The year 2020 has been long for everyone, no doubt about it. But for sports fans, April has felt like an eternity.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all the little things that bring us joy in life have been stripped away for the sake of our safety, and sports have been one of the biggest casualties.
April is typically an action-packed month for sports, especially here in Iola. Right now, the high school sports season would be in full swing. Area athletes would be setting records on the track, hitting home runs behind the plate, serving aces on the hardcourt, or capturing hole-in-ones.
There have been some special moments in April over the years at Iola High, and with no new history to make, why not rewind the clock and enjoy the past?
On April 30, 1955, Dale Remsberg and Wayne Ryherd participated in the annual Fort Scott Invitational Track and Field Meet. Remsberg finished as the Mustangs’ top performer for the afternoon. In the low hurdles he set a meet record at 21.4 seconds. The time also tied his all-time IHS mark.
Ryherd set the meet record in the javelin with a 164’ throw.
So much has changed since those days, from the crushed cinder surface of the track to a rubberized material. Even the equipment 65 years later is different. To put things in perspective, the low hurdles is no longer an event. The record that remains was set by Tracy Atherton in 1972 with a time of 19.4.
Remsberg’s high-hurdle record of 14.6 seconds set in 1955 lasted for 50 years according to know-everything track coach Marv Smith.
Ryherd’s javelin record has gone by the wayside. The farthest distance for any javelin thrower at IHS is 210’10” by Jay Bass in 1977, nearly a 44’ difference — but there is an explanation for this.
Smith pointed out that the javelin’s weight is no longer distributed as it was in 1955. Back then, too many injuries were occurring from javelins hitting the ground, popping up, and hitting a bystander after the throw was complete. Now, javelins are constructed to keep the tip of the javelin pointed down, and angling at the ground so it sticks in the field.
Switching gears to the 70s, The Wichita Relays on April 12, 1976 saw Terry Catron set a Mustang record that still holds to this day. Catron completed the 440-yard run in 49.3 seconds, a time that was the best in all of Kansas at that point during the 1976 season.
With the event changing from 440-yards to 400 meters, the distance is slightly less than it was those years ago. To help with the change, Smith trimmed Catron’s time .3, adjusting it to what the mark would have been in today’s race at 400m.
Catron is one of three Mustang runners to run a sub-50 second race in the 400m. The only others are Kevin Jukes in 1994 (49.1), and Webb Mechling in 1992 (49.4).
