Have we passed the Golden Age of Arkansas high school track and field?

I was a great track and field enthusiast when I was in school. I followed the sport closely at all levels. Was track (relatively speaking) better quality in those days than now? It seems like track has been on the decline in recent years, but is there any evidence to support that? The best numbers I have are from the website ArkansasTrackStats.com through 2006. (They put in a conversion factor from yards to meters.) Keep in mind that facilities have improved over time, and today’s athletes have the benefit of years of accumulated experience in training methods and nutrition.


I ran track from 1967 through 1971 (one year off). Tacking five more years onto that to make a theoretical “my decade,” let’s use 1965 to 1974. How do my contemporaries stack up? Very well in some events; less well in others. I am looking only at events that were commonly run in Arkansas high school in my time, minus pole vaulting, where improvements in equipment make an inordinate difference.

In the 100 meter dash, in the Top Ten (ties included), only Henry Basey of Horace Mann is still there at 8th from 1968.

In the 200 meters, only Carl Lowe of NLR is there at 5th from 1969. (Lowe and Basey had a memorable series of battles in 1968.)

In the 400 meters, the inimitable Robert Owens from FS Northside is 2nd from 1970, and my decade rules this race. Pine Bluff’s Mike Carter is 5th in 1972, Rivercrest’s James Hawkins and Arkadelphia’s Luther Guinn are tied for 7th in 1971 and 1972, respectively; and Fordyce’s Otis Parham is 11th from 1974. My decade had some great quartermilers.

In the 800 meters, there are two in the Top Ten: John Feltner of Russellville is 2nd from 1970 and Wayne Roper from Stamps is 8th in 1965. I saw Feltner run in person, and he was unbelievably good: probably the finest middle distance runner the state has produced.

In the 1600 meters (mile), my decade has three of the Top Ten: FS Southside’s Brent Jones in 7th in 1971, Crossett’s Bob Leonarduzzi in 1967 and Bay’s Ron Davis in 1972.

In the 110 meter hurdles, only the amazing Phillip Herndon is there, in a tie for 10th from 1968.

In the 4X100 relay, only the 1971 Pine Bluff team is three in 10th place.

In the 4X200 relay, the 1972 LR Hall team is in 4th and the 1968 LR Central team is in 5th. (Central was VERY strong in 1968.)

In the 4X400 relay, the 1968 Central team is 4th and the 1969 FS Northside team is 5th (with Owens included). I remember vividly reading the Arkansas Gazette’s description of Central’s win in the state meet. They were among the top mile relay teams in the nation that year.

My decade also ruled the shot put, with the top three all-time performances: Russellville’s Paul White in 1974, Crossett’s Karl Salb in 1967 and Dollarway’s T. J. Humphreys in 1973. With all the emphasis on weight training in recent years, that domination from a couple of generations ago is amazing.

The discus has two entries, with Salb in 6th and Magnolia’s Paul McMahen in 10th.

The long jump had only a single entry from my era with William Tate of West Memphis in 5th. (I might note here the single greatest performance in Arkansas track and field history: Arkadelphia’s Win Whipple jumped 24’0” in 1933, which stood as the best performance in state history for 41 years. Even today, after 81 years, it is the 9th best mark in state history.)

The high jump? My decade had zero Top Ten marks.

So, the conclusion: I did run in one of the strongest periods of Arkansas high school track and field, but it was not uniform over every event. Very likely we will never see the quality we had then in the 400 meters or the weight events.