High school honors 1964 cross country champions with rings

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Lee Anderson found his grey letterman's sweater with "WL" stitched on the left side and placed this high school treasure in his suitcase for the journey back to Indiana.

It seemed to still fit even after 54 years, although Anderson left two slots unbuttoned near the top.

Steve Miles was wearing the same sweater but with a big red patch on the right side proclaiming the state championship achievement of West Lafayette's cross country team.

Then there's the story of Mark Gibbens' sweater from his successful high school career, one that led him to Indiana to run cross country and track. It's best to let Gibbens take over from here.

"Back then, they had a tradition," Gibbens was saying on this cloudy and cool Saturday morning before the start of the West Lafayette Relays. "The girls in the sectional would wear letter sweaters in the pep club. A girl asked me for my letter sweater so she could wear it to a sectional game.

"She never gave it back. Somebody out there has my letter sweater."

Here's the one thing Anderson, Miles, Gibbens along with Don McGinnis and John Flory had in common Saturday: they were all wearing blue state championship rings, presented to them by the school's athletic director Brock Touloukian and track and field coach Lane Custer.

The group, along with the family of Steve Russell - who died in 2016 after a long battle with lung cancer - and the daughter of head coach James Tatlock were honored as a team that pushed the program into the state spotlight.

The spotlight on the program hasn't dimmed. Fifty years after winning the state championship, West Lafayette's boys team captured the title again. That anniversary moment wasn't lost on the team that won the first one.

"They told all of their teams about us," McGinnis said.

The 1964 team - which featured four runners who were National Merit Finalists - received medals, ribbons and were whisked around town on a firetruck and recognized in the high school gymnasium after outscoring second-place Hammond by 48 points.

Saturday was an opportunity to do it again, but by putting a modern spin on the celebration and reunion with some serious bling.

"It's so thoughtful, especially for a bunch of old guys like us," Anderson said.

This was the first time Gibbens, McGinnis, Anderson, Miles and Flory - then seniors - had been together since graduation.

"The important thing to me was getting these guys together," Miles said. "It's been 54 years since these five guys have been in the same room or in the same place together. That's an event for us."

They came from all over the country to tell - and embellish stories - and rekindle friendships that started more than five decades ago. Wisconsin. Florida. Minnesota.

They all made plans to be here when contacted.

"You can tell how much this means to us since we all came back," Flory said.

The 1964 state championship was more of a coronation.

The results were not a surprise, especially to those inside West Lafayette's program. The Red Devils had finished second in the state a year earlier to Ashley - located between Fort Wayne and Angola - and brought back nearly the entire roster. The program had also placed 17th in 1961 and sixth in 1962.

"We were on a mission," said Gibbens, who claimed the individual title and posted a time of 9:26.6 on the two-mile course. "This was going to be our year. I remember being focused on the state meet the whole season."

Said Anderson: "I could look at the statistics and we should've won three (state titles) in a row. I can guarantee that. We were pretty cocky. I know one meet we had a perfect score. That's when we started thinking, there's something going on here."

Although five seniors dominated the roster, Russell - a sophomore - mixed well with the upperclassmen. Two years later, Russell placed ninth at the state meet as the Red Devils finished third.

"He fit in well with our group," Miles said.

Tatlock's daughter, Debby Smiley, was in eighth grade when the Red Devils won the title.

Her father, who guided the program for 23 seasons, spelled out a specific role for Debby when West Lafayette participated in big meets. This was long before electronic timing.

"My dad used to have me walk around after a race to the different groups to hear what their score was and how they think they did," Smiley said. "I would go around at big meets and come back and say this or that.

"On that day, that's what I did. It came back really quickly and I looked at dad and said, 'They all said we won.' "

It's an accomplishment that continues to be celebrated more than 50 years later.

"This is something we'll remember for a long time," Miles said. "It's a one-time experience. It's every bit as big as the experience of winning the state."

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Source: (Lafayette) Journal & Courier, https://on.jconline.com/2qTGjhu

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Information from: Journal and Courier, http://www.jconline.com