Coach Clyde Littlefield makes track history
1942-1 score AT NATIONALS Coach Littlefield
WWII is in full swing, and college track and field manpower are minimal. Longhorn track borrowed Longhorn football players Malcolm Kutner, Max Minor, and Jackie Field for speed. Frank Covert from Covert auto complex in Austin was a hurdler on the team, and his care was quite popular with the athletes. Mac Umstattd says he was in Frank’s car on a track road trip when they reached 118 miles per hour to outrun a police car.
Wiley Cheatham 5th nationally in the Javelin
Mac Umstattd gives Texas 1st place in the sprint relay. Kay Abernathy presents the award
1943-2 SCORES AT NATIONALS Coach Littlefield
First time in 3 years the Horns do not win the SWC championship.
Dougla Jaques 3rd in High Hurdles
Dean Smith is a scholastic victim.
Jerry Thompson wins the national title in the two mile run and is named All American.
Ellsworth was the Southwest Conference Champion in the 220-yard dash with a time of 21.2 seconds and as part of the 440-yard relay team. The following year, he was the Southwest Conference Champion in the 100-yard dash with a time of 9.8 seconds and led the Longhorns to the overall Conference Championship by being the "high point man" at the Conference Championship track meet.
1944- Littlefield SWC Champs
At the 1944 Texas Relays, Ellsworth wins the 100-yard dash again with a time of 9.8 seconds and was named the event's Outstanding Athlete.
Bob Umstattd wins the mile and a 880 at the SWC meet, Crow in the low hurdles. Homer Smith in the discus, Bob Porter in the broad jump, and Roland Dielson in the pole vault.
1945-3 SCORES AT NATIONALS Coach Littlefield SWC Champs
Team returns 7 lettermen . Horns dominate the relays, but that is because there is very little competition.
Team dominates the SWC with 7 first place and 7 second place finishes. In the SWC meet hurdler Franklin Crow wins both the low and high hurdles. Lawler wins the Kansas relays 100.
Texas places in 15 of 16 events to win the SWC. Raborn wins the shot for the Horns. It is the first win in the shot put for the Longhorns in the SWC in 18 years.
Dean Smith returns from scholastic probation.
Lawler and John Robertson are named All Americans.
Forrest Wilson is 8th in the high hurdles
1946 3 SCORES AT NATIONALS Coach Littlefield
Team was made up of Naval trainees and lettermen Ralph Ellsworth and John Burrus. 10 of the 19 who lettered this year moved on to take assignments in the war effort.
Ellsworth won an NCAA Championship at Navy and conference championships in several sprint events at Texas. He also played baseball at Navy.
In 1943, he was the Southwest Conference Champion in the 220-yard dash with a time of 21.2 seconds and as part of the 440-yard relay team. The following year, he was the Southwest Conference Champion in the 100-yard dash with a time of 9.8 seconds and led the Longhorns to the overall Conference Championship by being the "high point man" at the Conference Championship track meet. At the 1944 Texas Relays, he won the 100-yard dash again with a time of 9.8 seconds and was named the event's Outstanding Athlete.
In 1945, he was at the Naval Academy where he competed on the team that won Navy's only Track and Field National Championship. At the 1945 Heps Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships he was part of the winning 4x100 team.
Prior to the 1946 track season he returned to the Southwest Conference and competed with the Longhorns as they again won the Southwest Conference Championship.
20th time to win the SWC championship. Team strength won the meet not first place finishes.
John Robertson is the 1946 Outdoor National Champion in the long jump. with a jump of 24 feet 10.5 inches
Allen Lawler is 4th in the 100 and 5th in the 220 at the national meet
1947- 2 SCORES AT NATIONALS Coach Littlefield
Aggies and Horns dominate the SWC. One of the Horns greatest teams succumbs to the Aggies by 4 points. The Aggies were strong in field events and the Horns were strong in running events. Jerry Thompson won three first places for the Horns.
Texas enjoys its greatest Kansas meet ever,
1948 6 SCORES AT NATIONALS Coach Littlefield- Team is 3rd in the nation.
Great relay teams but lost the SWC to A & M. Charley Parker wins the 220 .
John Robertson was hurt for the season and Charlie Parker was sidelined until the SWC meet.
3rd year in a row Horns lose the SWC championship.
In the national Meet:
Charley Parker 2nd in the 200, and 6th in the 100.
John Robertson 3rd in triple jump 4th in long jump
Frank Guess 3rd in the javelin at the national meet.
Parker, Thompson and Guess make the All American team. Jerry Thompson says about Allen Lawler “ I remember so well Lawler running terrific 3rd legs on the relay teams which “ always brought “ a roar from the crowd.”
At the Texas relays the Horns won 4 relays and two individual events.
1949 finish 2nd to A & M
Bob Walters, John Robertson, Perry Samuels and Charley Parker are All Americans. Cleburne Price from SMU wins the broad jump. He will Coach the Longhorns 22 years later. Robertson is undefeated in the broad jump through the Texas relays.
George Petrovich an all conference tackle wins the shot put.
Ex-UT and master pole vaulter Keith Tompkins while attending UT from 1947 to 1950, broke records and helped the team win The Southwest Conference in 1950. He had a personal record of 13’ on bamboo poles. Joe Runnels's is the other track star.
Jerry Thompson
1948 Jerry Thompson in his last year sets a Longhorn record in the 2 miles @ 9:19.9 and places first in the 500 meters. He won the SWC meet twice during his Longhorn career, running the 880, mile, and a two-mile run. Jerry is in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. He is a Longhorn HOH inductee and a 3 time All American. Jerry was also a three-time national champion in the distance races and a U.S. Olympic team member. In 1943 he was the national champion in the two-mile, and in 1948 he won the 5000 meters.
In 1947 he was named the outstanding athlete at the Texas and Drake relays. Jerry says that his greatest memory running track occurred when he was named outstanding athlete at the Texas relays. He took great pride in receiving this recognition in front of all his friends and fans in Austin, Tx.
Charley Parker said, “there is no telling what Jerry could have done, time-wise, if he had ever concentrated on one event rather than spread himself around for the benefit of the team.“ Parker says that Jerry was the “ greatest competitor I ever knew.” Coach Littlefield says Jerry “ was born with about 90 percent more endurance than most other boys.”
As history shows, Jerry’s fastest times in the 1940’s - 1:54.2 in the 880, 4:09.7 in the mile, and 9:17.1 in the two-mile run are still respectable times in 2019.
As a special tribute to Jerry Thompsons’ commitment to making Longhorn track a national brand, the Mile run at the Texas relays is now called the “Jerry Thompson mile.”
1950 2 scores at NATIONALS Coach Littlefield
Longhorns start the season placing 2nd at the Border Olympics. Placed first at the Texas Relays and ended the season winning the SWC championship.
Texas sets a new 400 relay world record at a meet in California.
Horns win the SWC with 5 first places and scored in all the events except the distances. It was the first time in 19 plus years the Horns failed to place in the distance events.
Charlie Parker
Many sportswriters define the era of track from 1942 thru 1950 as the “Parker Era.” His high school years were highlighted by winning an event that had only occurred one other time in the history of AAU. Charley Parker competing in the 19-year-old junior bracket at Randall's Island against the USA's best runners, wins the 200 meters in the senior bracket.
As a Longhorn, Parker won the SWC 220 four times, with times ranging from 20.9 to 21.3. With Parker finishing the 4 x 100 relay, the Horns won the SWC event from 1947- 1950.
In the National meet:
Charley Parker is the 1950 Outdoor National Champion in the 220 and is inducted into the HOH in 1975.
As Charley reflects on his glory years as a Longhorn, he says his biggest weakness was his lousy start. He said, “ I had to spend the first half of the race catching up. I got to where I would gauge myself by Perry (a teammate). If I was within a yard and one-half of him at the 50 mark, I felt I was in pretty good shape.”
1951-1 SCORE AT NATIONALS Coach Littlefield
The team took 2nd at the SWC championship, but this year was not good for the Longhorns.
Charley Thomas is an outstanding performer at the Texas relays, running a 20.3 just one-tenth off the world record.
Ray Marek is 8th in the Javelin at Nationals.
Meeks (broad jump) is the only Longhorn to finish first at the Texas, Kansas, and Drake relays. Meeks is an All American.
The performance level for the Longhorns hits a 30 year low.
1952-1 SCORE AT NATIONALS Coach Littlefield
Dean Smith is 4th in the 100 meters.
Dean won many honors in major competition throughout the United States in such meets as Drake Relays, Kansas Relays, Texas relays, was Sugar Bowl Relays 100 yard champion for 3yrs ‘51,’52, & ‘53, California Relays, Coliseum Relays, Compton Relays, West Texas Relays, National AAU Relays, and the leadoff man on all University of Texas World Record Relay teams (ran 9.2 – 9.3 – 1954 – 1955).
AAU National Champion – 100 meters
The team was 2nd in the SWC meet.
1953-1 SCORE AT NATIONALS Coach Littlefield
There were 9 first-place finishes by the Longhorns at the SWC meet, but Aggie’s field strength topped the Horns for the 3rd year in a row.
Bobby Whilden (Road Runner) is a 1998 Hall of Honor inductee. He participated on the 1953- 440 and 880 world record Longhorn relay teams. In the 1956 trials for the Olympics, he made the finals but pulled his hamstring before the event.
Charlie Thomas is 4th in the 220.
1954- 3 SCORES AT NATIONALS Coach Littlefield
Texas team set 2 new Texas relay records at the meet and won the meet. After three years, the Longhorns again are on top as the SWC champion. U.T. won the first 4 positions in the 100 and 220. The team set the world’s record in the 440 relay. Dean Smith, Jerry Prewit, Alvin Frieden, and Charley Thomas set the record.
This team broke 6 SWC records.
Blue font denotes results at the National meet.
REMEMBERING CHARLIE THOMAS
11 months ago in Commentary by jmarkmustangtexascom Edited version for TLSN a 501 (c) (3) under fair use standards
As a one-of-a-kind runner and coach, Charlie Thomas made his mark in Texas track and field at the high school, college and Olympic levels
While in high school, Thomas developed into a very special sprinter. Between 1948 and 1950, he won five gold medals in the sprints at the State UIL track and field meet in Austin. After high school, he entered the University of Texas, where he displayed his talent by never losing a race in the 220-yard dash. In 1952, he ran the anchor leg on the world record-setting 440-yard relay team.
In 1954, Thomas was the top-ranked 220-yard runner in the world. He made it to the Olympic trials in 1952, but just barely missed making the Olympic team by an inch or two.
Charlie Thomas made his mark in track and field as a runner and as a coach. Charlie was inducted into the University of Texas Hall of Honor in 1981, the Meet of Champions Hall of Fame in 1985, and The Border Olympics Hall of Fame in 1990, and The Texas A&M Hall of Fame in 1996. He passed away on January 26, 2015, at the age of 83.
Photos courtesy of NCAA COLLEGE FOOTBALL ARCHIVES
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1955-5 SCOREs AT NATIONALS Coach Littlefield- SWC Champs
Team Captain is Tom Rogers whose heroism in the SWC meet won the championship for the Horn.s
Texas finishes 2nd at the Texas Relays. Dean Smith is high point man at the SWC championship and the Horns won 7 events. Texas breaks the 440 relay record in Modesto CA. held by USC for 18 years .
Dick Foerster 3rd in the 880
Dean Smith 5th in the 100
Bobby Whilden 5th in the 220
Jerry Prewit 6th in the 100
Tom Rogers 8th in the mile
1956-2 SCOREs AT NATIONALS Coach Littlefield SWC champions
Highest National Cross Country Finish (3rd) In Texas History.
Bobby Whilden 3rd in the 200 and 7th in the 100 meters. Inducted into the HOH in 1998. He was also the outstanding performer at the Southwest Recreation Meet and the Texas Relays.
Jon Totz 8th in the 400
Walter McNew was 9th in the 5000 meters.
Longhorns shatter the world record in the 440 relays with a time of 40.1 with Bobby Whilden, Jerry Prewit, George Schneider, and Frank Dougherty. At the Texas Relays, the Horns won two events- the 440 and mile relays. Bobby Whilden sets a new SWC record of 9.2 in the 100. Whilden wins the SWC scoring honors. The Longhorns win 6 of 10 track meets.
Eddie southern is the youngest member of the 1956 Olympic team and competes in the 400 hurdles and wins the silver medal.
1957-9 SCORES AT NATIONALS Coach Littlefield SWC champions and 3rd at the NCAA championships.
First-year Black athletes were invited to the Texas Relays. Texas wins the Cross Country National Championship, sets two world records, and sets relay record times in 5 major track invitationals.
Wilson HOH, Southern HOH , Gainey HOH, Whilden, - World record holders in the 440 and 880 relays.
Blue font denotes results at the national meet.
At the Texas Relays, the Horns 880 relay sets a world record of 1:22.7. Eddie Southern as a junior won the SWC in the 100 and 220. In his final year, he won the national title in the 440 and was part of the NCAA winning mile relay team in a record time. Eddie Southern left Texas with 10 school records.
Pat McGuire 4th in the long jump
Alvis Ashley 5th in the high jump
Ronnie White 7th in the long jump
Bobby Wilden 7th in the 200 meter
Bob Billings 8th in the high jump
Alex Palmros 8th in the discus
1958-3 SCORES AT NATIONALS Coach Littlefield SWC Champs
During the season Eddie Southern breaks the Olympic record in the 440. The Longhorn relay teams are a familiar sight on the winners stand. At the SWC meet the team wins 9 events. The Texas relay record in the 440 and mile are broken. Joe Villarreal sets a Texas relay record in the mile, and Bruce Parker sets the record in the Javelin. It was the most points ever scored by the Horns at the Texas Relays. At Kansas, the Longhorns placed in 11 of 26 events. Bruce Parker set the national record in the javelin.
Eddie Southern 2nd in the 440
Bruce Parker 5th the javelin
Villarreal is 7th in the two-mile run
Parker and Southern make the All American team.
Topping Charts in 1958
1959 AT NATIONALS (THE YEAR OF WATCHES) COACH LITTLEFIELD SWC CHAMPIONS FOR THE 6TH TIME IN A ROW
Eddie Southern gives the rest of the States a little “Southern Hospitality” .
Longhorns win 8 of 10 track meets. This was the senior year for Eddie Southern, Wally Wilson, Andre Bouchard, Hollis Gainey, Fallon Gordon, Bill Hinkle, Alex Palmros, Bruce Parker, Kenneth Savage, Joe Villarreal, and Johnny Warren. Each senior made this Longhorn track team one of the best in the history of UT sports.
4 Horns win a total of 10 watches at the Drake Relays.
UT track fame continues to break performance records
EDDIE SOUTHERN
At Nationals Eddie Southern 1st in the 440;
World Record holders 1959 - top to bottom Ralph Alspaugh, Hollis Gainey, Eddie Southern, and Wally Wilson 39.6
Joe Villarreal wins the Jerry Thompson mile at the Texas relays, In 1957 he sets a conference record in the 1-mile run and the 880.
Bruce Parker 4th in Javelin
1960- 2 SCORES AT NATIONALS COACH LITTLEFIELD
43 schools from across the nation and two from Mexico participated in the Texas relays.
Rex Wilson 3rd in 400 hurdles
Ray Cunningham 5th in the 110 hurdles
Lost the SWC for the first time in 6 years to Baylor.
1961- 1 SCORE AT NATIONALS COACH LITTLEFIELD SWC CHAMPS
Ralph Alspaugh dominated in the sprints. Jim Smith in the Javelin, Ray Cunningham hurdles, and Charlie Giesey - in the javelin, high jump, and discus led the team.
The team had an up and down year due to injuries but still won the SWC Championship. Cunningham set two new marks in Austin, and Jim Allison set an Austin record in the shot put. Longhorns won no events at the Texas relays.
Ray Cunningham returned from leg injuries when the SWC met and won two events in the hurdles. Ralph Alspaugh won the 220 and 100.
POTENTIALLY THE BEST SPRINTER AT TEXAS IS J. FRANK DAUGHERTY, BUT INJURIES HURT HIS CAREER.
Horns win SWC behind an injury free J. Frank Daugherty . Whilden said “ potentially the greatest” Horn track star was Daugherty, but because of leg injuries he never reached his potential. Whilden said “I believe he could have been as great as Bobby Morrow or Dave Sime and certainly was their equal when he hurt his leg in his freshman year. Coach Patterson said the Daugherty had a “killer instinct- a lot of sprinter are content to beat you. If they get ahead, they only run as fast as they’re pushed. Not Daugherty. He wanted to beat you bad….every time.” His teammate Whilden knew this about him. Once when Daugherty beat Whilden, Daugherty said ““I’m going to kick cinders in Whilden’s face in the conference meet.” “He (Whilden) saw nothing but my rear in our freshman year, and he’ll still be seeing it again in the SWC meet.”
It appears that during this era the function of a "rabbit" is either not understood or frowned on and Drew "the rabbit" gets lambasted by the press. The Press does not give Drew Dunlap a rabbit's foot Sports Illustrated comments "RABBITS SHOULD RUN ALL THE WAY" which results in Drew receiving criticism from ardent fans. . Coach Littlefield ask Drew Dunlap to be the pace setter ("rabbit") for Herb Elliott's attempt at the record in the mile.
Eddie Southern 1st in the 440
Bruce Parker 4th in Javelin
440 relay team breaks the world record with a 39.6.
1960- 2 Scores at Nationals Coach Littlefield
43 schools from across the nation and two from Mexico participated in the Texas relays.
Ray Cunningham
Coach Littlefield told a reporter once that “if Ray Cunningham would ever work at it, he could be as good as Jack Davis, the one-time world record holder for the 120 high hurdles,” but Ray was a free spirit, and he loved more than participating in sports.
Ray was the Bobby Layne of the Texas Track team. Not a good student, a smoker, and short on discipline, Ray set conference records in the 120 yard high hurdles and the 220 yard low hurdles. He scored a triple crown victory in his senior year by winning the hurdles at the Texas, Kansas, and Drake relays. He gave up smoking once but lost in a meet to a competitor he usually beat. He asked a friend to take him to a convenience store to grab a smoke so he could start winning again.
Cunningham had the only Longhorn victory at the Texas Relays, and the Horns finished second to ACC.
Ray Cunningham and Ralph Alspaugh. Both won in their specialty at the Texas Relays
First time since 1953 the Horns failed to win a single event at the Kansas Relays. The Horns finish second to Baylor at the SWC championship but Cunningham set a record time in the high hurdles.
In the national meet Rex Wilson is 3rd in 400 hurdles
Ray Cunningham 5th in the 110 hurdles
Lost the SWC for the first time in 6 years to Baylor.
1961- 1 Score at Nationals Coach Littlefield SWC Champs for the 25th time
Team had a up and down year due to injuries but won the SWC Championship. Cunningham set two new marks in Austin and Jim Allison set a Austin record n the shot put. Longhorns won no events at the Texas relays.
Ray Cunningham returned from leg injuries in time for the SWC meet and won two events in the hurdles. Ralph Alspaugh won the 220 and 100.
Horns won no events at the Texas Relays.
Clyde Littlefield says of this SWC championship this year “It was one of the greatest victories for a team and coach in my 41 years at the university.”
