medley events and field events with winning scores based on teams’ combined heights and distances.

Kearny was second with 38, followed by Hoover, 34, Grossmont, 31, San Diego, 29, La Jolla 20, and Helix, 2.

Grossmont, the Class A defending champion, maintained in Class B and C, winning each.

Individual event honors went to the Pointers’ Herman Thompson, who won the 100-yard dash in :10.4 and teammate Bob Miller, who took the 120-yard high hurdles in :15.3.

3/20/53

Both teams were disqualified for lane violations in the 880 relay, but Kearny already was in the house with a 55-44 victory over Point Loma.

The Pointers’ Herman Thompson was a double winner at :10.1 and :23 in the 100 and 220.

3/24/53

Jim Giyer set a Grossmont school record of 4:35.2 in the mile, but Hoover, led by Bernie Nelson’s three wins, defeated the Foothillers, 60-44.

Nelson’s ran :15.2 and :20.5 in the high and low hurdles, respectively, and high jumped 5-11 ¼.

3/27/53

Hoover improved to 3-0 in dual meets with a 55-49 win at Point Loma, although the Pointers relay squad of Waldo Palmer, Jesse Denny, Hal Krupens, and Herman Thompson set a school record of 1:33.2.

Bernie Nelson set the pace for Hoover with wins of :15.3 in the high hurdles, :20.2 in the lows, and 6-1 in the high jump.

4/9/53

Fred White of Chula Vista, chasing the school record of 56-1 3/4 set by his brother Kenny in 1950, took the County lead with a 55-10 toss in a 77-26 victory over Vista.

Coronado and Escondido battled to a 52-52 deadlock, the second this season for the Islanders, who earlier had a 52-52 stalemate with Chula Vista.

4/10/53

San Diego lost a dual meet for the first time since 1948, a span of 26 victories and one tie, as Grossmont stunned the Hillers, 55 1/2-48 1/2.

The Cavers held a 16-2 advantage in the sprints, but the Foothillers made up the deficit with a 17-1 advantage in the distances and shot put.

Grossmont’s Dick Bronson hurled the shot 55 feet, 5 inches, and Jim Giyer won the mile in 4:36.7.

San Diego’s Halden Grey was a double winner in the 100 (:10.2) and 220 in a time-disputed :21.7. Grey’s best time before and after was at least one second slower.

Hoover improved to 4-0 with a 73-31 win over Kearny.  Bernie Nelson high jumped 6-3, third best in school history.  Alvin Cordray cleared 6-3 ½ in 1938 and Jack Razzeto 6-5 ¼ in 1948.

Nelson also won the 120-yard high hurdles in :15.5 and the 180 lows in :20.9.

4/17/53

Beating San Diego in track and field no longer was news.  Point Loma stunned the Hillers, 69-35, in Balboa Stadium and the Peninsula thinclads did it by barging into San Diego’s figurative kitchen.

Junior Herman Thompson won the 100 in :09.9, 220 in :22.5, broad jump at 21-9, and anchored a school record, 1:32.0 victory in the 880 relay, events San Diego had dominated locally.

Bob Miller also bruised the Hillers with wins of :15.6 and :21.1 in the high and low hurdles.

Football star C.R. Roberts won the 100 in :10.3 and broad jump at 21-5 ½, and ran a leg on the winning relay (1:37.8) that was the difference in Oceanside’s 56 ½-47 ½ win over San Dieguito.

4/23/53

Fred White of Chula Vista broke the school shot put record held by his brother.

Fred pushed the 12-pound ball 56 feet, 2 ½ inches in a dual-meet with Oceanside, which outscored the Spartans, 56 ½-46 1/2. Kenny White reached 56-1 ¾ in a CIF divisional meet in 1950.

Russ Elwell of Coronado set a school record of 53 feet and Charlie Rose tied his early-season school record of 6-1 ¾ as Coronado beat Mar Vista, 88-16.

Point Loma’s Herman Thompson became the seventh sprinter in County history to cover 100 yards in :09.8 and tied George Able’s school record, set in 1938.

Thompson negotiated the distance in a dual meet with La Jolla in Balboa Stadium.

5/1/53

Escondido won the 12-team Vista Relays with 41 1/2 points.  Oceanside was second with 34. C.R. Roberts of Oceanside won the Open 100 in :10.3 and was part of the Pirates’ :47.3 winning effort in the 440 relay.

5/2/53 

Hoover completed a 6-0 dual-meet season with a 61 ½-41 ½ victory at San Diego as Bernie Nelson won the high hurdles (:15), lows (:20.1) and high jump (6-0).

Nelson’s Cardinals teammate Dave Abbott hurled the shot 53 feet, 6 inches, an outstanding effort but on this day second to (next paragraph).

Grossmont junior Dick Bronson bettered the school record with a 58-foot, 10 1/2-inch toss but Point Loma won the last-event relay in 1:34.8 and the meet, 55 ½-48 ½.

Bronson bettered Clyde Wetter’s school record of 58-4 7/8 in 1951.

5/5/53

City Prep League Class B and C finals were held in Balboa Stadium, where La Jolla’s Bob Gutowski set a B record with a pole vault of 11 feet, 10 ½ inches.

Less than four years later (three years, 357 days), Gutowski vaulted 15-8 for a world record as a member of the Occidental College team in Eagle Rock.

5/8/53

CITY PREP LEAGUE FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Three meet records were set despite “nippy weather” before an estimated crowd of 3,500 persons.

Hoover’s Bernie Nelson set a record of :14.9 in the high hurdles, won the lows in :20.1 and signed off early after beating the competition at 5 feet, 8 inches, in the high jump.

Grossmont’s George Davis ran the 880 in 2:02.1 and teammate Jim Giyer the mile in 4:32.4.

Hoover, the dual-meet champion, scored 45 1/3 points, edging Point Loma (43 7/12), which was followed by Grossmont, 37 ½, San Diego, 23 ½, Kearny, 19 ¾, La Jolla, 14 ½, and Helix, 8.

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE FINALS, @VISTA

No meet records were set and San Dieguito scored 34 ¾ points, followed by dual meet champion Coronado, 31, Oceanside, 26, Vista, 25, Sweetwater, 20 ½, Escondido, 18, Mar Vista 13, Chula Vista, 9.

Escondido’s Rich Gehring was a double winner in the 120 high hurdles (:15.4) and 180 lows (:20.0).

SOUTHERN PREP LEAGUE FINALS, @CAMP PENDLETON

Fallbrook won seven of 12 events and scored 128 ½ points to runner-up Army-Navy’s 97 ½.  Mountain Empire followed with 28, Ramona 27 ½, and Brown Military, 1.

Best mark was a :10.3 in the 100-yard dash by Manning of Army-Navy.

5/16/53

A CIF Divisional meet for City Prep, Southern Prep, Metropolitan, Orange, and Sunset leagues was held on what The San Diego Union writer Harry Monahan declared was a “soggy, windswept” San Diego State track.

Santa Ana led team qualifiers with eight.  Hoover and Grossmont each had seven.

Bernie Nelson survived disaster in the 120-yard hurdles when he tripped on the third barrier and fell.  Nelson regained his feet and finished fourth in his race to qualify for the Divisional semifinals the following week at Ontario Chaffey.

Nelson also made the cut in the 180-yard low hurdles and high jump.

Point Loma’s Herman Thompson was not as fortunate. Thompson arrived late in the afternoon, missing a chance to qualify in the 100 and 220.

The junior speedster anchored The Pointers to victory in one of the 880-yard relay heats in 1:33.6.

Grossmont individual winners were Jim Giyer, who ran the mile in 4:35.4, and Dick Bronson, who led all shot putters with a toss of 53-5 5/8.

5/19/53

Kearny’s Lee Buchanan won a 440 heat in the Chaffey divisional semifinal in Ontario in :50.9.  Grossmont’s Jim Giyer won one of the mile races in 4:30.5 and teammate George Davis took an 880 heat in 2:01.3.

Tom Noonan of Coronado cleared 6 feet for the first time and got over 6-2.  Bernie Nelson of Hoover qualified in the high jump at 6 feet and advanced in both hurdle races.

5/23/53

SOUTHERN SECTION FINALS, @OXNARD HIGH

Point Loma, Hoover and Grossmont tied for eighth in the Southern Section finals with 6 points each at Oxnard High.

Bernie Nelson tied with three others for third in the high jump at 6 feet, 1 inch, but qualified for the state meet along with Coronado’s Tom Noonan on the basis of fewer misses.

Nelson also was fourth in the 120 high hurdles in a wind-aided :14.6 and fifth in the 180 lows, won in :19.2 on the breezy afternoon.

Jim Giyer of Grossmont was fourth in the mile and Dick Bronson was second in the shot put at 56 feet, 3 3/4. Don Vick of Ontario Chaffey won at 61-1/8. Fred White of Chula Vista was third at 54-4 7/8.

Waldo Palmer of Point Loma tied for first with Turner of San Bernardino in the broad jump with a best of 22 feet, 4 ¾ inches.

Charlie Cota of Kearny tied for first in the Class B pole vault at 12 feet.  Bob Gutowski of La Jolla tied for third at 11-8.

Armstrong of Grossmont won the Class C shot put at 50-10 ¾.  Bodenhamer of Kearny was fifth in the Class C 120-yard low hurdles.

5/30/53

35TH STATE MEET, @FRESNO 

Bernie Nelson completed a brilliant season by winning the state high jump at Fresno’s Ratcliff Stadium with a leap of 6 feet, 4 inches.

Grossmont’s Dick Bronson, fifth in the shot put at 55-2 3/8, was the only other County entry to score.

Jack Mashin coached football at Grossmont from 1925-47 and posted an excellent record, 125-66-19 (.644), but he became more known as an international figure in track and field.

Mashin would, under auspices of the U.S. State Department, coach the first Pakistan Olympic team in 1956 in Melbourne, Australia, and his decades-long success at Grossmont led to the friendly mentor’s legendary appellation, the “Fox of the Foothills”.

From 1950-57 Grossmont produced eight shot putters who reached at least 54-feet, 6 inches; two who hit at least 60 feet, and several others of at least 50 feet.

Clyde Wetter (58-4 ¾, 1951) and Hal Norris (58-2 1/2, 1950) now were in college and sophomore Dick Bronson, who had a best of 46-9 ½ in his first meet this season, was going to eventually produce similar results under Mashin’s guidance.

Mashin, whose teams won 143 league championships in all sports at Grossmont from 1923-59, continued to work with weight men as an assistant coach/consultant at Grossmont and was coaching at Cal Western University in San Diego and at Grossmont College well into his eighties.

Mashin also refereed many Hoover-San Diego football battles and  thousands of games in football and basketball.

2/22/52

Bert Kohnhurst was a double winner at :10.3 in the 100-yard dash and :23.6 in the 220 as Grossmont swamped Chula Vista, 86-18.  Kohnhurst also would have anchored the 880-yard relay team but Chula Vista forfeited the race.

2/26/52

Grossmont scored 39 points to lead defending champion San Diego (31) and La Jolla (31), and Kearny (30) in the varsity portion of the fourth annual City Prep League relays in Balboa Stadium.

La Jolla won Class B (31) and Grossmont Class C (34).

San Diego’s Walter (Red) Taylor won the 100-yard dash in :09.9 and anchored a 1:34.1 victory in the 880-yard relay.

Hoover’s Bernie Nelson high jumped 6 feet, 1 ¾ inches, and Kearny’s John Rushing won the 120-yard high hurdles in :15.3 in the other, standard events.

Grossmont won the distance medley (440, 880, 1320, mile) in 11:11.09.

2/28/52

Tom Parker, later to be a successful football coach at Sweetwater, took over at Mar Vista for Garold (Gerry) Spitler, who left to become recreation director in the Marshall Islands.

3/1/52

Kearny’s Jim Weir (4:46.9 mile) and Roy Howell (2:07 880) set school records as Kearny opened the CPL season with a 67-37 dual-meet win over La Jolla.

3/6/52

Bernie Nelson high jumped 6-1 ¾ for the leading mark in Hoover’s 63-41 City Prep League opening dual meet with La Jolla.

3/15/52

Rain, which fell a fourth-highest-on-record 18.16 inches in San Diego County for the 1951-52 calendar year, was playing havoc.  Three CPL duals were washed out.

Sweetwater and arch-rival Chula Vista managed to get in a meet and the Red Devils came away with a 54 ½-49 ½ Metropolitan League victory by winning the 880 relay in 1:39.1.

3/19/52

Continual rain forced a meeting of CPL coaches at the San Diego Education Center, where re-scheduling and makeup meets were coordinated.

3/21/52
Tracks had finally begun to dry out and CPL thinclads posted season highs in four events.

John Parker sailed 23 feet, 8 inches, to break the San Diego High record of 23-6 ¾, set by Bob Logan in 1938.

Parker also won the 220 in :22.5 and was part of the Cavers’ relay team that lowered the best time to 1:32.8.

Parker’s teammate, Hubert Smith, lowered his area lead in the 440 to :51.9.

The short end of a 64-40 team score didn’t diminish the individual accomplishments of Point Loma’s Lincoln Lucero, who topped the San Diego hurdlers, winning the 120 highs in :15.3 and the 180 lows in a school record, season best :20.2.

Point Loma’s Lance Morton set a school record with a 51-3 ¼ shot put.

–Kearny defeated Hoover, 54-50, as Jim Weir logged a school-record 4:37.7 mile and Roy Howell a school record 2:06.1 in the 880.John Rushing  doubled in :15.2 and :20.8 in the hurdles and brought the Komets to victory by anchoring a 1:34.1 triumph in the relay.

–The first-ever Grossmont-Helix confrontation resulted in an expected win by the more established Foothillers, 67 ½-36 ½. Bert Kohnhurst led the way for Grossmont with :10.2 and :22.8 sprint victories.

–Coronado’s Harry Sykes ran :19.7 in the 180-yard low hurdles against Mar Vista.

3/29/52

SOUTHERN COUNTIES INVITATIONAL

LARGE SCHOOLS

Compton won this portion of the 31^st annual meet with 34 points to San Diego’s 30, but the Cavemen had four first places to the Tarbabes’ two.

Red Taylor won the 100 championship in :09.9, Hubert Smith one of the 440 races in :52.8, Bernard Hansen one of the 880s in 2:03.3, and John Parker the broad jump at 23-4 ¾.

Point Loma’s Lincoln Lucero won championships in the high hurdles (:14.8) and lows (:20).

Burt Kohnhurst was second to Taylor in the 100 and then swapped places with the San Diego athlete in a :22 flat 220.  George Davis of Grossmont set a school record with a 2:03.2 880.

San Diego entries had seven first places in 16 events.

4/1/52

Walter Taylor ran a :09.8 100, fastest in Southern California, and San Diego won 11 of 12 events in a 77 ½-26 ½ win over La Jolla.

Hubert Smith bettered his 440 time with a :51.5 and Taylor also won the high jump at 5-10.

La Jolla’s Andy Skief hurled the shot 48-2 for the Vikings’ only first place.

–John Rushing won the 100 in :10.3, the 120 high hurdles in :15.1, and the broad jump at 20-4 1/2, but Grossmont depth trumped Rushing and the Komets, 60 2/3-43 1/3.

Rushing defeated Tommy George in the short race, in which Bert Kohnhurst did not enter.  Kohnhurst won the 220 in :23.

4/4/52

San Diego (5-0) posted the fastest time of the season with a 1:32 in the 880-yard relay in a 73-31 dual-meet win over Kearny in Balboa Stadium.  Walter Taylor won the 100 in :10, the high jump at 5-9, and was second to Hubert Smith’s :51.9 440.

John Rushing ran :14.9 and :19.9 in the high and low hurdles for Kearny.

–Sweetwater’s Ted Granger tied the school record with his :15.8 in the 120-yard high hurdles and Don McCarver of San Dieguito cleared 11-5, breaking a school record of 11-3, set in 1946.

4/12/52

Kearny and Grossmont entered small contingents in the Santa Barbara Relays.  John Rushing won the small schools broad jump at 22-1.

Dick Bronson of Grossmont was fourth in the large schools shot put at 48-10.

4/17/52

SOUTHERN PREP LEAGUE FINALS, @VISTA

Army-Navy outscored Vista, 96-64 1/2, for the team championship. Brown Military had 48 ½.  Fallbrook won Class B and Vista Class C.

One varsity meet record was set by Vista’s Dick Bedford, who covered the 180 low hurdles in :21.7.

Kearny athletes set four school records in a 68-36 win over Helix.  John Rushing ran the 100 in :10.2 and 220 in :22.8. Ray Howell toured the 880 in 2:05.6, and the 880 relay team, with Rushing running anchor, timed a reported 1:32.9.

4/22/52

LEAGUE TRIALS

Hoover, mediocre (3-3)  in the dual-meet season, provided a mild surprise by qualifying for 11 berths in the City Prep League at San Diego State, but San Diego led with 14.  Grossmont had eight, La Jolla, Point Loma, and Kearny, seven each.

John Rushing set a record with a time of :19.6  in the 180 low hurdles and Bert Kohnhurst bettered the record with a :21.9 220 on the San Diego State straightaway.

Sweetwater’s defending team champion qualified 10 to dual-meet champion Coronado’s 8 in Metropolitan League trials at Vista.  Escondido led with 15.

Harry Sykes, who led Coronado to its first outright league dual-meet championship since 1925,  remained undefeated with victories of :10.4 in the 100 and :21.3 in the 180 low hurdles.  Ted Granger bettered his Sweetwater high hurdles record with a :15.5.

4/25/52

FINALS

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE, @CHULA VISTA

Dick Geck of San Dieguito ended the unbeaten season of Coronado’s Harry Sykes in the 100, but the Islanders won the  team championship with 44 points to 33 for Escondido, which won the Class B and C championships.

Geck’s 100 time was :10.4 and he won the 220 in :23.1.  Sykes, a virtual triple winner in almost every meet, won the broad jump at 21 feet, 10 inches, and the 180 low hurdles in :20.9.

George Edwards rallied from fifth place on the final turn to win the mile in 4:58.7, and Charlie Rose was the Islanders’ third winner at 5-11 in the high jump.

CITY PREP LEAGUE, @SAN DIEGO STATE

Writer Gene Earl of The San Diego Union described the conditions at San Diego State as a “biting and oft-time strong wind (that) razored across the Montezuma oval.”

The hefty breezes affected many performances, but favored San Diego still outlasted Grossmont for the team title, 53-49 ½.  Grossmont won Class B and Kearny Class C.

San Diego’s Walter (Red) Taylor battled the wind in the 100 and edged Grossmont’s Bert Kohnhurst in :10.1.  Kohnhurst won the 220 in :22 after Taylor withdrew, complaining of a stomach ache.

Grossmont led, 48 ½ to 48, but finished fifth in the final event 880-yard relay, won by the Cavers in 1:32.8.

John Rushing figured in 18 of Kearny’s 35 points, winning the high (:15.8) and low hurdles (:20.6), placing second to the 23-6 broad jump of San Diego’s John Parker, and anchoring the Komets to second place in the relay.

Grossmont’s other victory came in the shot put as Dick Bronson reached 50 feet, 11 ¼ inches.  Foothillers  weight man Dick Barnes won the Class B shot put at 53-5 1/2.

5/3/52

San Diego led all teams with 10 qualifiers in the Divisional quarterfinals at San Diego State, but junior Lanny Carter of Orange made the headlines with a Southern Section record of :48.9 in the 440 around two turns.

Some quarter miles began in a chute and covered only one turn, at about the 220-yard mark.  Carter bettered the record of :49.2 by Duane Lewis of Compton in 1940.

John Rushing doubled in the high and low hurdles in :15.2 and :20.1, respectively, and Bert Kohnhurst doubled in the 100 and 220 in :10.1 and :22. John Parker of San Diego set a County record of 23-9 1/2 in the broad jump and broke a school record of 23-8 he set earlier.

San Diego’s Bernard Hanson won the 880 in 2:01.6 and defeated reigning Southern Section champion Bob Suess of Huntington Beach.

5/10/52

Walter Taylor won his heat in :10.0 and ran a leg on the relay as the San Diego squad of Taylor, John Parker, Jon Taylor, and Hubert Smith posted the fastest heat, 1:30.5, in the Divisional semifinal meet at Ontario Chaffey.

Grossmont’s Burt Kohnhurst, one of the favorites, finished a nonqualifying third in his heat, won by George Lewis of El Monte in :09.8.

Kohnhurst recovered to win a 220 heat in :21.7. San Diego’s Bernard Hansen won his 880 heat in 2:02.5 and Kearny’s John Rushing won a heat in the 180-yard low hurdles in :19.7 after failing to qualify in the 120 highs.

Rushing also was third at 22-1 in the broad jump and San Diego’s John Parker fifth at 21-6 ½.

Grossmont’s Tommy George doubled in  the Class B sprints, winning his heats in :10.2 and :22.5.

Five qualified, including Hoover’s Bernie Nelson, at 5-10 in the high jump, and five made the finals in the pole vault, including Jim Terry of Helix at 11-9 ½.

San Diego, Alhambra, and San Bernardino each led qualifiers with 5 each for the following week finals.

5/17/52

San Diego was fourth in team scoring with 8 points, behind the Compton Tarbabes, who ran away with the championship with 31 points at Huntington Beach.

Kearny scored 6 points, Grossmont 2, and Hoover and Chula Vista 1 each.

SAN DIEGO HIGH

Walter Taylor was third behind a :09.9 100 by George Lewis of El Monte and ran a leg on the 880 relay, in which the Cavemen were second to the 1:30.1 of Long Beach Wilson.

Bernard Hansen was fifth behind a 1:59.7 880 by North Hollywood Harvard’s Bert Purdue.

KEARNY

John Rushing was second in the broad jump at 22-10 ½ and fourth behind the :19.2 in the 180-yard hurdles by Newquist of Long Beach Wilson.

GROSSMONT

Burt Kohnhurst finished fourth in :21.5 in the 220, won by Mal Hughes of Beverly Hills in :21.2.

HOOVER & CHULA VISTA

Bernie Nelson of Hoover was fourth at 6 feet in the high jump and Fred White of Chula Vista fifth in the shot put at 51-9 1/8.

BEES AND CEES

Tommy George of Grossmont was third in the Class B 100 and fourth in the 220.  Teammate Dick Barnes won the 10-pound shot put competition at 53-5/8.

Helix’ Young won the Class C 180 in :18.7.

Ron Vavra of team champion Glendale Hoover won the B 100 in :10.2 and seven years later opened the new El Capitan High program in La Mesa and followed with a long tenure as track coach at Grossmont College.

5/24/51

The 34^th state meet was held at the Los Angeles Coliseum. County athletes barely avoided a shutout.

Walter Taylor was fourth in his heat in the 100 in :10.2 but did not place in the afternoon finals.  John Rushing of Kearny was fourth in the broad jump at 22-8 ¾.

SAY, AREN’T YOU?

Grossmont coach Jack Mashin need not have asked that question. Mashin was well acquainted, with the shot putter from a school almost 300 miles away.

Jay Humphrey of Strathmore in the Central Section had attended and competed at Grossmont but transferred to the Northern community for his senior year and finished third at 58 feet, 4 inches, behind the 60-9 1/8, national record by Leon Patterson of Taft.