Photo: Paul J Maguire/The Boston Globe
The passing of Ted Kennedy yesterday moved Josh Seeherman to send the above photo. Kennedy is on the left, of course, and on the right is Newton High and Harvard alum Bob Morrison. Josh writes to point out that Morrison was a star football player at Newton and a many-time scorer at the state level on the track.
"At the state class meet (there was no all-state), Morrison finished 2nd in the 600y to Charlie Jenkins, running 1:16 at the old Boston Garden 160y track. Jenkins, of course, was Coach Blackburn's teammate at Villanova and the 1956 Gold Medalist in the 400m. Morrison also ran track at Harvard, mostly competing in the 220y, 440y, and the relay."
Thanks, Josh, for this trip to the Newton archives!
4 comments:
I'll have to tell my Charlie jenkins story, since you gave me the opening. After winning the Olympics 400 Charlie got married and took time off from school. Coach Jumbo Elliott was so mad he wouldn't talk to him. Charlie was training "on his own". I was a freshman who ran everyday with Charlie(300's, 600's). One day as I was talking with friends who came to watch practice, Charlie came over to me and asked me what I thought he should do for a workout. I said 6x 600 and he said, "that sounds good". My friends said,"did you see that, the Olympic Champion asked Blackburn what he should do for practice". I always said that i started my coaching advising the Olympic Champion and everything has been downhill since.
it seems like advising an olympic champion was easy, and moving to motivate highschoolers has been uphill in difficulty!
Great story!
How fast did you and he run those 600s (660s) in?
1:25 as I recall--on an 11-lap board track set up on the football field. I could lead him in he 300's and for a few laps of the 660's. Nobody could stay with Ron Delany, however. He jogged too fast in between.
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