Usually, twin brothers are competitive with each other. For twins Chris and Craig Cowie competing in track and field at Lorain High during the 1960s, all they ever did was support each other. “We weren’t competitive with each other at all,” Craig said. “We supported each other and it worked…
WOLCOTT — Fifty-two years ago, Dick Kochert was the sectional runner-up to West Lafayette’s Steve Russell in the mile run. The Wainwright High School senior circled Lafayette Jeff’s old cinder track in 4:28.5. Even as Kochert, who went on to graduate from Purdue University, got older, his love for track and…
THE Olympic gold medal in Beijing and a world title won on one leg a year later in Berlin are the obvious career highlights for Steve Hooker. But the pole vault champion throws an off-Broadway event into the top three when asked about his special moments. “The night I qualified…
Three Union High School coaches set a high bar for inductees into the newly founded Union High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Don Olszowka, Del Rinne and Dave Scheer were among the first candidates named to the hall of fame Saturday, Sept. 9, at Union High School. Coaches are eligible…
Unlike the training set-up he now uses to mentor pupils at his pole vaulting club in Haslet, Texas, Bill Payne got his start jumping over barbed-wire fences and shower curtain rods. As for using mats for soft landings, he said, “Shoot, we just used dirt. If we were lucky, we’d…
ST. HELENA – Tim McDonald’s introduction to the pole vault did not come during an after-school practice nor in an official track and field meet. He got his start right at home. He assembled a small makeshift pit in his yard by digging a hole, piling together a bunch of…
BUFFALO – The Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame will induct its13 member class of 2013 on Oct. 30 at the annual awards dinner at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo and one of the inductees will be Fredonia native Jenn Suhr. Suhr has won gold and silver medals in the Olympic…
Former Kingsburg High pole vaulter Melissa Price Lewis became the seventh Kingsburg native to join the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame along with Rafer Johnson, Johnny Baker, Monte Clark, Myron Anderson, Jim Johnson and Stan Anderson. Lewis was inducted into the Hall of Fame at a ceremony on Nov. 1…
Pueblo Colorado vaulter in Hall of Fame: Even the best of athletic careers sometimes can fade with time. Gary Gehlhoff will never be forgotten. Gehlhoff played as a sophomore on Central High School’s 1961 football state championship team. As a senior, he was a member of the Cats’ state runner-up basketball team and…
Only two Aggie female track athletes have earned All-American status three times during their careers at Utah State. Distance runner Alisa Nicodemus is in the Utah State Athletics Hall of Fame. Shae Jones-Bair is about to join her. The pole vaulter will be among the eight-member class of 2012. The…
