Roger Meador Biography

Charleston High / (Class of 1960) Charleston, West Virginia

Classification: AAA Boys

Specialty: Distance

West Virginia University

 

Roger Meador a cross country and track and field standout at Charleston High School.

Charleston High School is a former high school, which was closed in 1989, in Kanawha County, West Virginia. Its final location is where CAMC General Hospital is now located in downtown Charleston, West Virginia. In 1989, Charleston High School and Stonewall Jackson High School consolidated to form Capital High School.

Meador attended Elk Elementary School Center from 1951-1954, Thomas Jefferson Junior High School from 1954-1957, and Charleston High School from 1958-1960.

While at Charleston High, Meador was a two-time West Virginia high school boy’s individual state cross country champion and a former state record holder. In track, Meador was a State Meet co-record holder in the 880-yard run and runner-up in the Mile, which helped the Mountain Lions win the 1960 team title by 48 points.

He was also a good outfielder-pitcher for Elk Hills Church Softball League.

Meador attended West Virginia University from 1960-1964 where he ran cross country and track for Stan Romanoski.

 

[Background]

West Virginia high school cross country can be traced back to 1958, where Coach Stan Romanoski of West Virginia University’s cross country and track teams founded the WVU Invitational cross country meet for scholastic harriers. He originated the state prep cross country meet, which was later sanctioned and run by the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission as the state championship event.

The 1958 WVU Invitational cross-country meet was held at Morgantown Country Club in Morgantown, WV. It was considered the first State Meet. The race was 2.2 miles long and was all-classes, boys only. High schools were entered from Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. Trophies were awarded to the leading team from West Virginia and from outside the State.

Charleston High’s Roger Meador was the first West Virginia prep athlete to win the individual state crown, which he did twice. While Dunbar High won the team standings for West Virginia.

West Virginia high school girls did not have a championship until 1980. To this day, the boys’ and girls’ races are ran separately but are held on the same day.

 

[High School]

On Saturday, November 1st, 1958, West Virginia’s first invitational cross country meet for prep high schools produced a surprise individual winner. Roger Meador of Charleston outran two better known State schoolboys to finish first at the Morgantown Country Club course. His time was 10 minutes, 22 seconds for the 2.1-mile distance.

Keith Locke of Huntington, a West Virginia high school State mile champion (4:34.0), placed second, followed by Doug Kersey of Charleston, who has been his chief challenger.

Pittsburg Central Catholic (PA) won the team title by a large margin with 47 points. Uniontown (PA) ran second, and Dunbar (WV) led the State entries in third place. Following in order were Huntington (WV), Hopewell of Aliquippa (PA), Marietta (OH), Elk Garden (WV) and Matoaka (WV).

On May 16th, 1959, at the West Virginia high school boy’s state track meet at Laidley Field in Charleston, was perhaps the coldest and windiest event in the State Meet history. Dunbar edged Charleston 57 to 56 ½ in a great team battle. Richard Harrison led the Bulldogs’ by winning the 100-yard dash (9.85), second place in the 220-yard dash, and was on Dunbar’s winning 440-yard relay team (44.2). Harrison also earned high point honors with 11 ½ points, while his teammate Hamilton Lipscomb and Wellsburg’s Catfish Hearst shared runner-up honors with 10 each. Wellsburg’s Catfish Hearst had two record setting performances in the 220- and 440-yard dashes. He tied the state meet record in the 220 (22.1) and became the first sub-50 quarter-miler in the state. That is amazing considering the windy conditions. The previous mark of 50.0 seconds was set in 1954 by Charley Bennett of Oak Hill. Huntington’s John Minichan broke the shot-put record with a heave of 52 feet, seven inches. Charleston’s Doug Kersey won the 880-yard dash (2:00.5) and was runner-up in the Mile run, while teammate Roger Meador was third in the Mile.

Team Standings:

1) Dunbar – 57; 2) Charleston – 56 ½; 3) Huntington – 35; 4) Stonewall – 30; 5) Huntington East – 15; 6) Wellsburg – 11; 7) Parkersburg – 9 ½; 7) Mt. Hope – 9 ½; 9) Oak Hill – 8; 9) DuPont – 8; 11) Morgantown – 6; 11) Wheeling – 6; 13) South Charleston – 4; 14) Beckley – 3; 15) Washington Irving – 2; 15) Princeton – 2; 15) Elkins – 2; 18) Weirton – 1 ½; 19) Triadelphia – 1; 19) Benwood Union – 1; 19) Iaeger – 1; 19) Warwood – 1

On Saturday, November 14th, 1959, Pittsburgh Central Catholic successfully defended its Mountaineer Invitational cross-country championship, scoring a low of 31 points against eight other West Virginia and Pennsylvania high school squads, Uniontown (PA), was runner-up.

Joe Thomas of Uniontown, the Pennsylvania state cross country and distance track champion, won individual honors by completing the 2.2-mile course in 9 minutes, 54 seconds.

Roger Meador of Charleston (WV) was second, followed in order by Roy Ralston of Morgantown (WV), Robert Henry, John Ryan, Phillip Leavy and Ralph Besinsk, all of Pittsburg Central (PA); Buzzy Cassidy of Uniontown (PA), Gary Kniffen of Pittsburg Central (PA) and Ernest Cunningham of Charleston (WV).

Morgantown surprised by winning the West Virginia team championship, placing third behind Pittsburg Central (PA) and Uniontown (PA). Then came Huntington East (WV), Charleston (WV), Hopewell of Aliquippa (PA), Dunbar (WV), Berkeley Springs (WV), and Elk Garden (WV).

Thomas’ time bettered Meador’s winning time of 10 minutes, 22 seconds last year in the first annual event here. Meador earned West Virginia’s individual state crown for the second year in a row.

There were about 110 runners that competed at the Morgantown Country Club course from West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, which more than doubled from the previous year.

On May 7th, 1960, at the 26th annual Gazette Relays at Laidley Field in Charleston (WV), Meador boke meet records in the Mile and 880-yard runs. He ran the 880-yard run in 2:00.5, which bettered the previous record of 2:01.1 that was set back in 1956 by Parkersburg High’s Mat Crofton. His time was just one tenth off the State Meet record of 2:00.4, while Huntington’s Terry Shy would finish in a close second. Meador also cruised to a record run in the Mile of 4:34.3; more than 80 yards over Huntington’s Terry Shy. The previous Gazette Relay mark of 4:35.8 was set by Keith Locke of Huntington back in 1958. Meador’s record performances helped the Mountain Lions win the title for the second straight year with a total of 97 points. Huntington East was second with 47, Dunbar third with 42, Stonewall Jackson was fourth with 37 ½, DuPont (16), Parkersburg (11), Logan (7), South Charleston (6), St. Albans (4), Mt. Hope (1 ½), and Catholic (1). Charleston sprinter James Miller took home high point honors with 12 ½ points, by winning 100- and 220-yard dashes and running on the Mountain Lion’s winning 440-yard relay team.

On May 21st, 1960, at the West Virginia high school boy’s state track meet at Laidley Field in Charleston, the Mountain Lions destroyed the competition by winning by 48 points, which could have been motivated by their heartbreaking loss to Dunbar the previous year – 57 to 56 ½. An amazing five records fell at the State Meet, led by Charleston’s 880-yard and Mile relay teams that smashed state records with times of 1:32.0 and 3:24.9, respectively. The Mountain Lions George Hicks leaped 6 feet, 2 ¼ inches to set a new high jump record. He broke Garland Barnhart’s ten-year-old high jump mark. Charleston’s Roger Meador and Huntington’s Jim Callaway tied in the 880-yard run in a record time of 2:00.0. The previous record was 2:00.4 set by Glenville’s Bob Arnold back in 1946. Huntington’s Jim Eddins set a record in the pole vault with an effort of 12 feet, six inches. That easily erased the former record of 12 feet, 1 inch that was set by Charleston’s Rock Ehle back in 1953.

Charleston’s Roger Meador was also runner-up in the Mile run, while Terry Shy of Huntington East was your winner with a time of 4:46.4.

Charleston’s Fred Robinson, a quarter-mile specialist, edged DuPont’s Chauncey Robinson by 12 ½ points for high-point individual honors.

Team Standings:

1) Charleston – 79 ½; 2) Huntington – 31 ½; 3) Dunbar 29; 4) Huntington East – 25 ½; 5) Stonewall – 21; 6) DuPont – 14; 7) Triadelphia – 12; 8) Wellsburg – 11; 9) Parkersburg – 7 ½; 10) Mt. Hope – 7; 11) Wheeling – 5; 11) South Charleston – 5; 11) Morgantown – 5; 14) Weirton – 4; 14) Charles Town – 4; 16) St. Albans – 2 ½; 16) Beckley – 2 ½; 18) Summersville – 2; 19) Logan – 1; 19) Iaeger – 1

It is noteworthy, that in 1960 Charleston High School had won their 13th track & field championship and they had won 13 of its last 14 meets the past two seasons.

In June of 1960, two of Charleston High School’s track members (Ernest Cunningham and Roger Meador) proposed to run from Charleston to Huntington – a distance of about 50 miles – every other week to keep in shape during the summer months. The first attempt did not go as planned. Meador developed blisters on his feet about 15 miles short of Huntington. The pair hoped to continue their training plans once Meador recovered.

 

[College]

Roger Meador pursued a Physical Education degree and ran on the cross country and track teams while at West Virginia University from 1960 to 1964. He was coached by the legendary Stan Romanoski. At that time, the West Virginia men’s cross country and track teams competed in the Southern Conference.

While at WVU, Meador ran distance with his former Charleston High teammate – Doug Kersey. The two played a big role in cross-country and track while at West Virginia University. As a sophomore, Meador was their top cross-country runner. He finished first in four of ten regular season meets, where he averaged 2.2 points per meet (low score wins in cross country). While Kersey was the number three runner on the team averaging 5.4 points. That fall, the WVU men’s cross-country team finished with a 7-3 record.

Meador was named to the Men’s Cross Country All-Southern Conference Team in 1961 and 1962.

In 1960, Meador ran on the West Virginia freshman squad, therefore he did not participate in the 1960 Southern Conference Cross Country Championship in Williamsburg (VA). The WVU men’s cross-country team finished 4th as a team with 92 points.

At the 1961 Southern Conference Cross Country Championship in Lexington (VA), Meador placed 5th on the 4.2-mile Kerr’s Creek course, while the Mountaineers would finish 4th as a team with 89 points.

At the 1962 Southern Conference Cross Country Championship in Charleston (SC), Meador placed 4th on the 4.06-mile course, while the Mountaineers would finish 1st as a team with 40 points.

At the 1963 Southern Conference Cross Country Championship in Blacksburg (VA), Roger Meador, WVU’s top runner all year, finished in 42nd spot on the Virginia Tech 4.25-mile course as leg and arm cramps struck him early in the race. The WVU men’s cross-country team would finish runner-up in the team standings with 48 points.

On November 26th, 1963, Meador placed 106th for the Four Mile Run at the NCAA DI Cross Country Championships at Michigan State University in East Lansing (MI), crossing the line as the top WVU runner with a time of 21:38.20. The Mountaineers finished 21st as a team with 501 points.

WVU Team Scoring:

106th - Roger Meador (21:38.2); 127th – Joseph Kubic (21:54.2); 131st – Donald Sweeney (22:06); 142nd – Howard Jackson (22:22); 144th – Ralph Morrisey (22:23); 145th – Richard Mull (22:24.5); 165th – Edward Fiertz (23:58.7)

Number of contestants starting run: 167

At the 1961 Southern Conference Track & Field Championship at Williamsburg (VA), WVU placed 3rd with 27 points.

At the 1962 Southern Conference Track & Field Championship at Norfolk (VA), Meador placed third in the Three-Mile Run, while helping the Mountaineers to a 4th place team finish with 24.33 points.

At the 1963 Southern Conference Track & Field Championship at Laidley Field in Charleston (WV), WVU placed 3rd with 36 points.

At the 1964 Southern Conference Track & Field Championship at Williamsburg (VA), Meador established a new record in the Two-Mile Run, while helping the Mountaineers defeat Pitt for the conference title – 56.5 to 44.5. The senior was clocked in 9:31.5, which was 5.7 seconds better than the previous record. The conference title was the first for West Virginia men’s track.

Roger Meador won numerous honors while attending West Virginia University. He paced the Mountaineer harriers by winning many individual titles and top 10 finishes. He also held various distance and relay records in both cross country and track. He helped both his track and cross-country teams win a Southern Conference title and qualify for the NCAA D1 Cross Country National Championship.

 

Submitted by Mike McMillion (08/13/20)

Results courtesy of RunWV

Sources: Jesse Skiles, West Virginia High School Track & Field State Meet: Boys (A Statistical History 19:14-2001); Southern Conference Record Books; Archives