Reflections on reunion

I wasn't sure what to expect for this rapidly-put-together reunion of athletes from 3 or more decades back, assembled together to relive old times, swap tales of high school glory, and pay a bit of tribute to a terrific coach, Ray Graham, who helped mold us into good men. I knew that several of the guys from my era (69-72) would be there, including the boys from our state championship XC and track squads. Ol' Skinny Dean Young ('72), who nearly single-handedly put this reunion together, guessed that anywhere from 30 to 150 guys would show up. As it turned out, it was closer to the lower end, as about 45 or so signed the guest book that Dean had laid out on the table. Several of us brought our wives, who've heard all of our tales of glory and now simply roll their eyes wearily when we get melancholy about our long-ago athletic feats. Bob Aitken ('72) even brought along his mom! When she greeted me, I gave her a hug and said, "Hello, Mrs. Aitken." She said, "Cecil, you are an adult now. You can call me Betty." I may be an adult, but somehow calling Mrs. Aitken by her first name didn't seem right. I recall well how she and Mr. Aitken always had a welcoming home for the cross-country guys. We spent more than a few hours in their basement rec room shooting pool and listening to music.

I think that we had guys from the class of '68 and most classes were represented up to 1978. The '71-72 team was the largest group, but we also likely had the closest bond--and certainly the most enduring--among our group of track athletes. Tom Honer, Bob Aitken, Dean Young, Bill Tucker, Skip Withrow, Robert Ohmie, John McAllister, Kent Love, and I have managed to stay in touch with one another over the the past 35 years, although there have been long stretches where we have fallen out of contact, as several of us have relocated to other places far and wide. Nonetheless, the bond of friendship endures.

As people began to arrive at the school cafeteria--it looks so much different from the place I remember--I found myself looking around and I actually wondered, "Who are all these old guys?" Those would be my cohort and a few from the late 1960s. Guys came in whom I had not seen since graduation. I recognized Steve Maloney right away. Solidly built like an M-1 tank, Steve looks like he could still churn out a solid 200 m. dash (it was, of course, 220 yards back then). I didn't recognize Bob Alderson, but remembered him as a very fine sprinter who, along with Steve, set some impressive 440 and mile relay times. We certainly would not have won that state championship long ago had the sprint team not done their part. Sadly, the other two fine sprinters on that team are no longer with us. Steve's brother, Preston, was killed in a car accident a couple of years after graduation. Henry Figures passed away about five years ago from complications resulting from a stroke. I tell you, those guys were brilliant fast.

And who could forget the field events guys? Stan Putnam, the shot putter, who didn't look older than 35 and who probably still heaves the metal ball around in his back yard. There was Joe Bickel, who yet holds the school record for the javelin throw. A long-time Wichita firefighter, Joe remains the same good and irreverent guy that I first met in 7th grade. And Hal Brandenburg, the long, tall high jumper who brought his dad, Coach Harold Brandenburg, along as well. Coach Brandenburg had tremendous success in the late 60s with the powerhouse West football team (I believe they won a state championship in '68), but then the talent went bad, the team fell on hard and winless times during my years, and Coach Brandenburg shifted over to coaching the jumpers such as his son.

Speaking of coaches, Jerry Goodman, the sprinters' coach, also made it to the reunion. Coach Graham recollected how he and Coach Goodman had, during a particularly bad time in the early 70s, as Wichita schools were acclimating to the forced busing of African-American students in previously white schools, prevented a school riot. Ray blocked a group of white thugs at one end of the building and Jerry blocked a group of black troublemakers at another end, preventing what would have been sheer chaos and much destruction. It seems silly now to think that kids would fight over such things, but it is easy to look around and see that such problems and tensions remain in our society.

A few guys from that great '72 track team didn't show up. I have no idea what has become of them. Val Dunn, our marvelous triple jumper. Mike Greenlee, the pole vaulter, who qualified for the state meet and promptly broke his ankle (right in front of me) during practice, following an aborted jump. And, of course, XC and distance man Terry "Bull" Newfer who has only infrequently responded to entreaties to join our sporadic reunions. He was last heard from in the Denver area.

There were others from my era who were in attendance, however, including Jim Slaughter. I think back to Jim, who probably never missed a practice in three years of cross-country and track (West was a 3-year HS back then), yet who never made the varsity. He never complained. He worked as hard as anyone, he had a great attitude, and he was (and remains) a good guy. I think Jim might be the person I admire the most from that time. There was Mike Smith ('71), whose mom, Wilma, was a mother hen to many of us. And although she sometimes drove us crazy, I think we loved her for it because she cared about us. And, hey, Mike was a pretty darned good runner in his day. The great distance runner, Frank Hukle ('70), was also in attendance. Frank still holds the 2 and 3-mile school records nearly 40 years later! I didn't recognize him at first, but when he introduced himself, I accused him of having given me a red-belly in the pool when I was a lowly sophomore. He denied it vigorously, claimed that he never engaged in such behavior, and suggested that, more likely, it was teammate Tom Braderick ('70). Upon reflection, I'm sure that Frank was correct.

Lonnie Achey ('74) flew in from southern California with his lovely wife, Karen. I remember Lonnie as a very small kid then. Perhaps it was his dimunitive size and his willingness to work really hard that made him a favorite among we upper classmen. Lonnie told my wife, Ellin, how the XC guys had taken him in and treated him as one of us, never hazed him, not even a red-belly. Don't know how we missed that! Rob Beatty ('74) was also there. Rob's had an interesting and varied career. He was a nurse, having worked in a local hospital with one of my younger sisters. Then, he turned to lawyering. Now, he's a writer, having published a book about a notorious local serial killer. When the nutbag was finally captured after nearly 30 years, Rob became a TV celebrity of sorts as the story played out on national TV. Dave Roberts ('74) was there. He revealed to me how Coach Graham had pushed him really hard to follow in the footsteps (literally!) of our state XC and track champion, Tom Honer. But, Dave never really got over his love of baseball and may not have worked as hard as Coach Graham would have liked!

My son, Kevin, now a high school cross-country runner, finally got to meet the legendary Coach Graham, whom he has heard so much about over the years. Kevin is hoping to walk on to a Division I college XC team, so Ray gave him some good counsel and encouragement. My wife thanked Ray, too, for all that he had done for me back then. Like several of my teammates, I came from some rough circumstances. Cross-country and track gave me a focus and direction. I've always said that the lessons I learned as a runner back then I carry with me and use every day of my life--in ways both big and small.

Unfortunately, there just wasn't enough time to meet everyone--in particular, the guys who came before and after me. One person in particular I would have liked to have chatted with--Rodger Shurtz--('78) broke Bob Aitken's ('72) school record in the mile and anchored some pretty fast relay teams. He was on the last team that Ray coached before he left coaching to pursue business opportunities.

The very kind young assistant principal, Ronald H. Stubbs, Jr. ('93), took all of us on a tour of the building. Due to additions, West High School is nearly twice its original size now. Ironically, there are now only 1300 students--far less than the 2,000+ that attended West in the early 70s. Looking back, it did not seem overcrowded back then, but it was certainly a busy place. It was fun to see the boys' locker room, which struck me as more dungeon-like that I had remembered it to be. The sports team locker room was completely unchanged. I recalled having checked out football equipment during my sophomore year in a misguided effort to compete for a spot on the team. A few bell-ringings to my head soon convinced me that football was not my sport. Cross-country was a safer alternative!

After four hours, our time was up. I had a great time, enjoyed being back at West High again after 35 years away (and having never attended a class reunion). It was great to see my old buddies and to renew old friendships and acquaintances. But, I really never thought I'd see the day that Coach Graham's hair would be longer than mine.

Cecil Smith (class of '72)