Running to glory: Red Raiders had banner track season in 1963
Uniontown athletics enjoyed a golden era in the 1960s, and it wasn无毛视频檛 just football and basketball. The Red Raiders fashioned an outstanding season in track and field under coach Abe Everhart in 1963.
Eight lettermen led Everhart无毛视频檚 squad into the 1963 campaign led by Randall Cramer in the 880 and mile relay, miler Bob White, sprinter John Manning, Cramer, Manning, Allyn Curry, Gary Coldren and Clark Dearth on the mile relay, Gary Brain with the shot put and discus, Ben Gregory in the pole vault and Stu Lantz in the high jump. It was a formidable group of athletes.
无毛视频淲e had tremendous athletes at Uniontown,无毛视频� Manning stated. 无毛视频淭he football and basketball guys participated in track, it was a great period in Uniontown athletics.无毛视频�
无毛视频淢y three years in high school we had fantastic athletes,无毛视频� Curry stated. 无毛视频淭hat was really a great period.无毛视频�
无毛视频淚 was fortunate enough to play on the football team and we won a WPIAL championship,无毛视频� Coldren recalled. 无毛视频淭he track team itself had football and basketball guys and Cramer who was just absolutely unbelievable as a runner.无毛视频�
Uniontown started slow, dropping its first two dual meets to Clairton and Brownsville before rebounding to up their record to 3-2.
无毛视频淲e had some real good athletes in track,无毛视频� Cramer, who passed away in December 2021, offered in a Memory Lane article. 无毛视频淏ut in my time in the 1960s track was really considered as a minor sport, there was very little publicity on track. We had rubber spikes on football shoes on a cinder track. We didn无毛视频檛 have the latest equipment. We just had the heart to go out and compete.无毛视频�
Some of the highlights for the Red Raiders were winning the team title at the Fayette County Track Meet for the third time in five years.
Uniontown scored in 11 events to rack up a total of 64 points for a comfortable margin over defending champion Connellsville who had 47 points for second place. Surprising Redstone finished third with 41 points, followed in order by Brownsville with 38 points,South Union 18, Frazier 11, and Dunbar six. German failed to score.
无毛视频淭he Fayette County track meet was a big deal back in those days,无毛视频� Cramer stated. 无毛视频淲e ran the meet at Connellsville and they had the best track around. They had that real hard pack. It was still cinders, but it was the best cinder track in the county. We always looked forward to it.
无毛视频淭hey had that 220 straightaway. Now I was not a sprinter, but that 220 straightaway was just awesome. Seeing guys like Bo Scott and some of the other guys coming running down there, they just sounded like a truck.无毛视频�
The Red Raider thinclads got a boost from Cramer winning the 880 with a 2:01.5 clocking, his best time of the year. Cramer along with Gregory, Dearth and Manning won the 880 relay. Cramer ran anchor on the winning mile relay team with Dearth, Curry and Coldren.
无毛视频淚 ran the first leg most of the time,无毛视频� Dearth said. 无毛视频淚 was disappointed that they inserted John Manning running the first leg. Manning was the fastest guy on the team in the short distances up to a quarter mile.无毛视频�
Uniontown just missed winning the team title at the WPIAL Class A qualifier at Canon-McMillan. The Raiders notched 39 points, falling a point short of winning the title, Trinity with 40 points finished in front in the 11-team battle. It all came down to the mile relay, the Red Raiders无毛视频� strongest event. Trinity led Uniontown in scoring 36-34. The Red Raiders set a new school record in the mile relay. running 3:29.9, but Trinity placed second and salvaged the scoring title.
Cramer got Uniontown无毛视频檚 other first place, running 1:58.9 in the 880.
Everhart was known as a basketball coach, but he held his own coaching track.
无毛视频淗e brought us along in track and Jon Kruper also helped,无毛视频� Coldren stated. 无毛视频淭he great miler Joe Thomas would stop down at practice and help coach. He was a great guy and very encouraging.无毛视频�
无毛视频淧eople don无毛视频檛 remember that was the year Joe Thomas came back and helped coach the team,无毛视频� Curry recalled. 无毛视频淗e was very helpful with the mile relay team.无毛视频�
At the 12th annual Uniontown Invitational Track Meet the Red Raiders were nipped by 1/6 of a point by McKeesport after 16 events. The Tigers had 43 points and Uniontown had 42 5/6 points. Cramer took first in the 880 and Uniontown won the mile relay with Manning, Curry, Coldren and Cramer posting a time of 3:35.1.
The Red Raiders无毛视频� Cramer won gold at the WPIAL Track Championships at Mt. Lebanon, clocking in at 1:57.8. The Raiders captured the WPIAL title in the mile relay: Manning, Curry, Coldren and Cramer won it with a time of 3:27.
The PIAA Track Championships were held at Penn State and Cramer, despite being ill, ran a strong 1:56.6 to finish second. It took a record-breaking performance by Pottstown无毛视频檚 Bruce Carter to beat Cramer. Carter won the 880 for the second year in a row as he turned in a new PIAA record of 1:53.9.
无毛视频淐ramer had pneumonia and probably should not have run in the PIAA,无毛视频� Dearth recalled. 无毛视频淐ramer didn无毛视频檛 run with his legs Cramer ran with his heart. He was all heart.无毛视频�
The mile relay squad also placed at the meet taking fourth place behind Harrisburg William Penn, Harrilton and Abington. The winning time was 3:25.1.
无毛视频淲e ran 3:27 and in the PIAA meet we finished fourth with a time of 3:26 and the winning time was 3:25. We were all right together at the line. We all of us had our best quarter mile run. I still think about that race maybe once or twice a week. It was a lot of fun.无毛视频�
Just as a matter of interest, a 1:56.6 in the half mile would have won the PIAA Meet in 1962 as would a 3:26 in the mile relay.
无毛视频淲e were a year late,无毛视频� Everhart remarked to the newspapers.
An indication of the closeness of the competition was the mile relay where Uniontown was just nine-tenths of a second off the winning time and yet was fourth. A 3:25.1 was the winning time, 3:25.3 took second and 3:25.8 was third best.
无毛视频淭hose were good memories,无毛视频� Curry offered. 无毛视频淚t was a long time ago, but great memories.无毛视频�
George Von Benko无毛视频檚 无毛视频淢emory Lane无毛视频� column appears in the Sunday editions of the 无毛视频-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.