Twenty-nine San Diego Section athletes, plus three relay teams, rank in the state top 25 in the 17 events that will be contested at the 103rd state championships May 26-27 at Clovis Buchanan High.

Ten athletes are in the top 10, including Ranch Buena Vista’s Tyler Knowles, second in the discus and eighth in the shot put, and  Helix’ Adren Parker, second in the 400 meters and ninth in the 200. Mission Bay’s Brandon Cheeks II is tied for fourth in the high jump, fifth in the long jump, and seventh in the triple jump.

Parker, who set a County record of :46.63 this season and was fourth in the state meet at :46.82 last season, is the son of former San Diego Chargers wide receiver Eric Parker and younger brother of the Eric Parker,  who ran :47.91 at Helix in 2019.

Before Adren, the County 400 record was held by Morse’s Lydell Burston, who ran 46.85 in 1995 and whose son Laurence joins Parker on Helix’ 4×100 and 4×400 relay squads.

“W” indicates a mark made with more than allowable wind assistance of 2.0 miles per hour.  Best marks through May 5:

EVENT	NAME, SCHOOL	MARK/STATE RANK	STATE MARK
100	Arrington, Helix	:10.58w, 17th tie	:10.23, Pleasant, Gardena Serra
200	Adren Parker, Helix	:21.26, 9th	:20.86, Miller, Clovis North
	Arrington	:21.29w, 12th
400	Parker	:46.63,2nd	:45.92, Stanley, Granada Hills
	McCoy, Hilltop	:48.67, 20th tie
800	Correia, Point Loma	1:51.44, 7th	1:49.07, Sahlman, Newbury Park
	Thomas, Torrey Pines	1:52.04, 12th
1600	Thomas	4:07.90, 4th	Sahlman, 3:58.96
	Correia	4:09.83, 11th
3200	Sanchez, Liberty Charter	9:06.53, unranked	Parra, Long Beach Millikan, 8:46.50
110 Hurdles	Martin, Helix	:14.24w, 6th tie	:13.85, Davis-Lyric, Upland
300 Hurdles	Atilano, Cathedral	:38.36, 6th	37.39, Mendoza, Rancho Santa Margarita
	Martin, Helix	:38.55, 9th tie
	Tragarz, Del Norte	:38.92, 15th
	Dasher, Oceanside	:39.19, 19th
	Camillo, Brawley	:39.28,21st
4×100 Relay	Helix	:42.12, unranked	:40.28, Granada Hills
4×400 Relay	Helix	3:21.17, 14th	3:14.26, L.B. Poly
	Mt. Carmel	3:22.54, 23rd
4×800 Relay	Del Norte	8:03.0, unranked	7:43.84, Clovis Buchanan
High Jump	Cheeks II, Mission Bay	6-6, 4th tie	6-9, Gorski, Santa Ana Mater Dei
	Chang, Mater Dei	6-6
	Unden, El Capitan	6-5, 18th tie
	Fuge, University City	6-4, 24th tie
Long Jump	Cheeks II	23-8 ½, 5th	24-9, Dedmon, Lake Isabella Kern Valley
	Redon, San Diego	23-7, 5th
	Hurd, El Camino	23-0, 16th tie
	Harris, Vista	23-0
	Chappell, Bonita Vista	22-11, 23rd tie
Triple Jump	Cheeks, II	46-11¼, 7th	47-6, Bolanos, Redlands East Valley
	Harris	46-4½, 10th
	Reichenberg, Mission Bay	45-4, 23rd
Shot Put	Knowles, Rancho Buena Vista	59-8, 7th	65-10, See, San Juan Capistrano JSerra
Discus	Knowles	185-5, 2nd	197-8, See
	Vergenz, Mission Hills	166-7 16th
Pole Vault	Emerson, Sage Creek	16-0 ¼, 4th	16-9, Green, Clovis Buchanan
	Weisman, Torrey Pines	15-8, 6th
	Anderson, University City	15-4, 11th
	Sotelo, Grossmont	15-0, 15th tie
	Saia, Mt. Carmel	14-9, 19th tie
	Boyle, San Marcos	14-9
	Kondo, Vista	14-9

Dick Tomlinson, assistant coach and in charge of weight events at Mount Miguel, was suspicious, so he got a long tape measure and began surveying.

Tomlinson said he discovered that the 440-yard oval track at his school was six feet short (two yards) of regulation distance.

The coach told Evening Tribune writer Bill Finley that he also learned that the El Capitan track was 10 feet short (3-plus yards) and that the Helix track while only a foot short, was off on the 220-yard distance on the curve.  It came up 235 yards.

Tomlinson might have been reacting to Sweetwater coach Dave Ashley’s frustration.

The Red Devils’ oval, where County records had been set in long relay races, was reported as being anywhere from three to 14 feet (almost five yards) less than 440, according to Ashley.  The most glaring example was when Armando Valencia stunned the track world with a 4:07.2 mile in the National City Junior Chamber of Commerce Relays at Sweetwater in 1967.

Valencia actually ran four laps and at least 12 yards less than a mile. Valencia, a fine runner, finished high school a year later but his career best, in his final race, was 4:08.8.

San Diego Section commissioner Don Clarkson, who also was boss of City Schools athletics, said all district tracks had been measured years before and were up to standard.

Not all marks were bogus and despite apparently legitimate times in races from the 440 to the two-mile, San Diego Section runners came up short in the state meet, not winning an individual championship for the third straight year, after winning one title in each of the section’s first six .

HORNETS LOSE DUAL MEET TITLE

Student complaints and campus unrest resulted in Lincoln’s being closed for several days in early April.  A showdown dual meet with Crawford and other events eventually were declared no contest.  The Colts won the league championship with a 5-0 record to Lincoln’s 4-0, which ended the Hornets’ streak of five straight titles dating to 1964.

4/18/69

Vincent Breddell ran the 100 in :09.8, 220 in :21.8 and teamed with Michael Cornell, Gary Downes, and Lloyd Ellis to win the 440-yard relay in :43.1 and Kearny outscored Crawford and Chula Vista, 69-56-24.

—Granite Hills’ 3:32.4 victory in the mile relay was the difference in the Eagles’ 68-67 win over Mount Miguel.

Daryl Guthridge’s 23-foot, 2-inch long jump usually would have been the day’s highlight, but that was reserved for Mount Miguel’s Steve Dougherty, who beat teammate Billy Joe Winchester with a 60-foot, 3-inch shot put.

—Jim Downs’ Vista Panthers came up short in a 60-57 loss to Escondido, whose Jon Cnossen, said Downs to Bill Center of the San Diego Union, turned in “the greatest performance I’ve ever seen by a high schooler.

“He picked up a point in the 440, won the mile, and then anchored their winning mile relay team. Heck, the mile isn’t even his race,” said Downs.

4/19/69

Fallbrook won varsity competition and the overall Sweepstakes trophy in the Laguna Beach Trophy meet.

The Warriors edged Brea-Olinda, 41-40, for  the varsity title and used Class B and C points to top Laguna Beach, 92-60, for the overall championship. San Marcos and Coronado tied for fourth in varsity competition with 37 points.

Top marks were the 2:00.2 880 by San Marcos’ John McFarland and the 15.3 high hurdles effort by Coronado’s Robert Mansueto.

4/25/69

A team of Stu Williams (4:29), Jon Freyer (4:32), Bob Brenner (4:28.8), and Chuck Dyer (4:22.4) covered the four-man, four-mile relay in a County record of 17:52.2 at the Mt. San Antonio Relays in Walnut.

The infrequent race bettered a Kearny mark of 17:58.4 at the San Diego Relays in 1967.  Monte Vista finished second to Point Loma in 17:59.2.

Billy Joe Winchester heaved the discus 174 feet, 9 inches, breaking the school record of 172-8, set a month before by Mount Miguel teammate Steve Dougherty. Winchester also hurled the shot 60-9 ½. The Matadors won the Grossmont League dual meet, 72-64, over El Cajon Valley.

5/2/69

Marion Franklin tied a school record of :14.1 in the 120-yard high hurdles, won the 180 lows in :19.6, and ran a leg in the 440-yard relay as the Lincoln clocked :41.6, fastest time of the season in California.

The Hornets’ 75-43 win over San Diego included Charles Robertson’s :09.9 100, Charles Patterson’s, :22.2 220, and Clive Carrero’s :50.8 440.

San Diego’s Tori Meza won the 880 in 1:59.8 and Joe Herrington beat Michael Lee of Lincoln with a 54-3 shot put.

—El Cajon Valley’s Chris Woods long jumped 22 feet, ¾ inch, and skipped to 45-8 in the triple jump, third all-time in the County, behind Lucky Fleming’s 46-4 ¼ in 1967 and Bob Beckus’ 46-1 ¾ in 1938, in an 81-55 win versus Santana.

—Billy Joe Winchester and Mount Miguel teammate Steve Dougherty showed why they are 1-2 in the weights in the Matadors’ 76-60 win over Grossmont.

Winchester won the shot put at 61-8 and discus at 170-9 and Dougherty was second at 58-8 ½ and 170-5.

5/9/69

EASTERN LEAGUE TRIALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Mike Lee, a 210-pound linebacker for Lincoln in the fall and, until recently, most notably a 12-foot pole vaulter In the spring, hurled the shot 56-9 ½ for an Eastern League record  and broke the school record of 54-9 by Richard (Stein) Howell in 1960.

Nate Harris of St. Augustine logged a :48.9 440, Charles Patterson of Lincoln a :09.8 100, Charles Robertson of Lincoln :09.9 and :22 in the 100 and 220, and Class B sprinter Bill Smith of Morse :09.9 in the 100.

WESTERN LEAGUE TRIALS, @KEARNY

The wind blew and sprinters flew with Kearny Mesa breezes.

Vincent Breddell of the host Komets won heats in the 100 and 220 in :10 and wind-disallowed :21.2.  Mission Bay’s Jim Koudelka tied 100 mark of :09.9 by Mission Bay’s Rick Tauber in 1965 but also with too much breeze, same as in Koudelka’s :21.6 220.

Bennie Martinez of Mission Bay ran the mile in 4:23.7, setting up a Friday duel with Clairemont’s David Harper, who eased to a 4:28.8 heat, slower than the 4:22.4 he logged several days before.

Madison qualified 20, Mission Bay 17, Kearny 16, Point Loma 14, Clairemont 8, University 5, and La Jolla 4.

5/13/69

GROSSMONT LEAGUE TRIALS, @HELIX

Helix led all qualifiers with 29 and Art Evins of the Highlanders set a league record of :14.8 in the 120-yard high hurdles; teammate Rick Ely logged :19.8 in the 180 lows.

Mount Miguel, which qualified 16, got a double from Billy Joe Winchester, 61 feet, 2 inches in the shot put and 170-1 in the discus.

Granite Hills, which had 14 moving to the finals at Mount Miguel, had a triple winner in Daryl Guthridge, :10 in the 100, :22 in the 220, and 23-1 ½ in the long jump.

El Cajon Valley qualified 14, Monte Vista and Grossmont, 12 each; El Capitan 10, and Santana, 7.

AVOCADO LEAGUE RIALS, @SAN DIEGUITO

Blake Martinson of Vista long jumped 23 feet, 11 inches, to break the meet record of 22-6 1/2, set in 1967 by Ira Raibon of Oceanside, and moved Martinson ahead of the 23-3 ½ by James (Sporty) Willis of Oceanside for the San Diego Section lead.

Martinson also won his 100 and 220 heats in :10.2 and :23.

Lower division records were set by George Allen of Orange Glen, 60 feet ½ inch with the Class C, eight-pound shot and Steve Magdaleno of Oceanside, 1:25 in the B 660.

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE TRIALS, @CASTLE PARK

Mar Vista and Sweetwater each qualified 11. Chula Vista had 8, Bonita Vista and Hilltop 6 each, Coronado and Castle park 5 each.

The Mariners’ Valley Coleman ran the 120-yard high hurdles in :14.9 and the 180 lows in :20.

Sweetwater’s Jesse Davis raced the 220 on Castle Park’s gusty straightaway in :22.1 and teammate Steve Ruiz ran the B 220 in :21.8, better than the :22 meet record by Steve Adams of Grossmont in 1960.

5/16/69

EASTERN LEAGUE FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Lincoln ran away with the team championship with 89 points, but may have lost star middle-distance runner Milton Mitchell.

Mitchell, the area leader with a time of :48.4 in the 440 and with a best of 1:55.9 in the 880 as a sophomore, was leading St. Augustine’s Nate Harris when Mitchell suddenly tied up about 15 yards from the finish.

Harris won in :48.9 and Mitchell staggered home second in :49.

Lincoln coach Darryl Nelson said Mitchell aggravated an abdominal muscle injury.  “I don’t know how bad it is; we’ll just have to wait and see the next couple days,” Nelson said when asked how long he expected the Hornets’ runner to be sidelined.

Mitchell sustained the injury earlier in the season and had not run since April 5.

Lincoln won seven events in varsity competition and qualified 18 for the following week’s San Diego Section trials.

Charles Robertson and Marion Franklin were double winners for the Hornets, Robertson in :09.8 and :21.9 in the 100 and 220 and Franklin in :14.3 and :19.8 in the 180-yard low hurdles.

A 54-foot, 11 ¼-inch shot put win by Mike Lee was sandwiched around Lincoln’s 440 and mile relay victories of :42.1 and 3:24.3.

Morse and Crawford were closest with 38 and 37 points respectively.

WESTERN LEAGUE FINALS, @KEARNY

Vincent Breddell led coach Jim Cerveny’s Kearny Komets to the team title with wins of :09.8 in the 100-yard dash :21.9 in the 220, and anchored a winning, :43.4 effort in the 440-yard relay.

Breddell avenged three earlier losses to Mission Bay’s Jim Koudelka, who was second in both sprints in :10 and :22.

Clairemont sophomore David Harper won the fastest mile of the season, 4:19.5, topping Mission Bay’s Bennie Martinez’ 4:20.5. Point Loma’s Chuck Dyer’s 9:29 two-mile also was an area best.

Five runners bettered two minutes in the 880, with Madison’s Pat McCallion leading the way at 1:55.8, another best mark of the season.  Mission Bay’s Tom Lee was second in 1:57.

Kearny scored 80 points to the 50 by Mission Bay, which had tied the Komets for the dual-meet championship.  Point Loma followed with 40 and Clairemont with 36.

AVOCADO LEAGUE FINALS,  @VISTA

Oceanside’s Jerry Culp cleared 6 feet, 9 inches in the high jump, fourth highest in County history, but officially not his best.  Culp cleared 6-10 in a dual meet at San Diego on March 7, but an over-zealous teammate accidentally knocked off the bar before the jump could be measured.

Blake Martinson of Vista was a triple winner, :10 in the 100, :22.4 in the 220, and 21-9 in the long jump.

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE FINALS, @MAR VISTA

Host Mar Vista outscored Sweetwater, 56-45, for the team championship and Valley Coleman set Mar Vista records of :14.8 in the high hurdles and :20 in the lows. The Mariners also set a meet record of 3:28.5 in the mile relay.

Hilltop (35), Chula Vista (30), Castle Park (21), Coronado (15), and Bonita Vista (12) followed in team scoring.

GROSSMONT LEAGUE FINALS, @MOUNT MIGUEL

Dick Tomlinson, the weight events coach at Mount Miguel, waxed reverently about Billy Joe Winchester, the 225-pound shot put and discus County leader:

“This guy has to be Superman.  Tuesday he hurt his arm throwing the javelin.  I don’t know what he was doing with the thing, but he can use it every week if this is what happens.”

Winchester increased his San Diego Section lead to 62-2 ¾ in the shot put and set a County record of 180 feet in the discus.

Winchester’s shot put was third best in area history, behind the 64-11 by San Dieguito’s Pete Shmock in 1968 and the 64-3 ½ by Granite Hills’ George Brown in 1967.  Brian Wadlington of Granite Hills had held the discus record of 176-1 in ’67.

Winchester shared some props with Granite Hills’ Daryl Guthridge, who tripled with victories of :09.8 and :22.6 in the 100 and 220, 23-2 ¼ in the long jump, and anchored the Eagles’ :43.4 victory in the 440-yard relay.

Helix sophomore Ed Mendoza surprised by winning the two-mile in 9:36.5 over favored Dave Carter of Monte Vista.  Landis Bender of El Cajon Valley vaulted 14 feet, 4 inches. Norm Lumpkin of Santana bettered the three-day old record in the 120 high hurdles with a time of :14.7.

Helix won the team title with 53 points to Granite Hills’ 51.  Mount Miguel had 44, followed by El Cajon Valley, 32; Monte Vista, 28; El Capitan, 22; Santana, 22, and Grossmont, 7.

5/19/69

Art Evins of Helix ran :14.7 in the 120-yard high hurdles in a “runoff” at Helix to determine the third qualifier for the San Diego Section trials. Rick Ely of Helix was second and Mike Nielson of Monte Vista third.

5/22/69

SAN DIEGO SECTION TRIALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Billy Joe Winchester of Mount Miguel led nine qualifiers with a discus toss of 173 feet, 9 inches. Teammate Steve Dougherty reached 167-10, followed by Monte Vista’s Pat Foley at 165-10, more than 18 feet further than the next entrant.

El Cajon’s Richard Norkunas cleared 13-2 in the Class C pole vault finals, breaking the record of 12-2 by Grossmont’s Bob Lesh in 1966.

5/23/69

SAN DIEGO SECTION TRIALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Lincoln, without injured 440 favorite Milton Mitchell, still advanced toward its seventh team championship in nine seasons, leading all qualifiers with 11, followed by Oceanside and Helix with 9 each.

Mitchell, who re-injured a groin muscle in the Eastern League  440, was limited to a lap on the Hornets’ mile relay squad after San Diego Section commissioner Don Clarkson, citing Section rules, declared Mitchell couldn’t be “byed” into the finals.

The Hornets, whose team was the ninth qualifier in the relay, hoped to get Mitchell for that event the following week.

Oceanside’s Jerry Culp set a meet record of 6-8 ½ in the high jump, a quarter-inch higher than what Morse’s Harold Greenwood cleared in 1966.

Culp’s performance was matched in the Class B 220 and C shot put.  Morse’s Bill Smith’s :09.8 100 bettered the mark of :09.9 by Mike Turnipseed of Carlsbad in 1964 and Henry Shaw of Lincoln in 1965.  Orange Glen’s George Allen set a record by hurling the eight-pound ball 61 feet, 2 ¼ inches, shattering the record of 57-3.

San Diego’s William Ricks was one of the leaders in the pole vault at 13 feet, 4 inches, breaking the school record that had stood since Bill Miller cleared 13-3 in 1929.

5/29/69

SAN DIEGO SECTION FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Lincoln scored 48 points and won the team championship, outdistancing Oceanside, 18; Helix, 14; Vista, 13; Mount Miguel, 11; St. Augustine and El Cajon Valley, 10 each, among the leaders.

The Hornets’ state-leading 440 relay ran :42.0, with Reese Jarrett replacing sore-legged Melvin Maxwell on the first handoff.   The Hornets also prevailed in the mile relay in 3:19 as Milton Mitchell, out of the 440 because of an injury, anchored the victory.

Other winners for Lincoln were Marion Franklin, :14.4 and :19.6 in the high and low hurdles respectively; Charles Robertson, :09.8 in the 100 and Charles Patterson, :21.8 in the 220.

–Billy Joe Winchester was first in the discus with a 175-4 effort, bettering the 175-1 of Pat Foley in 1968.  The Matadors’ junior also took the shot put at 59-11.

–Dave Carter of Monte Vista ran the sixth fastest two-mile in County history, 9:10.4 but was off the school record of 9:03.4 by Don Olsen in 1967.

–Pat McCallion of Madison won a competitive 880 in 1:54.2, followed by Vista’s Jerry Plunkett (1:54.7), Dave Ripley of Mount Miguel (1:55.6), Steve Gillean of Monte Vista (1:55.7), and Jon Cnossen of Escondido (1:56).

–Sophomore David Harper of Clairemont won the mile in 4:16.4, with Mission Bay’s Bennie Martinez (4:17.1) and Granite Hills’ Dale Horton (4:18.2) in pursuit.  Helix’ Darryl Simmons (4:19.8) was the fourth runner to break 4:20.

6/6/69

51ST STATE TRACK TRIALS, @UCLA

A San Diego contingent of 30 qualifiers quickly dwindled to 10 in the Friday trials.

The Section was wiped out in every running event except the 440 relay, in which a Lincoln team of Marion Franklin, Reese Jarrett, Charles Patterson and Charles Robertson was tied for third overall in :41.9.

John Robbins of El Capitan qualified eighth at 58-8 ½ in the shot put and Mount Miguel’s Billy Joe Winchester 10^th at 58-1 ¾.

Pat Foley of Monte Vista was a qualifying 12^th at 158-9 in the discus.  Winchester was a nonqualifying 18^th.

Jerry Culp of Oceanside and Dean Owens of El Cajon Valley were among 12 moving forward with 6-4  high jumps.

Blake Martinson of Vista moved on, ninth in the long jump at 22-9.

Landis Bender of El Cajon Valley was one of 12 who cleared 14 feet in the pole vault.

Ed Mendoza of Helix and Dave Carter of Monte Vista would run the two-mile the following day.

6/7/69

51ST STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS, @UCLA

Lincoln was second in the 440 relay in :41.8, unusual in that it was not the Hornets’ best time (:41.6).  They led until the final 15 yards when an Oakland Castlemont anchor passed Charles Robertson in a photo finish :41.8.

Jerry Culp of Oceanside was second in the high jump at 6-8, behind the 7-foot jump of Compton’s Reynaldo Brown, who was a member of the 1968 U.S. Olympic team. Dean Owens of El Cajon Valley tied for sixth at 6-4.

John Robbins of El Capitan was fifth in the shot put at 58-8.

Helix’ Ed Mendoza was ninth in the two-mile in 9:13.6 and Dave Carter 12th in 9:19.8.

Arnold Tripp took charge early in the Southern Section championships  at Long Beach Veterans’ Stadium when he upset hometown favorite Dee Andrews of Long Beach Poly in the broad jump, then followed with a second in the 100 to San Bernardino’s John Howard, and ran down Howard in the stretch  of the 220-yard sprint, bettering the national record with a time of :20.5, although the mark was disallowed because of a trailing wind.

It was one of the greatest performances ever by a San Diego athlete.  Tripp became the second from the area to win two individual events at the Southern meet. San Diego’s Jimmy Willson won the 100 and 220 in 1929.  Several athletes had multiple firsts as part of an 880-yard relay team.

Tripp’s 14 points, by himself,  was good for third place in the team race, won by Poly with 24, followed by San Bernardino with 15.

Tripp was positioned to make another spectacular effort at the afternoon-evening 41st state meet at Bakersfield College the following week, but there was a vague warning sign when it was mentioned in the newspaper mid-week that the Colts senior had been bothered recently by shin splints.

Whether it was the effect of shin splints or, as written by the Evening Tribune‘s Paul Cour after the meet, that Tripp was slowed by by an old groin injury, the big Crawford senior experienced a disappointing finish to his high school  career.

Tripp qualified in the 100 in :09.9 and 220 in :21.5 in the trials but was seventh in :10.1 and eighth in :22.3 in the 220.  He managed a measurement of 21-10 3/4 in the broad jump.

Tripp went on to UCLA and was the 100 (:09.6) and 220 (:21 flat on the curve) champion in the 1962 conference finals.

Tripp wasn’t done.  He also was drum major at Bruins football games.

4/3/59

El Cajon Valley’s Jack Hudson staked his claim as the County’s premier middle-distance runner, racing to a :50.2 clocking in the 440-yard dash in the Braves’ 62-42 loss to Grossmont.

Hudson, who held the school 440 record of :51.1, also ran 1:55.9 to win his race in the Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach 11 days before and looked to improve his mile time of 4:24.3.

Lincoln’s Charlie Meekins, who ran :50.4 in a dual meet with San Diego in March, had been the County leader in the one-lap race.

El Cajon Valley’s David Landis lowered his school record in the 120-yard high hurdles from :15.1 to :14.7

—Arnold Tripp won three events, :09.8 100, :21.8 220, and 22-10 3/4 broad jump, but San Diego defeated the Crawford, 63-41.

—Lorenzo Buchanan of Point Loma won the 100 in :10.1 and 220 in :22.7 but Point Loma claimed a 53-51 victory only when Mission Bay runners who finished 1-2 in another race were disqualified for lane infractions.

Bill Gould of Mission Bay doubled with victories of :15.6 and :20.1 in the high and low hurdles.

4/10/59

San Diego whipped Mission Bay, 66 1/3-37 2/3, highlighted by the hurdles duels between the Cavers’ Thurman Pringle and the Bucs’ Bill Gould, who won the 120 highs in :14.9 but was beaten by Pringle’s :19.8 180 lows.

—Kenny Tucker broad jumped 23 feet, 3 inches, in Lincoln’s 76-28 win over La Jolla.

—Dewey Taylor hurled the shot 57-8 ½ in Grossmont’s 80-24 rout of Mount Miguel. Teammate Jerry Halterman tied with a Mount Miguel high jumper at 6-1 ¾, and Grossmont’s Dick Cooksey broad umped 22-2 ¼.

–Kenny Griffin of Kearny won the high hurdles in :15.6, was second in the lows and won the broad jump at 22-2 1/8, but Point Loma won the dual meet, 64 2/3-39 1/3.

4/14/59

Arnold Tripp ran the 100 in :09.8 and set a Crawford record of :49.8 in the 440 in the Colts’ 57 1/2-46 ½ loss to Mission Bay. Kenny Tucker broad jumped 23-7 ¼ as Lincoln beat Point Loma, 59-45.

4/17/59

Dewey Taylor’s 59-2 7/8 shot put took the national lead and was fourth longest in San Diego County history.

Taylor took the lead over Billy Joe of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, (59-1) and George Buehler of Whittier (59-3/4).  Joe and Buehler were future pro players, Joe a running back with the Denver Broncos and New York Jets, and Buehler a lineman for the Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns.

Taylor’s effort was third best in Grossmont history, behind the 61-5 ¾ of Jim Wade in 1957 and 60-4 ½ of Dick Bronson in 1954.

Grossmont clinched a tie for the Metropolitan League dual-meet championship, outscoring Chula Vista, 54-45. Both teams were disqualified in the 880-yard relay.

The Spartans’ Jay Dunn ran the 880 in 2:01.3 and teammate Chuck Schertzer won the 440 in :51.8.

–Bing Howe of Escondido took the County lead with a 12-foot, 8-inch pole vault in a 81-23 loss to Mount Miguel.  Jack Thoreson vaulted 12-3 ¼ for Carlsbad in the Lancers’ 54-45 win over Fallbrook.

4/24/59

Kenny Tucker won the broad jump at 23-3 and anchored a 1:30.5 victory in the 880 to secure Lincoln’s 55-49 win over Crawford.  Tucker was second to Arnold Tripp’s :09.8 100, and edged Tripp in the jump and held off the Colts’ sprinter in the relay.

—San Diego wrapped a second consecutive unbeaten dual-meet season, 98-15 over St. Augustine as Kent Williams ran :51 in the 440 and Ed Ott took the 880 in 2:02.  Albert Watson doubled in the high jump (5-11 1/2) and broad jump (21-5) and Thurman Pringle doubled in the hurdles (:15.4 and :20).

—Grossmont won the big meet in the foothills, 58-46, over Helix as David Nunez ran :14.9 and :19.9 in the hurdles, Paul Thoryk vaulted 12-4, and Dewey Tylor put the shot 56-11 ¾.

4/28/59

CITY PREP LEAGUE TRIALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

San Diego led with 13 qualifiers, followed by Point Loma and Mission Bay with nine each.

Bill Gould of Mission Bay turned in the day’s best performance, running :14.6 and :20 in the hurdles.  San Diego’s Thurman Pringle won both of his heats in :15.2 and :20.

Crawford’s Arnold Tripp won a 100 trial in :09.9 and a 220 in :22.

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE TRIALS, @EL CAJON VALLEY

Chula Vista sent 14 qualifiers to the finals, followed by Mount Miguel and Helix with 11 each. Dual-meet champ Grossmont had nine.

Five records were set in Class B, none in varsity. Most notable were El Cajon’s David Landis, who ran :08.9 and :13.3 in the 70 high and 120 low hurdles. Brian Ross of El Capitan hurled the 10-pound shot 53-3.

4/30/59

AVOCADO LEAGUE TRIALS, @MAR VISTA

David Rightmer of San Dieguito doubled with a :10.4 victory in the 100 and :23.2 in the 220.

—On the day before the league finals City Prep League officials changed the score of the Point Loma-Mission Bay dual meet, originally favoring the Pointers, 53-51, to a 52-52 deadlock.

Mission Bay had protested a third-place disqualification in the mile.  As a result, Point Loma and Mission Bay finished in a tie for third, each with 5-2-1 records, behind San Diego and Lincoln.

5/1/59

CITY PREP LEAGUE FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

San Diego ran away with the team championship, scoring 56 ¾ points to the 24 ¾ of Crawford and Mission Bay. Hoover trailed with 21 ¾, followed by Lincoln (18), Point Loma (17 1/2), Kearny (10), La Jolla (10), and St. Augustine (8).

Jeff Dragila of La Jolla ran the mile in 4:28.9 to break the record of 4:30.1 by Hoover’s Bob Monzingo in 1956.

“Mike ran three or four days a week for the past two summers to improve himself (after unsuccessful tries at the Class C 660 and B 1320) and came on to set a city record in cross country and take third in the small schools CIF meet last winter,” Vikings coach Sandy MacLaren told Paul Cour of the Evening Tribune. 

Jack Woy of Point Loma cleared 12-3 5/8 to better the 12 feet, ½ inch of Kearny’s Bob DeMarco in 1955. Arnold Tripp of Crawford was a triple winner, :09.8 in the 100, :21.7 in the 220, and 22-10 1/4 in the broad jump.

A San Diego foursome of Emile Wright, Bill Dentham, Kent Williams, and Richard (Prime) McClendon won the 880-yard relay in 1:30.1. Harold Valderhaug’s 1:58.2 in the 880 did not set a record but was more than two seconds faster than he had run.

METROPOLITAN LEAGUE, @CHULA VISTA

Grossmont edged Chula Vista with 56 points to 54 ½ as David Nunez doubled in the 120-yard high hurdles (:14.8) and 180 lows (:20.2), and Dewey Taylor won the shot put at 56-2.  Don Hamlin won a miss-measured 100-yard race that was 110 yards in :11.2 and took the 220 in :22.4.

Chula Vista’s Jay Dunn joined a group of Southern California leaders with a 1:58 effort in the 880-yard run.  Teammate Chuck Schertzer won the 440 in :51.2.

Jack Hudson of El Cajon Valley, gearing for a possible challenge to national leader Dale Story of Orange, won the mile in 4:24.4.

AVOCADO LEAGUE, @MAR VISTA

John Fousatt Oceanside pole vaulted 12-5 ¼ and Larry Plew of Vista ran the mile in 4:42 for records in the meet won by Coronado with 49 ½ points.  Mar Vista had 41.

SOUTHERN PREP LEAGUE, @CAMP PENDLETON

Army-Navy won a three-way battle with Ramona and Mountain Empire, scoring 57 ½ points to 54 ½ to 52, respectively. Rich Keagy of Army-Navy (:23.5 220 and 20-7 broad jump) was a double winner as was Dave Shipley of Mountain Empire (:10.3 100, :21 180 lows).

Qualifiers from the four San Diego leagues, City Prep, Metropolitan, Avocado, and Southern Prep, were to join those from the Imperial Valley, Freeway, Orange and Sunset leagues in the next step of eliminations.

5/9/59

CIF DIVISIONAL, @KEARNY

Wind blowing off the mesa on which Linda Vista and Kearny High sit deprived Crawford’s Arnold Tripp of a near-record run.

Tripp ran the 100 in :09.7 and 220 in :20.7 but was aided by an estimated eight-miles-an-hour breeze, above the allowable limit of 4.473 in the furlong.  Tripp also was the leading broad jumper at 22 feet, 7 inches.

Orange’s Dale Story and El Cajon Valley’s Jack Hudson fought the wind and Story set a Southern Section record of 4:20, erasing one of the oldest, the 4:21.2 or Torrance’s Louie Zamperini in 1934.

Hudson ran his best time of the year and won his heat in 4:22.3.

Mike Kellough of San Diego stood out in Class B, running wind-aided :09.8 in the 100 and :21.4 in the 220.

5/16/59

DIVISIONAL SEMIFINALS, @BELLFLOWER

The real racing and field competition began in this event as 33 San Diego athletes faced two heats in flat races in which the top two finishers in each heat would move on and the top four in the field events would qualify for next week’s finals.

Seventeen qualified.

Mission Bay’s Bill Gould won a 120-yard high hurdles heat in :14.6 and Grossmont’s David Nunez ran :14.6 and was second in his race.  Thurman Pringle of San Diego was second to Gould in :14.7.

Pringle made the cut, finishing second in :19.5 in the 180-yard lows.  Gould ran :19.6 in another heat but did not advance.

Arnold Tripp of Crawford doubled in the sprints in :09.7 and :21.1, setting up a clash with San Bernardino’s John Howard, who ran :09.7 and was runner-up to Thermal Coachella’s Gary Crystal, who timed :21 flat.

Dale Story set another record in the mile, 4:16.9.

Jack Hudson of El Cajon Valley ran the fastest mile in San Diego County history, 4:19.9, which would have broken Story’ CIF record of the previous week and was better than the 4:21.7 of Grossmont’s Rene Rogers in 1955.

Jay Dunn of Chula Vista, improving almost every week, won a heat in the 880 in 1:55.7.  Dewey Taylor, battling back problems caused by a leg injury, was first in the shot put at 55-9.

Bing Howe of Escondido led pole vaulters by clearing 13 feet, 4 3/4 inches.

San Diego’s Mike Kellough won his Class B sprints in :10 and :21.6. Gary Todd of Crawford won a 1320 race in 3:14.7.

5/24/59

CIF FINALS, @LONG BEACH VETERANS’ STADIUM

Which was more impressive? Arnold Tripp’s two firsts and a second, or Jay Dunn’s perceived super upset in the 880-yard run?

Tripp heard a resounding roar from the crowd of about 4,000 when he sped down the broad jump runway on his first attempt, hit the takeoff board in the middle, and soared 24 feet, 9 inches.

Southern Section commissioner Ken Fagans came out of the stands to officiate the measurement, which bettered the Southern Section record of 24-6 ¼ by Steve Turner of Glendale in 1950.

Tripp was second in the 100 in :09.9 to the :09.7 of San Bernardino’s John Howard and then took down Howard in the stretch run of the 220, coming from a yard back to win in :20.5 to :20.6, Tripp’s time bettering the national record but disallowed because of a wind of 7 miles an hour, over the 4.473 limit.

Favored Dee Andrews of Long Beach Poly could not catch Tripp in the jump, runner-up with a personal best of 24-2 ½, and Lincoln’s Kenny Tucker, who fouled on several attempts, was a surprise third at 24-1/4 on his final try, breaking the school record of 24-1/8 by Luther Hayes in 1957.

Undefeated for two years, Dick Davis of Poly was the unanimous favorite in the 880, but Chula Vista’s Jay Dunn, coming on in the last month, jumped the Jackrabbits runner heading into the final turn and won in 1:54.7 to Davis’ 1:55.1.

Jack Hudson of El Cajon Valley ran with Orange’s Dale Story and then gassed out when he attempted to pass Story on the backstretch of the final lap in the mile and Story won going away by about 30 yards in 4:17.7.  Hudson’s time was 4:24.1 in second.

Grossmont’s Dewey Taylor was second in the shot put with a toss of 56-3 and teammate David Nunez was fifth in the high hurdles in :14.8.

By himself, Tripp scored 14 points, which earned Crawford third in the team race, behind the 24 of Poly and 15 by San Bernardino. Tripp’s Class B teammate, Gary Todd, was third in the 1320 in 3:16.4.

Mike Kellough of San Diego was second in :09.9 in the 100, third in the 220 in :22, and anchored the Cavemen to a 1:06 victory in the 660 relay. The Cavers were second to Pasadena Muir’s 15 points with 12 in Class B team standings.

41st STATE MEET, @BAKERSFIELD

Arnold Tripp qualified in the sprints  in the afternoon trials but  never was a factor in the 100, 220, or broad jump in the evening finals.

Jay Dunn was running with the leaders as the field reached the end of the first lap, where Dunn was jostled off the track by another runner, and the shaken Dunn pulled out of the race.  No foul was called.

Jack Hudson set a pace of 2:05 in the 880 but still was second in 4:16.7 to the national record mile of Dale Story, who ran 4:11.

Bing Howe was second in the pole vault at 13-5 ¾ and Kenny Tucker second in the broad jump at 23-1 ¾.  Grossmont’s Dewey Taylor, withdrew from the shot put, after a leg injury contributed to back problems in the last month.

Always striving for higher, faster, further, San Diego -area track and field competitors delivered a bevy of outstanding marks and a consensus that Lincoln, in its fourth season, could become the Southern California team champion, following San Diego’s 1957 championship.

The Hornets didn’t make it, their season ending in disappointment.  Lincoln’s troubles in the Southern Section finals at El Monte’s Arroyo High School are told below.

COLTS QUICKLY GET A KICK

Crawford, a first-year school in East San Diego, took a large parcel of students from nearby Hoover.

One of those students, football-track athlete Arnold Tripp, had shown promise the year before as a sophomore at Hoover, so much that Cardinals track coach Raleigh Holt visited the Tripp family and entreated Arnold and his parents that he stay at Hoover.

Crawford would open in the fall of 1957 with students in grades 10 and 11.  Holt believed Tripp resided in an optional enrollment area.

Tripp apparently liked the idea of being on the ground floor and building a new tradition.  He opted for Crawford, depriving Holt and Hoover of two sub-10-seconds sprinters (Tripp and Larry Fischer) who would help keep the Cardinals among the elite programs.

4/8/58

Eight City Prep League meets were postponed during a rainy March and school bosses considered making them up with triangular meets or canceling as the calendar moved into the second half of the season.

4/12/58

Three El cajon Valley runners  scored 13 1/2 points to finish seventh as a team in the 32nd Chaffey Invitational in Ontario. Jack Hudson was first and no-relation Bill Hudson third in one of the mile races, with Hudson’s 4:27.1 best of the evening.

Wendell Maize was second in 1:59.2 to the 1:58.2 of a Norwalk Excelsior runner in one of the 880-yard races.

4/15/58

Kearny’s George Williams broad jumped 24 feet and won the 440 in :51.8, and teammate Ed Buchanan won the 100-yard dash in :09.9 and 220 in :21.8, and then made up about 15 yards on the anchor leg to deliver a 1:30.3 victory in the 880-yard relay.

Outstanding performances, but the Komets didn’t come close at San Diego.  The Cavemen won, 61-43, their eighth City Prep League win against no losses.

Coach Birt Slater’s team, with no real stars but deep and resourceful, won 7 of 12 events, including double hurdles victories by Thurman Pringle (:15.3, :19.9) and a County-leading 6-foot, 4-inch high jump by Andrew Willis.

—George Clause won the 100 in :10 and 220 in :22.6 for St. Augustine but Mission Bay was a 73-31 winner.

—Helix’ Bill Ernest doubled in :09.9 and :22.6 but Chula Vista, behind school-record performances by Oakley Ostrander (22-6 ½ broad jump) and Art Johnson (:15.5 120-yard high hurdles), was a 67 1/3-36 1/3 winner.

4/18/58

Arnold Tripp was a triple winner but Crawford dropped a 54 1/3-47 1/3 decision to Mission Bay.  Tripp won the 100 (:10.2) and 220 (22.2) and the broad jump (21 feet, ½ inch).

—Jay Dunn of Chula Vista set a school record of :50.4 in the 440 and El Cajon Valley’s Jack Hudson ran the 880 in 1:58, fastest of the season.

–Walter Williamson broad jumped 22-11 ¾ as San Diego defeated Hoover, 68-36, and closed the dual-meet season with a 9-0 record.

4/25/58

Lincoln clinched second place in the CPL, 53 5/6-50 1/6, at Kearny, despite Ed Buchanan’s :09.6 100, :21.3 in the 220, and come-from-behind anchor leg in the relay, when Buchanan ran down the Hornets’ Charlie Meekins and the Komets hit the tape in 1:29.5.

4/28/58

CITY PREP LEAGUE TRIALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

San Diego outflanked Lincoln and Kearny with 14 qualifiers to the Hornets’ nine, and the Komets’ seven.

Lincoln’s Albert Groff (:15.3, :20.1), Bill Hultz (:15.2, :20.4), and Ronnie Grey (:15.3, :19.9) won all six hurdles heats.

METROPOLITAN @GROSSMONT

El Cajon Valley’s Wendell Maize ran the 880 in 2:00.0 and teammates Jack Hudson and no-relation Bill Hudson won mile heats in 4:32.3 and 4:44.6.

AVOCADO @ESCONDIDO

Dennis (Swede) Grimaud of Coronado was pleased with a :22.2 heat victory in the 220 and disappointed after his winning, :10.5 time in a heat of the 100.

Meet officials then discovered that the race had been inaccurately measured and was 105 yards.

5/2/58

CITY PREP LEAGUE FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Lincoln had lost the dual meet to San Diego, 52 ½-51 ½, but the Hornets won a tight race for the team title, outscoring the Cavemen, 40-37 3/5.  Kearny had 26 ½.

Ed Buchanan of Kearny set a meet record of :09.7 in the 100 and won the 220 in :21.6.

Bill Hultz of Lincoln set a meet record of :14.3 in the 120-yard high hurdles.

Hultz’ teammate Ronnie Grey was second in the highs in :14.5 (Albert [Grasshopper] Groff made it a Hornets sweep, third in :14.7) and won the 180-yard low hurdles in :19.3.

Grey was on a team with Charlie Meekins, Hultz, and Russ Boehmke which ran the 880-yard relay in 1:28.6, fastest of the season in Southern California.

Mission Bay’s Pat Shea put the shot 55 feet, 9 ¼ inches, second longest toss by an athlete from within the San Diego city limits.  Charlie Powell of San Diego went 57-9 ¼ in 1951.

METROPOLITAN, @GROSSMONT

Grossmont scored 56 points, edging El Cajon Valley, which had 54 ½, followed by Helix, 25. The Foothillers won six events, including the 880-yard relay in 1:31.1.

Bill Ernest was a double winner in the 100 (:10.2) and 220 (:22.5) for Helix.

–Host  Escondido won the Avocado League with 38 points to Oceanside’s 32 ½. Army-Navy had 63 points and Mountain Empire 50 5/6 in the Southern Prep.

5/9/58

Qualifiers from the City Prep, Metropolitan, Avocado, Southern Prep, Imperial Valley, Orange, and Sunset leagues, latter two from  Orange County, prepared for the Southern Section Divisional meet at San Diego State.

5/10/58

Lincoln positioned itself as a contender for the team championship when the Hornets qualified seven plus a relay team for the semifinals in the Divisional at blustery San Diego State.

Bill Hultz (:14.6, :19.3) won his hurdle heats and Ronnie Grey was second in the high hurdles and won a race in :19.2 in the lows.  Charlie Meekins ran a season-best :50.7 in the 440 and the Hornets clocked 1:29.3 to win one of the 880 relay heats, with San Diego (1:30.2) taking the other.

Ed Buchanan of Kearny doubled in a :09.8 100 and :21.7 220 and Crawford’s Arnold Tripp won his heats in :10.1 and :21.9. Tripp also led broad jumpers with a career best 23-9 ¼.

5/17/58

Action moved to the Divisional semifinal at Huntington Beach and Lincoln continued to stake a bid for the team championship.  Other San Diego athletes also came up strong.

Bill Hultz topped teammate Ronnie Grey in the 120-yard high hurdles in :14.3 and Grey led Hultz to the finish line in :19.1 in the 180 lows.  Unheralded Orlee West of Kearny, also qualified, second in his heat in :19.5.

Helix’ Bill Ernest and Crawford’s Arnold Tripp ran 1-2 in a 100 heat in :09.8 and Ed Buchanan won the other 100 in :09.8.  Tripp qualified in the broad jump, third at 23-3 ½.

Lincoln coach Dick Coxe withdrew Charlie Meekins from the  440 after Meekins tied for second, so Meekins could concentrate as leadoff man in the relay the following week.  Lincoln’s 1:29.5 was fastest of the day. San Diego won the second race in 1:30.

5/24/58

Lincoln’s bid for a team championship did not get off to a good start and would not get better at Arroyo High in El Monte.

Ronnie Grey was spiked on his hand during the 120-yard high hurdles, first running event of the day.  Grey finished a non-scoring sixth.

Grey, looked strong and was closing fast, almost even with Pasadena Muir’s George (Jo Jo) Williams and leader Bennie Sankey of Compton Centennial in the 180-yard lows, when Grey stumbled and fell at the next-to-last hurdle.

“I looked over at that old boy ahead of me (Sankey) and said to myself, ‘I’ve got you now’, then wham, I hit the hurdle,” Grey said to Paul Cour of the Evening Tribune.

“I was overstriding when I fell,” Grey said.  “I never had this trouble in the lows before, but this was tough race.  It just wasn’t my day.”

The Hornets, one of the favorites in the 880-yard relay, fell far behind after legs by Meekins and Grey.

Hultz ran a terrific third leg but anchor Russ Boehme was mired in traffic and the Hornets finished fifth in a photo finish with Compton and Pasadena Muir, according to results in the Los Angeles Times.

The Special Dispatch from El Monte to The San Diego Union was garbled but listed San Diego fifth.  The Evening Tribune  declared the Cavers fifth.

The Times reported there would be a film review for third,  fourth and fifth places between Muir, Compton, and Lincoln.

San Diego’s team of Richard (Prime) McClendon, Willie Jordan, Charles (Sugar Jet) Davis, and Chuck Johnson ran their best race, 1:28.5, after twice losing to the Hornets during the season.

A loss to San Diego would be the final insult for Lincoln before a crowd of 4,000 on this warm afternoon.

No results were published or if an actual review took place, but Muir, thanks to Mel Clipper’s great anchor leg, officially became third and the Mustangs would be the final Southern Section representative in that event in the state meet.

The winner was Long Beach Poly (1:27.9) with Glendale Hoover second and Compton fourth.

–El Cajon Valley’s Jack Hudson, a slight but tough 110-pound junior, was second in the mile in 4:24.5, behind the 4:22.1 of Compton’s Woody Covington.

—Bill Ernest of Helix was runner-up  in the 100 in :09.8, ahead of Kearny’s Ed Buchanan, and behind the :09.7 of  Muir’s Mel Clipper.

—Buchanan was third in :21.2 in the 220, edged by Crawford’s Arnold Tripp, whose :21.1 followed Clipper’s :20.6 national record on the Arroyo High straightaway, with Bill Ernest fifth.

—Tripp was fourth in the broad jump at 22-11 ¾ in an event won by Steve Rogers of Brawley at 24-6 ½.

—Kearny’s Orlee West, running in the shadow of the Lincoln hurdlers all season, got up for fourth in the 180 lows, won by Compton Centennial’s Bennie Sankey in a wind-aided :18.8. West’s time was :19, a tick behind the third-place :18.9 by Lincoln’s Bill Hultz.

—Grossmont’s Roger Olander cleared a personal best 13-5 ¾ for second place  in the pole vault behind the 13-9 1/4 by Glendale Hoover’s John Rose.

BEES AND CEES STAND OUT

Chula Vista’s Jay Dunn was timed in 1:20.8 in the B 660-yard run, bettering the record set a week before by an Ontario Chaffey runner, who clocked 1:21.6.

—Point Loma’s Cecil Scott broad-jumped 22-3 ¼, breaking the Class C record of 22-1, set in 1950.

—Hoover’s Larry Fischer was a double winner, setting a school record of :09.9 in the 100, and his :21.4 in the 220 was a Southern Section Class B and school record.  The Cardinals’ Clyde Yakel ran :21.6 in a Divisional meet at Glendale in 1937.  Lincoln’s Louie Tucker was fifth in the 100.

—Kenny Tucker of Lincoln Tucker won the B broad jump at 23-3 ¼.  Claudell Howard of Kearny was second.

—San Diego High won the B 660-yard relay in 1:06.8.

—Benny Lewis of San Diego won the Class C 100 in :10.1 and was second to a :17.7 180 by Brady of Ontario Chaffey.

—Dunn of Point Loma bettered the Class C 660 record of 1:24.8 but his 1:24.6 was second to the 1:24.3 by McNeill of Compton Centennial.

—Schuerman of Chula Vista tied for first in the B high jump at 6 feet.

5/31/58

40^TH STATE TRACK MEET, @LONG BEACH VETERANS’ STADIUM

None of San Diego’s six entrants in the morning-afternoon 40^th state track meet at Long Beach Veterans’ Stadium captured a gold medal.

Jack Hudson of El Cajon Valley ran second in the mile to Compton’s Woody Covington, as he did in the previous week’s Southern Section meet at El Monte Arroyo.

Covington was timed in 4:23.7, Hudson in 4:26.7 for the San Diego area’s highest finish.

—Lincoln’s Bill Hultz was third in the 180-yard low hurdles in :19.1 to winner East Bakersfield’s Dave Douglas in :19.  Hultz’ qualifying time in the morning was :19.7.

—Hultz, the Southern Section winner at :14.3 in the 120-yard highs, was last after banging into the first, third and final hurdle. He had qualified in the morning in :14.4.

—Ed Buchanan of Kearny was fifth in :10 in the 100 after qualifying fourth in his trial in the same time. Helix’ Bill Ernest also qualified fourth in :10 but was sixth in the finals. First place was :09.6 by sophomore Hubie Watson of Los Angeles Jordan.

—Buchanan’s :21.2 was third fastest in the trials and Arnold Tripp of Crawford was fifth in :21.4.  Buchanan was fifth in the final in :21.4 and Tripp seventh.  First was :20.7 by Pasadena Muir’s Mel Clipper.

—Grossmont’s Roger Olander was out of the money in the pole vault. Fifth place was 13 feet, 1 inch.

TRIALS

EVENT	NAME	SCHOOL	PLACE	FOURTH
120 HH	Bill Hultz	Lincoln	4th	:14.4
100	Ed Buchanan	Kearny	4th, tie	:10
	Bill Ernest	Helix	4th, tie	:10
220	Buchanan		3rd	:21.2
	Arnold Tripp	Crawford	5th	:21.4
180LH	Hultz		3rd, tie	:19.7

FINALS

100	Ed Buchanan	Kearny	5th	10.0
	Bill Ernest	Helix	6th	—
220	Buchanan		5th	:21.4
	Arnold Tripp	Crawford	7th	—
120HH	Bill Hultz	Lincoln	8th	—
180LH	Hultz		3rd	:19.1
Mile	Jack Hudson	El Cajon Valley	2nd	4:26.7
Pole Vault	Roger Olander	Grossmont	8th	—

The season was outstanding, perhaps the best ever overall in San Diego, but the section was a legislative loser.

San Diego Section commissioner Don Clarkson made a request to the state CIF during a meeting in Berkeley the week of the state meet.

Clarkson asked that his section be allocated three berths in each event at future state meets.  The section was allowed one berth in 1961 and ’62 and that number was raised to two in 1963.

CIF officials said no. The bosses declared it was a matter of student enrollment, in which the San Diego Section lagged when compared to other sections, according to Clarkson.

Track and Field News’ Fran Errota provided an interesting observation after the meet, when he computed scoring on the percentage of each section’s entries.

The Southern Section, with five entries, scored 37.3 per cent of the points.  The Central Section, with three entries, scored 28.9 per cent.  The San Diego Section, with its two entries, was third with 23.3 points.

The locals outscored the Los Angeles City and North Coast sections, each with four entries, and the three-entry Central Coast and Sac-Joaquin sections.

It would be years later, in 1980, but San Diego eventually was granted three.  By the decade of 2010-19 the rule became three entries plus anyone who met a CIF-imposed standard for each event.

5/2/68

El Cajon Valley’s Tom Davidson announced he had chosen the mile over the two-mile for the big, late-season meets and ran 4:14.6 in the shorter event as the Braves subdued Granite Hills, 90-46.

Davidson had set a state-leading mark of 9:02.2 in the two-mile at the Mt. San Antonio Invitational in Walnut on April 27.   “He’s got stars in his eyes for the mile and I know he’ll do a good job,” said Braves coach Joe Brooks.

Jim Cochran, Davidson’s teammate, upped his pole vault best to 14-8 ¼, close to the county record of 14-9 by El Capitan’s Andy Steben in 1965.

–Monte Vista’s Dave Carter won the mile in 4:22.8, but will move to the two-mile.

–Larry Gillham logged a 1:57.8 in the 880 and outran Monte Vista’s Steve Gillean’s 1:58.2, but Gillean and teammates scored a 70-66 win over Grossmont.  The Monarchs got a double win from shot putter-discus ace Pat Foley, who hurled the 12-pound ball 56 feet, ¾ inch and wafted the 3.9-ounce platter 163-4.

–Coach Ed Teagle’s Mar Vista Mariners, claimed the Metropolitan League dual-meet championship, 69-49, at Castle Park as Dan Helton shot putted 58-2 and teammate Wolfgang Weichert 57-2.

TRIALS

WESTERN LEAGUE, @KEARNY.

Steve Becker’s 4:21.1 mile broke Thornton Bigley’s 1967 record of 4:22.1 and Becker and his Kearny teammates led qualifiers with 27.

Becker’s teammate Dennis Downes covered the 120-yard high hurdles on the Kearny track in :14.8, tying Dee Hayes’ 1965 standard. Downes also was first in a :20.4 180-yard low hurdles heat.

Komet Seneca Godwin doubled (:50.1 440 and 22 feet, 2 inches long jump).  Vincent Breddell won heats in the 100 and 220 (:10.1, :23.1).  Craig Campbell led shot putters with a toss of 54 feet. High jumper Bob Fulbright and vaulter Carl Geisser also tied for first in their events.

Clairemont’s Larry Castillo won an 880-yard run heat in 1:58 and Point Loma’s Rick Kaye took the other in 1:58.5.

EASTERN LEAGUE, @BALBOA STADIUM

Marion Franklin was one of 20 Lincoln qualifiers and had the day’s best mark, :14.4 in the 120 high hurdles.  Hoover’s John Talbot and Lincoln’s Melvin Maxwell won 100 heats in :10.

5/7/68

AVOCADO LEAGUE, @SAN DIEGUITO

“I had a hunch I was going to do something,” said San Dieguito’s Pete Shmock who had “been in a slump, but I had a pretty good practice last week and things were falling into place.”

Shmock was speaking with Evening Tribune reporter Bill (Biff) Weurding after setting a County record of 64 feet, 11 inches, in his home ring.  Shmock improved on his previous best of 63-3.

Oceanside’s Ed Johnson won his heat in the 120 high hurdles in :14.9 and led broad jumpers at 22-4. Johnson was recovering from a pulled muscle sustained in a 66-52 dual meet win over San Diego April 16.

(Three days earlier than the dual-meet victory, Johnson and Oceanside teammates Sporty Willis, Willie Buchanon, and Larry Crayton stunned Lincoln with sizzling :41.5 and 1:27.1 victories in the 440 and 880-yard relays, and Johnson won the high hurdles in :14.2 in the San Diego Relays).

GROSSMONT LEAGUE, @EL CAJON VALLEY

Helix had 34 qualifiers to Grossmont’s 19.  El Cajon Valley and Mount Miguel followed with 17.  Best mark was the 174-3 discus throw by Monte Vista’s Pat Foley.

5/10/68

LEAGUE FINALS

METROPOLITAN, @MAR VISTA

Mar Vista’s Ralph Lopez was named the meet’s outstanding performer after running the two-mile in 9:32.2 as Mar Vista ran away with the team title with 78 points to 34 for runner-up Castle Park.

“He weighs just 106 pounds,” Mariners coach Ed Teagle said of Lopez, “but he’s the guttiest kid I’ve ever had.”

Mar Vista shot putters Dan Helton and Wolfgang Weichert held sway, with Helton reaching a career high 58-5 ½ and Weichert heaving 56-8.

Chula Vista’s Randy McNabb broke 50 seconds for the first time, at :49.9 in the 440.

EASTERN LEAGUE, @BALBOA STADIUM

Lincoln won its fourth consecutive team title with 84 points to San Diego’s 56, and the Hornets served notice to California with outstanding performances in the relays.

With Therlee Murphy anchoring in :47.2 the Hornets raced to a 3:17.4 clocking in the mile after Murphy finished a :41.7 440.

Sophomore Milton Mitchell, who won the 880 in 1:55.9, ran :49.2 on the first leg of the mile, followed by Clive Carrero (:51.4) and Albert Fennell (:49.8).                                                                                                                                                                                                    Long Beach Millikan (3:18.5) and Compton Centennial (3:18.9) were closest to the Hornets in the long race and Los Angeles Fremont, the presumed leader of the L.A. City Section, was disqualified in its league meet because of a lane violation.

Lincoln was sandwiched between Centennial (:41.3) and Los Angeles High (:41.9) in the short race, all seemingly headed for a showdown three weeks later in the state meet in Berkeley.

“I like our chances in the mile, but we’re going to get better in the 440, too,” said the Hornets’ first-year coach, Darryl Nelson.

Lincoln’s Doug Jones bettered defending champion Phillip Singleton with a 6-5 ½ high jump. The San Diego high jumper’s 6-4 wasn’t close to his career best of 6-9 ¼ in 1967.

Singleton’s teammate, James (Bouncy) Moore won the long jump at 24 feet.  Lincoln’s Herman Woods stunned teammates Marion Franklin and Doug Jones by winning the 120-yard high hurdles in :14.4.

Marion Franklin won the 180-yard low hurdles in :19.6.  Therlee Murphy contributed to the Hornets seven first places by running :49.2 in the 440.

John Phillips and John Talbot made the 100-yard dash a 1-2 finish for Hoover, with Phillips winning in :09.8 and he repeated in the 220 in :22.1.  The Cardinals’ Lloyd (Brick) Burrows won the shot put at 55-1.

WESTERN LEAGUE, @KEARNY

Dennis Williams set a meet record of :09.9 in the 100, won the 220 in :22.5 and anchored the 440-yard relay team to a first-time-run, record :43 as Kearny scored 90 points and outdistanced Point Loma (41), Clairemont (39), and Madison (32).

The Komets’ Steve Becker improved on his mile record from the league trials, lowering the mark to 4:20.3; Craig Campbell put the shot 57-1 ¾, breaking the record of 56-4 by La Jolla’s Holland Seymore in 1963, Seneca Godwin’s 22-9 long jump topped Komet Bobby Johnson’s 22-7 ¼ in 1964.

GROSSMONT LEAGUE, @EL CAJON VALLEY

Bruce Ruff’s :10 and :22.1 victories in the 100 and 220, Tom Davidson’s record, 4:13.4 mile, and Jim Cochran’s record 14-7 ¼ pole vault, plus a 22-6 ½ long jump by Ron Gillilan were the difference as El Cajon Valley’s 68 points won the team championship over Helix, which had 63.

Granite Hills’ Brian Wadlington won the discus at 173 feet, 8 ½ inches, and El Capitan’s John Robbins led shot putters with a 57-5 effort.  Helix’ Allen Stevenson anchored 440 (:43.2) and mile relay wins (3:25.6), and won the 440 in :49.9.  Teammate Roy Gayhart was a :14.9 winner in the 120 high hurdles.

PALOMAR LEAGUE, @SAN MARCOS.

San Marcos scored 91 points, Ramona 59, Ramona 22, and Army-Navy 21.

SOUTHERN PREP LEAGUE, @Camp Pendleton

Cruzet of Borrego Springs, competing independently, won the 100 in :10.2 and 220 in :22.4.  San Diego Military won the team segment with 46 points.  La Jolla Country Day had 41, San Miguel School 38, and Julian 18.

AVOCADO LEAGUE, @SAN DIEGUITO

Ed Johnson was ailing, but Oceanside won the team championship with 70 points to Vista’s 59.

Johnson, state meet fourth-place finisher in the 180 low hurdles in 1967 at Grant High in Sacramento, and a champion Oceanside runner in the lower classes as a freshman and sophomore, injured his right leg, a second, disappointing setback for the talented senior.

Johnson still competed in four events, anchoring the Pirates to a :43.1 victory in the first-time-run 440 relay, winning the 120-yard high hurdles in :14.5, and was third in the 180-yard low hurdles and broad jump.

Whether Johnson would be recovered by the CIF Trials in one week was a question coach Tom Shields couldn’t answer.

San Dieguito’s Pete Shmock won the shot put at 62-11 and Johnson’s teammate Larry Crayton was timed in :18.7 in the 180 lows, which would be a County record but disallowed. Timers, across the field, heard only the delayed report of the starter’s pistol and saw no smoke, from which they begin clocking.

5/16/68

SAN DIEGO SECTION DISCUS FINALS

Monte Vista’s Pat Foley fouled on five of his six attempts, but his first throw was good, Foley setting a CIF meet record of 175 feet, 1 inch, in his home ring.

Foley Bettered the 170-5 mark by Grossmont’s Richard Grise in 1964. Defending champion Brian Wadlington of Granite Hills, who had beaten Foley four times in five meetings this season, was second at 169-9.

Wadlington, who also qualified for the state meet in Berkeley, set the County record of 176-1 in 1967.

5/19/68

Lincoln, seeking its sixth tile in the eight years of the section, qualified 14, tying Kearny.

Oceanside would send 12 to the following week’s finals but all-around star Ed Johnson, plagued by leg problems, qualified in the high hurdles in only :15.1 and did not make the finals in the 180-yard low hurdles, in which Johnson was fourth in the 1967 state meet.

Oceanside led Lincoln at the anchor exchange in the 440 relay, but Therlee Murphy caught Johnson and the Hornets won by four yards in :41.6, second fastest time in the state, to Oceanside’s :41.9.

Murphy came within one-tenth of tying the meet record of :48 in the 440 and also finished the mile relay as Lincoln qualified in an eased-up 3:19.3. Doug Jones ran :14.2 in the 120-yard high hurdles.

Among the casualties was Hoover’s John Phillips, the Eastern 200 champ at :09.8, disqualified after two false starts.

Best in the Class B was Oceanside high jumper Jerry Culp, who cleared 6-5 ½, bettering the mark of 6-5 by Doug Jones in 1966.

5/24/68

SAN DIEGO SECTION FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Lincoln set meet records of :41.5 in the 440 and 3:16.8 in the mile relay and Doug Jones doubled, winning the 120 high hurdles in :14.3 and the high jump at 6-6 ¼.

But Oceanside, which trailed the Hornets, 45-33 in team scoring, had the evening’s top performer.

Larry Crayton won the 100 in :09.7, the 180-yard low hurdles in :18.9, and was second to James (Bouncy) Moore’s 24-2 ½ long jump at 23-1 ½.

“This should have been our year,” said Crayton to Bill (Biff) Weurding of the Evening Tribune.  “I’ve been waiting four years for this one.  I can’t stand to see the CIF go like this.  This is torture.”

Crayton’s pain was the pain of Ed Johnson, who was heavily taped but managed to bring Oceanside home second in the 440 relay.

“His injury cost us a first in the highs, a second in the lows, a third in the long jump, and probably a first in the 440 relay, “said Crayton.

El Cajon Valley’s Tom Davidson won the mile in 4:09 and Jerry Culp upped his Class B high jump record to 6-6.

5/31/68

STATE TRIALS, @EDWARDS FIELD, BERKELEY

Therlee Murphy’s :47.2 anchor lap saved Lincoln from disaster in the mile relay.  The Hornets had a qualifying time of 3:20.4, ninth fastest in the three heats, and they got another day.

Murphy took the baton in fifth place and ran down two runners to claim the qualifier.

Lincoln also advanced at :42 in the 440 relay and Oceanside, with a not-100-per-cent Ed Johnson, was seventh in :42.5.

San Dieguito’s Pete Shmock was second in the shot put at 62-1. Oceanside’s Larry Crayton was third with a :19.2 180-yard low hurdles but did not qualify after a :10.0 100.

El Cajon Valley’s Tom Davidson was fourth fastest with a 4:14.6 mile. Marion Franklin of Lincoln tied for fourth at :14.4 in the high hurdles.  Doug Jones of Lincoln hit hurdles, stumbled and finished last with a time of :15.5 but was among many who qualified at 6-5 in the high jump.

James (Bouncy) Moore was fourth in the long jump at 23-4 ½ and El Cajon’s Jim Cochran and Ron Gillihan were in a parade of 13-6 pole vaulters.

Granite Hills’ Brian Wadlington, the County recordholder at 176-1 in1967, was out of the discus after reaching only 159-2.  Pat Foley of Monte Vista qualified seventh at 166-11.

6/1/68

The San Diego Section, with just two entries in each event, came up strong, although it did not produce a gold medal. Scoring was on a point basis of 6, 4, 3, 2, 1.

–Pete Shmock won the shot put with a throw of 63 feet, 11 inches, and Mar Vista’s Dan Helton was a non-scoring eighth at 58-5.

–El Cajon Valley’s Tom Davidson was leading the mile when he tied up and within feet of  the finish line, finishing second in 4:09.5 to Sacramento Kennedy’s Clifton West’s 4:09. Kearny’s Steve Becker was sixth in 4:16.7.

–Lincoln was third in the 440 relay in :41.7 and third in the mile relay in 3:15.5.

Compton Centennial won the short relay in :41.3 followed by Oakland Castlemont (:41.6).  Los Angeles Dorsey was fourth in :41.8.  Oceanside was seventh in :42.

Centennial won the mile in 3:14.3.  L.A. Fremont, disqualified for a lane violation in its league meet, was allowed to continue by the L.A. City Section and the Pathfinders finished ahead of Lincoln in 3:14.6.  San Bernardino trailed the Hornets in fourth place at 3:15.9.

Edesel Garrison anchored Centennial with a :46.6 lap.  L.A. Fremont’s John Smith, a future world recordholder, his team home in :46.8 and Murphy’s :46.9 anchor saved third for Lincoln.

–Bouncy Moore was third in the long jump with a best of 24 feet.  Larry Crayton tied for third in the 180 lows in :19.1.  Jim Cochran was third in the pole vault, going over the bar at an all-time County high 14-10 ¾.

–Lincoln’s Doug Jones cleared a personal best of 6 feet, 8 inches and tied with five others at third place but placed eighth on the basis of more misses in the high jump. After clearing 6-8, Jones passed at 6-9 and almost made 6-10 on his first attempt.

Marion Jones of Lincoln was seventh in :14.3 in the high hurdles.

–Bruce Ruff’s :22.2 220 and Ron Figueroa’s 1:54.9 880 were eighth, respectively, as was the 9:13.9 San Diego’s John Jacobsen in the two-mile.  Dave Carter of Monte Vista was ninth in the eight-lap race in 9:22.2 and teammate Pat Foley 10^th in the discus at 155-10.

6/20/68

San Dieguito’s Pete Shmock completed an outstanding career by setting a County record of 64 feet,11 inches, in the Golden West Invitational.  Shmock, headed to the University of Oregon, set a nother County record of 53-1/4 in the National Junior Championships on Aug. 15 in Eugene, Oregon.

Sweetwater High was the site for several outstanding performances over the years in the National City Junior Chamber of Commerce Relays and other events of distance, usually in early March.

Few of those individual or team marks were repeated or equaled, one of which drew the most attention and eventually called for surveyors and tape measures.

El Cajon Valley’s Armando Valencia took the national lead when he ran 4:07.2 in the invitational mile at the JC Relays. That Valencia did not come close to that time again, his best being 4:08.8 after his high school season had ended, probably set some coaches to thinking.

A few years later frustrated Sweetwater coach Dave Ashley had the school’s 440-yard layout surveyed and it was found to be more than a yard short, a distance of at least four yards for a four-lap race such as the mile.

Short tracks meant better but not accepted marks.  How many tracks like Sweetwater’s were out there?  At least two, Mount Miguel and El Capitan, also were found abbreviated.  CIF Commissioner Don Clarkson said city schools tracks had been measured and met standards years before.

More on Valencia and competition in the mile as the season turned to May and the high stakes meets:

5/4/67

Lincoln coach Bobby Smith made a surprising announcement the day before the Eastern League trials. Lloyd Apgar, a potential state meet medalist in the two-mile run, was opting for the mile in the upcoming league and San Diego Section meets.

Apgar and teammate Otis Martin were favored to be the San Diego Section’s two qualifiers in the two-mile for the state meet in Balboa Stadium in June.

The local cognoscenti was surprised.  Apgar, according to the track nuts and so-called experts, was making the wrong decision.

The Hornet senior’s best time in the mile was 4:17.3, which compared unfavorably to the 4:11.4 of Clairemont’s Thornton Bigley and the 4:07.2 at Sweetwater by El Cajon Valley’s Armando Valencia.

“I’m not going to criticize Lloyd for his decision,” said Smith. “I’m grateful for the contribution he’s made.  He’s one of the best kids I’ve ever had.”

Apgar held school records in the Class C 660 (1:25.6) and 1320 (3:10.8) and Class B 1320 (3:07.9), plus the mile and a portion of the 440, 880, 1320, and mile distance medley (10:18.

(In 2009 Apgar’s daughter Elizabeth, running for Lincoln,  won the San Diego Section 880-yard run in 2:12.16).

5/5/67

–Orange Glen’s Mike Quirk set three school records in a triangular meet with Escondido (66 points) and San Marcos (63).  The Patriots scored 40.

Quirk ran wind-aided times of :14.5 in the 120-yard high hurdles, :20.1 in the 180 lows, and pole vaulted 13 feet.

–El Cajon Valley won its first outright league dual-meet championship since 1956 with a 75 ½-56 ½ win over Monte Vista.

The Braves’ Armando Valencia, running the last 880 of his high school career, clocked 1:53.4, fastest in the area, with Monte Vista’s Danny Ungricht second in 1:54.2, best mark of his injury-slowed season.

LEAGUE TRIALS

–Lincoln led with 22 qualifiers in the Eastern League, while Kearny topped the West with 17.

Most significant achievement was in the Eastern League mile, where Lloyd Apgar set a meet record of 4:17.

Lincoln and Morse sustained two significant losses. The Hornets’ Doug Jones, stumbled and crashed in the 180-yard low hurdles, and the Tigers’ Donald Anders, leading the area with a :09.8 100, pulled up lame in his heat.

5/12/67

LEAGUE FINALS

EASTERN, @BALBOA STADIUM

Lloyd Apgar, set a meet record with a 4:14.9 mile and teammate Otis Martin nailed a record 9:09.6 two-mile.  San Diego high jumper Phillip Singleton cleared 6-6 to tie Eddy Hanks’ and Harold Greenwood’s record, set in 1964 and 1966, respectively.

Lincoln won the team championship with 76 points.  San Diego followed with, 52, Crawford, 31, Hoover, 27, Morse, 22, and St. Augustine, 1.

WESTERN, @MADISON

–Kearny edged Point Loma, 74-70, for the team title. Madison and Clairemont each had 25, followed by La Jolla, 6, and Mission Bay, 2.

METROPOLITAN, @CHULA VISTA

–Mar Vista outscored Chula Vista, 57-38, trailed by Sweetwater, 31, Hilltop, 30, Escondido, 24 ½, Coronado, 23 ½, Castle Park, 4 ½, and Bonita Vista, 0.

Mike Griffiths of Mar Vista moved into the top five all time of County pole vaulters when he cleared 14 feet, 6 inches.  Teammate Dan Helton put the shot 59-5, No. 9 all time.

GROSSMONT, @GRANITE HILLS

Granite Hills won the team championship with 52 points, followed by Grossmont, 47, El Cajon Valley, 33, Monte Vista, 32, Santana, 29, Mount Miguel, 26, Helix, 14, and El Capitan, 7.

The discus of Granite Hills’ Brian Wadlington caught an early-evening breeze and the Eagles’ junior set a County record when his toss sailed 176 feet, 1 1/4 inches, bettering the 174-6 of Grossmont’s Richard Grise in 1964.

Wadlington, whose best in 1966 was only 127-3 and had a best of 167-10 coming into the meet, said, “I worked out well all week. I’m not lifting weights anymore, just doing isoes (isometrics).  I felt a good throw.”

Brian’s teammate George Brown set a meet record with a 63-foot, 4 ½-inch shot put.  Monte Vista’s Danny Ungricht blazed a 1:53.2 half mile. Armando Valencia of El Cajon Valley ran 4:16.4 to win the mile.

AVOCADO, @VISTA

Vista won the 880 relay in a school record 1:31.1 and claimed the team title, 46-42, over rival Oceanside.  San Dieguito scored 35 points, followed by Orange Glen, 21, Carlsbad, 20, University, 19, Fallbrook, 11, and Poway, 5.

Bruce Burdick of Fallbrook cleared 13-4 ½ to win the pole vault and San Dieguito’s Pete Shmock won the shot put at 56-1 ½. Mike Turnipseed’s :09.9 100 was a league record and the Carlsbad runner returned with a winning, :22.5 220.

PALOMAR LEAGUE, @PALOMAR COLLEGE

Ramona’s Pat Hallman added more than seven inches to the high jump record when Hallman cleared 6-5, leaping past the 5-9 ¾ by two Carlsbad jumpers in 1964.

San Marcos ran away with the championship, scoring 106 ½ points.  Marian had 41, Ramona 34 ½, and Army-Navy 16.

5/19/67

SAN DIEGO SECTION TRIALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Momentum in the mile was building

Clairemont’s Thornton Bigley, recovered from a mid-season attack of strep throat, narrowly nipped Lincoln’s Lloyd Apgar as both runners were timed in 4:12.9.

El Cajon Valley’s Armando Valencia, running unopposed in another heat, clocked 4:14.9.

“Aw, man, I am tired,” gasped Bigley.  “Apgar’s so good.  I just hope it’s a good race next week.”

–Granite Hills’ George Brown pushed the shot 62-4 ½ to break the meet record of 60-9 by Helix’ Doug Nelson in 1964.

–Season bests:  Leonard Thompson, Orange Glen. :14.4 in 120-yard high hurdles.  Hoover 880 relay, 1:28.9.  Mike Turnipseed, Carlsbad, :21.8 220 on curve.

SAN DIEGO SECTION FINALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

5/25/67

Mike Robinson of Mount Miguel won the discus championship with a toss of 155-11 in Balboa Stadium.  Pat Foley of Monte Vista was second at 153-4.

Favored Brian Wadlington of Granite Hills fouled on three of his seven attempts and was fourth at 145-10.  Steve Burgesser of Monte Vista was third at 146-10, presumably giving the Monarchs seven points.

5/26/67

“The Battle of Balboa Stadium is in the books,” I wrote after the controversial finish to the mile.

Thornton Bigley, Lloyd Apgar, and Armando Valencia were virtually neck and neck as they turned for home and the final 100 yards to the finish line.

Bigley passed Valencia and at that point Valencia suddenly left the track and stumbled into the infield.  Valencia quickly got back on the track, but Bigley finished first in 4:10.8 and Apgar nosed out Valencia for second in 4:11.8. Valencia was timed in 4:12.1.

The question was whether Valencia was bumped or pushed off the track, or did he jump?

Valencia claimed he was pushed.

NO FOUL

“We had three guys there from three different angles,” said Vernon Finch, the meet’s chief turn judge.  “There was no contact.”

Two competitors from other schools said they saw Bigley’s arm hit Valencia in the side, causing the El Cajon Valley runner to stumble.

“He was running really close to the rail,” said Bigley.  “I was watching that.  I thought he jumped off.  I didn’t touch him.”

El Cajon Valley coach Joe Brooks did not file a protest.  Brooks was sitting on the other side of the stadium, where coaches gathered.

“I’ve never seen him lose his balance like that, but I was sitting clear over here and I didn’t see what happened,” said Brooks.

Even if Valencia hadn’t stumbled, it appeared Bigley would have won. Apgar’s second-place finish qualified for the state meet.

–Lincoln won the team championship for the fifth time in seven years with 30 points.  Monte Vista scored 19, El Cajon Valley 16 ½, Orange Glen 13 1/2, Carlsbad 11, and San Diego 10. Twenty-eight schools scored at least one point.

With a virtual junior varsity relay team of Nate King, Melvin Maxwell, Ezell Roberts, and Willie Wilson, replacing Clarence Warren and Lewis King, Lincoln won in 1:29.8, its six points separating the Hornets from Monte Vista.

The Monarchs believed their seven points in the discus gave them a final score of 26, which would have had them in front of the Hornets entering the final event.

But the discus points did not count, said San Diego Section commissioner Don Clarkson, who noted that the CIF board of managers never had written the discus into scoring rules. Most leagues in the CIF did not have discus competition; points in the finals all came from Grossmont League throwers.

Lincoln’s Otis Martin set a meet record of 9:01 in the two-mile and Martin’s pace brought along Monte Vista’s Don Olsen, who ran 9:03.6, almost 16 seconds better than his career best of 9:19.

George Brown of Granite Hills set a meet record for the second week in a row with a shot put of 63-11.  Bruce Ruff of El Cajon Valley was a double winner, :21.7 220 and :48.6 440.

Danny Ungricht of Monte Vista won a duel with Fallbrook’s Frank (Pancho) Enriquez in the 880 with a time of 1:53 to 1:53.8.

6/2/67

STATE TRIALS, @BALBOA STADIUM

Danny Ungricht of Monte Vista won his heat in the 880  in 1:54.2. Thornton Bigley (4:15.2) and Lloyd Apgar (4:15.6) won their mile heats.

–Qualifying third in their competition was Granite Hills shot putter George Brown (63-11½), Lincoln long jumper Lewis King (24-2 ½), and the Hornets’ relay team, with Doug Jones replacing Nate King in the starting blocks, 1:28.6.

–Pasadena Muir’s Jerry Proctor was in four trials and won the 120 high hurdles in :13.9, 180 lows in :18.9, long jump (25-2), and ran the third leg for a relay team that was first in 1:26.4.

STATE FINALS

6/3/67

For the first time in the seven years of the San Diego Section there was no individual champion.

Thornton Bigley (4:13) was second and Lloyd Apgar (4:13.2) third in the mile, beaten by the 4:11.4 of Westminster’s Mike Solomon.

George Brown was third in the shot put at 63-6 and Lincoln’s Lewis King fifth in the long jump at 23-6 ¼. Otis Martin was fifth for the second year in the two-mile with a time of 9:16.6.

San Diego’s Philip Singleton was sixth in the high jump (6-7). Danny Ungricht (1:54.3) was seventh in the 880. Monte Vista’s Don Olsen was seventh in the two-mile in 9:17.

Lincoln was eighth in the 880 relay but its time, 1:28.3, was 11^th all time in the County.

Pasadena Muir’s Jerry Proctor was the meet’s star, with Santa Rosa Montgomery’s Mel Gray a close second.

Proctor scored 19 of the Mustangs’ 24 points with wins of :13.7 in the 120 high hurdles, :18.7 in the 180 lows, 25-4 1/2 in the long jump and contributed a powerful third leg on Muir’s runner-up relay team, beaten in the stretch by Los Angeles Fremont’s 1:26.

Gray scored all 16 of his team’s points, tied the national record of :09.4 in the 100, set a national record of :20.7 for the 220 on a turn, and was second in the long jump at 24-1.  He ran down a handful of runners after starting in last place in the relay but the Vikings were seventh in 1:27.7.

Attendance for the finals was 8,268 and state CIF Commissioner Bill Russell enthused that “this was the best (meet) we’ve ever had from the standpoint of organization, performances, the works.”

6/4/67

His high school career behind him, Armando Valencia finished sixth in a field of 16 that included some international competitors at the Rose Bowl Invitational in Pasadena with a time of 4:11.7.

6/10/67

Armando Valencia won the special high school mile in the San Diego Invitational, beating, among other New Jersey’s Martin Liquori, a future international star, with a time of 4:08.8, which, as it turned out, was Valencia prep career best.

Bigley finished behind Valencia in 4:11.

6/15/67

Bigley had a non-winning 4:11 clocking in the Golden West Invitational in Sacramento.