By Chip Rowe
As runners, jumpers and throwers in the Highlands prepare for the outdoor track season, which begins April 1, we thought we’d bring together the local, Section 1 and state records for a number of events.
Many Beacon and Haldane high school marks are broken every season or every few seasons by small margins. But some have endured — three boys’ records at Beacon date to 2009 and two girls’ marks to 2010. At Haldane, Brenna O’Connor’s impressive throws from 1986 in the shotput and discus seem safe for a while more, but girls’ team members broke eight other records last season. By contrast, the boys have seven records that have stood for at least four decades. Could this be the year?
The Haldane records listed for boys’ 200 meters, 400 meters and 800 meters date from 1960 and earlier. Back then, the distances raced were 220, 440 and 880 yards, respectively. Taking the 440 (quarter mile) as an example, 440 yards is equivalent to 402.3 meters, an increase of more than 6 feet.
Based on an article on trackandfieldnews.com, the equivalent 400m time for the 440 yards at 51.14 sec. would have been about 0.3 seconds faster, or 50.84 seconds. Further, the chart reminds us that back then, outdoor races were run on cinder tracks, and not on modern synthetic surfaces. This could have added a second or more to the 440 time. While these details may be of interest to some, in the interest of accuracy in future charts, a simple asterisk may simply call attention to the longer distances raced for those events.
You’re right, we should have made that clear. If you use the calculator at milesplit.com, Joe Schatzle’s equivalent school-record time in 1948 for the 200 meter would have been 22.61, Dave Downer’s equivalent time in 1959 for the 400 meter would have been 50.84 and Bob Mooney’s equivalent time in 1960 for the 800 meter would be 1:56.06. All still tough to beat!