California Community College Athletes

Track & Field News Athlete of Year Awards

USA High School AOY (Athlete of Year) Awards:

1949-George Brown, Compton HS / Compton College

1955-Charles Dumas, Centennial HS / Compton College

(picture on T&F News inaugural prep annual cover)

1956-Jerry White, Corcoran HS / Mt. SAC

1975-Houston McTear, Baker,Fla. / Santa Monica CC/ Cerritos

USA T&F News AOY Awards:

1959-Ray Norton, Oakland JC/ San Jose State

1977-Pam Schmidt, LBCC / Long Beach State

Compton College’s T&F Legacy

· 8 Olympians

· High School Olympian

· 1st 190 ft. discus thrower

· 1^st 7-0 high jump

· 1^st prep LJ’er over 25-0

Ken Carpenter… Discus

Porterville HS / Compton CPC / USC

Two-time NCAA Champ, ’36 Olympic gold

Cornelius Johnson… High jump

Los Angeles HS (’32 USA Olympian) / Compton CC

1936 Olympic champion, 8-USA titles, *world, USA records

George Brown… Long Jump

LA Jordan HS / Compton JC / UCLA / U.S. Army / LA State

’50 National JC title, two NCAA titles; 26-3¼ PR

Twelve years in the spotlight; first prep to break 25-0 barrier

Sim Iness… Discus

Tulare HS / Compton CC / USC

*World record,’52 Olympic Champion, two NCAA titles

First thrower to break the 190 barrier

Charles Dumas… High jumper

Centennial HS, Compton, Ca. / Compton College / USC

First 7-ft. jumper, ’56 Olympic Champion; five USA titles

Jerome Walters… 1500-meters

Compton CC / Pepperdine / U.S. Army

1956 Olympics-1500

Anchored USA DM Relay record

On *world record USA 2-mile relay

Dickie Howard…400-IH

Compton CC/ New Mexico

1960 Rome Olympics-IH Bronze medalist

 Pablo McNeil…Sprints, 400 relay

Jamaica / Compton College / Pepperdine

’64, ’68 Olympian;’65-*National JC 220 record

Wellesley Clayton…Long Jump

Jamaica / Compton JC / USC

’62 SoCal, State titles; ’64 USA Nationals, ’65 PAC-8 titles

1964, 1968 Jamaican Olympian; 26-0½ PR

Compton JC-1962: Mt. SAC Relays, JC-1^st 23-7½; So Cal Champion 24-4;

State -1^st 23-10¾; Coliseum Relays-3^rd 24-10¾; Compton Inv. 4^th 24-8;

Season PR: 25-2½*school record 

1964 Tokyo Olympics: Qualifying-19^th 23-10¾

USC-1964: Oregon dual-1^st 24-4½; NCAA-4^th 25-0¾; USTFF Nationals-1^st 25-0¾

1965: PAC-8 title 25-4¼ *meet record until 1970; NCAA-4^th 24-7;  Season PR 26-0½

1966-LA Striders: 25-8¼ PR

1968 Mexico Olympics: Qualifying-23^rd 24-10

AAU Nationals: 1962-6^th 24-7½; 1966-6^th 24-7¾

a little history, a little humor

Trojan left at the water fountain…  At the Fresno relays (May 17, 1947) Ron Frazier, the leadoff man in the 880-yard relay for USC, stepped off the track to get a drink of water and the race started without him and the USC relay team. -USC archives   

    Improbable track meet sites…California state high school championships in the 1920s were held at a variety of strange, improbable sites: YMCA field in LA; fairgrounds in Bakersfield, Sacramento, and Stockton; San Benito HS in Hollister, California. One can only imagine the quality of the facilities. (First state high school meet-1915 at Fresno HS) 

Ha The intimidating Bob Hayes… At the South Carolina Relays while other sprinters were getting down in their blocks, Hayes (1964 Olympic 100-meter champion, NFL Hall of Fame-Dallas Cowboys) stood up, put his hands out like he was riding a motorcycle and turned the grips-all the while he was making a whirring noise, like he was revving up an engine. When the starter said, “Set,” Hayes got into the blocks, still making that noise, not loud enough for the officials to disqualify him, but just loud enough to crack the concentration of the other sprinters in the race. When the gun went off, Hayes unloaded this screeching noise, “EEAHA!” coming out of the blocks. He beat everybody by three yards.

–“My Race Be Won” by Vincent Mathews, Charterhouse, 1974