World Wide Track and Field Meet

From The Abilene Reporter - News
June 5, 1960 by Fred Sanner, Sports Editor

Air Defense Command Wins World Wide Track
Olympians Truex, Southern Shine

    Air Defense Command, featuring Olympians Eddie Southern and Max Truex, dethroned Pacific Air Force as champion in the World Wide Air Force track and meet Saturday night at the ACC track and field meet Saturday night at the ACC track.
     Southern, running a 47.4 anchor, paced the Air Defense Command mile relay team to a new Air Force record of 3:15.5.
     And Truex, running easily missed the old record in the three-mile run by five seconds. The little former Southern California distance ace lapped the entire field and finished 510 yards ahead of runnerup Walter Robak of Strategic Air Command.
     Air Defense Command scored 75 points to 61 for runnerup Air Training Command. Strategic Air Command and Pacific Air Force tied for third with 35 points. followed by Tactical Air Command with 17 1/2, Air Materiel Command with 14 1/2 and Military Air Transport with three.
Air Defense claimed its second record of the night and its fourth of the meet as Robert Schul toured the 3,000-meter steeplechase 10:03.1.
     Edward Taylor of Pacific Airy Force tied the existing pole vault record of 14 feet set by Olympian
George Mattos of Pacific Air Force and Jerry Welbourne of Great Lakes in 1957.
     Toby Roberts of Dyess AFB and SAC raced over the low hurdles in 23.4, just two-tenths of a second over the Air Force record, in nipping Dale O'Connor of Air defense. Roberts had fallen Friday night in the high hurdles after hitting three consecutive hurdles.
     Air Training Command claimed the meet's only double winner as Robert Carney added a 1:54.3 half-mile victory to his 4:19.4 mile.
     Leonard White of Air Training Command, who won the 100-yard dash in 9.6 Friday night, anchor led his team to victory in the 440-yard relay but pulled up lame about 10 yards short of the finish line. Pacific Air Force's Tom Fuller almost caught him.
     White scratched from the 220-yard dash, won by Don Livingston of Air Training in 21 flat. SAC's George Greene was the runner up in 21.3.
     In all Air Defense won nine of the 22 events in the meet with Air Training winning seven, Pacific Air Force three, Strategic Air Command two and Tactical Air Command one.
     Truex, who has been bothered by a bad hip, showed very little sign of it Saturday night as he hung back in the pack for the first lap, took the lead on the first turn of the second leg and was never headed.
     He ran the first mile in 4:39.5 and had lapped three runners by the time he hit the two-mile mark in 9:31.3. He lapped the final two on his 10th tour and widened the gap all the way.
     He ran his second mile in 4:51.8 and his third mile in 4:46.2.  
     Landy Williams of Air Defense, who also turned in a fine second leg on the winning mile relay team, won the 440 - yard dash in 48.5, barely nipping teammate
George Norton, who was clocked in 48.6. Norton ran a leg on the mile relay and Herbert Bolden was the fourth man.
     James Powell of Air Training won the hop-step-jump with a leap of 47 feet 4 1/2 inches and Frank Covelli of ADC won, the discus with a weak 136-8 1/2.
     Air Defense Command placed nine men on the 22-man team selected to represent the Air Force in the Interservice Track and Field Meet at Quantico, Va., June 10-11.
     The team will be coached by Bill Hargiss, a former coach at the University of Kansas.
     Composing the 22-man team are Eddie Southern,. Max Truex, James Ball, Robert Schul, Landy Williams, Herbert Bolden, James Norton and Frank Covelli of Air Defense Command; Tom Fuller Harold Schultz, Edward Taylor Gregory Panfiloff and Montt Walters of Pacific Air Force; Leonard White, Robert Carney, James Powell and Don Livingston of Air Training Command; Toby Roberts and George Greene of Strategic Air Command; and Henry Williams of Air Material Command.