Memphis University School - Owl Yearbook (Memphis, TN)

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Preparing to go over some practice hurdles, Alston Palmer warms up for the District Meet. Showing his shot-put form, Tom Taylor tosses the shot against Hillcrest. Owls Head for State Meet Garner, Kyle, Goodwin, Varner, Collier Qualify for State Meet ' jT he Owls were not too sharp in A. the Memphis Track and Field Classic held at Memphis State. The team placed in only the 4-mile relay, and the 2-mile relay (Varner, Kyle, Collier, and Garner) was the team ' s bright spot with their school record 8:07.5 clocking. In the district 12 competition at Memphis State, MUS finished second with 36 points to East ' s 45. The team took four firsts and several seconds and according to Coach Peters would have won the meet if not for an injury to Art Fisher, who Peters says was a pleasant surprise in the hurdles. Taking firsts for MUS were Ray in the high jump, Jones in the discus, the two-mile relay team, and Gary Garner whose 1:54.5 in the 880 was .1 of a second off the state record, which he was subsequently to break. The Owl runners who qualified next advanced to the West-State Regional held at Whitehaven. Overall the team picked up 12 points, but more importantly qualified several runners for the state meet — Garner and the mile-relay team. Garner thrilled the crowd with his regional record 880 clocking of 1:56.6, and the mile-relay team finished a not too distant second to Hamilton ' s 3:26.3 first place timing. Wooddale finished first in the meet. In the last meet of the season Coach Peters took Garner and his mile-relay team to the state meet in Knoxville. Garner, who outdueled Ervin Sweat, the former state record holder, to win the 880 in 1:52.9, put the finishing touches on his record setting season, which Coach Peters described as the greatest individual performance I ' ve seen by an athlete in my 16 years at MUS. The mile- relay team failed to score. In individual scoring for the track team, Garner led with 56 points followed by Goodwin with 44%. 16

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v K- L.S .M ' 7WHI w rnpST ! Running in front, Garner qualifies for 440 in 7 iBBM ia MUS Invitational. Thinclads Place Second in District Garner, Two Mile Relay Team Rewrite Record Book Compiling an undefeated record in the dual meet and qualifying five runners for the state meet, Coach Peters was pleased with the team for the most part. He felt that while the seniors were the backbone of the team, young people did a good job and enabled us to have depth. Old Hickory was no match for the MUS thinclads as the Owls swept to first place in every event and won the meet 111-15. The level of performance was held down because of the adverse weather conditions. Throughout much of the meet there was rain mixed with hail and high wind. MUS ' superior depth was the deciding factor in their next meet with Messick. The Owls took second j place in every event but two and though Messick took % of the first place points, MUS had enough second and thirds to win 77-51. Three days later the Owls met Hillcrest and with a good overall performance won 98-30. Kenny Kyle ran an exceptional mile run and was clocked at 4:36.8. Gary Garner showed tremendous 880 potential with his 1:58.3 time. With a very good overall performance, the Owl trackmen defeated a strong Overton team 72- 55. Ray ' s 5 ' 10 high jump, Garner ' s school record 49.8 440 time, and Art Fisher ' s 15.4 high hurdles time were outstanding individual performances. Competing along with the Owls in the annual MUS Invitational were Bolton, Collierville, Germantown, and Raleigh-Egypt. Coming out of the field events Germantown held a solid lead with the Owls in second. Raleigh-Egypt, however, totally dominated the running events tallying 91 points to surpass MUS and Germantown, who tied for second with 62 points. 15

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Giving Goodwi Kyle makes a smc relay handoff. ■Essa y Garner Runs State Record 880 MUS ' own track prodigy, Gary Garner, ended his high school track career with his stunning regional and state 880 performances. Earlier in the year, he had set the school ' s 440 dash mark at 49.8 and had been the anchor leg on the school two mile relay team ' s 8:07.5. In the state meet not only did Garner defeat the defending state record holder but, as Coach Peters said, ran about the toughest race possible. He didn ' t try to pass Sweat until the middle of the far straightaway on the last lap. Sweat wasn ' t ready to let him pass at that point, so he forced Gary to run the outside lane all the way down to the last curve. But Gary didn ' t let up. He just wore him down. Coach Peters had said earlier in the year that Garner could probably do the best of anyone on the team in any running event. Peters did not decide on whether he should run the 880 or the 440 until fairly late in the season. In other sports, Gary was all-state in soccer and the school two-mile cross- country record holder. Gary won the respect of all his opponents as a great competitor with his tremendous natural talents. Getting off to a good start, Garner begins his record 440 dash. 17