November 2007
RICHARD RUST MITCHELL ( CLASS OF '63 ) SENT IN THESE RANDOM DETAILS ABOUT THE GREAT WINGATE HIGH SCHOOL TRACK TEAMS OF THE EARLY 1960s .
THE HOPE IS THAT OTHERS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO REFINING THE DETAILS AND FILLING IN THE BLANKS OF THE FOUNDATION ESTABLISHED BY CARL FORDE AND RICHARD.
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Wingate won the Indoor Track H.S. Nationals ( old Madison Square Garden), in '61. Calvin, Dennis, Paul Anthony, Joe Matthews and Willie White. Paul won the 60 yard. dash, in a photo finish.
The others were on the relay........Dennis, Paul, Joe and Calvin won the 1961 National H.S. Championship Mile Relay in Philadelphia at the annual University of Pennsylvania competition.
MEETS AT THE ARMORY -- Paul Anthony ran the 220 yd. dash, and won. He came off the turn in second place, pulled up next to first place Gary Carter from Lane, looked him in the face, said "goodbye" and pulled away from him and crossed the finish line to win it.
Wingate beat the then great Boy's High in a track dual meet. Roger Brown also high jumped for Wingate.
In 1962, Dennis Edghill. ran in the national record breaking 440 yard dash final with Bob Brown, from Hamilton, and Nick Spiridakis from... ( Bryant ).
Brown won in 49.9 seconds for a new national high school record. This was run on a flat boarded floor/track. They now use a banked track at the Armory.
Leroy Evans won the 220 yd. dash at the outdoor City Champs in 1962.
Dennis, Carl and Joe must have many more stories of runners like Cato, "Jogger", Milton Harrison, Joe Franklin, Stuart Tucker and the "manager" known as T-Fat ( Alvin Thompson ).
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FROM A WINGATE TRACK TEAM MEMBER--->
William Conway and I were in the same 8th grade class at PS 167. It was funny that he did not really come into his own as a runner until his senior year in High School.
He was a fine sprinter and quarter miler as well. I can recall seeing him at the CIAA Championships in Petersburg, VA (Virginia State).
Half of Wingate's Track Team, class of 1962, attended Fayetteville College.
Conway was an outstanding runner and leaves me with many great thoughts of him as a person and team member.
I can recall going to track meets when I was in the 6th grade at PS 167.
Wingate had quality runners, who were proud to make it into the finals in the relays at various meets.
Some of the notables were :
Eddie Jones-- Louie Lipman - William Beaty (the older brother of Charles Beaty the president of the Albany Social Club) -- Richard Brown - Eddie Atwell - Barry Stanley
During this period to break your novice was the goal of everyone on the team.
This goes back to 1956-57 school year and was before Don Altman graduated from college.
The first Wingate coach left and went to Erasmus and the second coach went to the newest school to open in brooklyn, Sheepshead Bay.
I always felt they made a recruiting mistake by not going after the students coming from the Fulton Street area, kids from PS 3 - JHS 258 - JHS 35
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I recall vividly the Wingate track and cross country teams from 1957 to 1960. I was a member of the team although I wasn't much of a runner.
The names of the guys I remember well are Eddie Jones, Lonnie Sharpe, Mervyn Skeete, Gettys Cato, Stewie Tucker, Paul Anthony, Calvin Evans, Roger Brown, Ira Osder, Larry Ginsberg, Charlie Bailey, Alvin T. Fats, Jackie Lipson, Louis Lipman, Norm Ostrow, Nicky Stith, Joe Franklin as well as others whom I can't recall at this moment.
To see Paul Anthony run a sprint was an experience I will never forget. His natural speed and the fluidity of his running was beyond thrilling and to see him run transported all his teammates and competitors.
I remember a 100 yard dash against Franklin Lane where two of the Lane runners attempted to block Paul from taking the lead. He simply ran around the two of them and won the race. It was unbelievable to witness in a short sprint.
He did eventually run in the Olympic trials on Randall's Island but didn't win.
Those days of track and field in Brooklyn saw many great runners from other school though the powerhouse schools were Boy's high, Bishop Loughlin, and in particles Plainfield High from New Jersey with their astonishing athlete Herman Johnson.
Those days were more years ago than I like to count bu they live on not only iny memory but in some of the old track programs from the time which I have saved these many years.
Frank Luongo
Wingate '60
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