Running to glory: Red Raiders had banner track season in 1963
Uniontown athletics enjoyed a golden era in the 1960s, and it wasn鈥檛 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鈥檚 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.
鈥淲e had tremendous athletes at Uniontown,鈥� Manning stated. 鈥淭he football and basketball guys participated in track, it was a great period in Uniontown athletics.鈥�
鈥淢y three years in high school we had fantastic athletes,鈥� Curry stated. 鈥淭hat was really a great period.鈥�
鈥淚 was fortunate enough to play on the football team and we won a WPIAL championship,鈥� Coldren recalled. 鈥淭he track team itself had football and basketball guys and Cramer who was just absolutely unbelievable as a runner.鈥�
Uniontown started slow, dropping its first two dual meets to Clairton and Brownsville before rebounding to up their record to 3-2.
鈥淲e had some real good athletes in track,鈥� Cramer, who passed away in December 2021, offered in a Memory Lane article. 鈥淏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鈥檛 have the latest equipment. We just had the heart to go out and compete.鈥�
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.
鈥淭he Fayette County track meet was a big deal back in those days,鈥� Cramer stated. 鈥淲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.
鈥淭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.鈥�
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.
鈥淚 ran the first leg most of the time,鈥� Dearth said. 鈥淚 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.鈥�
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鈥� 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鈥檚 other first place, running 1:58.9 in the 880.
Everhart was known as a basketball coach, but he held his own coaching track.
鈥淗e brought us along in track and Jon Kruper also helped,鈥� Coldren stated. 鈥淭he great miler Joe Thomas would stop down at practice and help coach. He was a great guy and very encouraging.鈥�
鈥淧eople don鈥檛 remember that was the year Joe Thomas came back and helped coach the team,鈥� Curry recalled. 鈥淗e was very helpful with the mile relay team.鈥�
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鈥� 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鈥檚 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.
鈥淐ramer had pneumonia and probably should not have run in the PIAA,鈥� Dearth recalled. 鈥淐ramer didn鈥檛 run with his legs Cramer ran with his heart. He was all heart.鈥�
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.
鈥淲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.鈥�
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.
鈥淲e were a year late,鈥� 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.
鈥淭hose were good memories,鈥� Curry offered. 鈥淚t was a long time ago, but great memories.鈥�
George Von Benko鈥檚 鈥淢emory Lane鈥� column appears in the Sunday editions of the 缅北禁地. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.