Wilson Smith Biography
Huntington High (Class of 1968) /
Huntington, WV
Classification: AAA Boys
Specialty: Mid Distance/ Distance
Villanova University
Wilson Smith
was a 1968 graduate of Huntington High School in Huntington, West Virginia. He
was a West Virginia high school boy’s individual state cross country champion
(1967). He broke the Class AAA boys state meet records in the 440 (48.9), 880
(1:54.0), and was part of the record-setting two-mile relay (7:58.5). Smith is
the current state record holder in the 800-meter run (1:49.66c).
He was
president of the Huntington High School student body.
Smith was
offered a scholarship at Villanova University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
where he studied pre-medicine and competed on the Men’s Cross and Track &
Field teams. Smith’s father was a doctor and was influential in helping him
decide where to attend.
Smith went
on to be an All-American at Villanova. Villanova was the national power that defeated
Oregon and Steve Prefontaine at the 1970 NCAA Cross Country Championship.
Wilson’s
younger brother Stephen was also an individual state champion in cross country
and track for the Pony Express back in the early 1970’s.
Both Wilson
and Stephen are doctors. Wilson practices medicine in South Carolina, while his
brother Stephen is a surgeon in Huntington, West Virginia.
High School:
[Sophomore Year]
In the 1967
state track meet, Wilson Smith ran a leg on the record-breaking Pony Express 2-Mile
Relay team (Hale, Smith, Congleton, Earls) 8:13.5.
[Junior Year]
In the 1967
state track meet, Huntington won title number thirteen, which was the sixth for
veteran Coach Ray McCoy. With only the Mile relay remaining, the Pony Express
was deadlocked with Charleston at 31. But they managed to defeat the talented
Mountain Lions before the roaring crowd of 3500, 37 to 35 points.
Huntington’s
Wilson Smith lowered the half-mile mark by three and a half seconds with a
1:53.3. He defeated Ford Davis of Charleston, who also broke the 1:58.7 mark by
Terry Shy of Huntington East in 1961 with 1:58.3.
Smith also
ran a leg on the winning Pony Express Mile Relay team (Hysell, Smith, Diggs,
Remella) 3:29.9.
[Senior Year]
In the 1967
state cross country meet, Wilson Smith won the individual all-class boy’s
title. He set a new state record over the damp 2.3-mile course at the
Morgantown Golf and Country Club while crossing the line in 11:13.6. Taking
trophies behind Smith were Mike Robinson of Huntington East (11:33); Larry
Letart of Charleston (11:46); Glenn Adkins of Stonewall (11:54); and Mike Wells
of St. Albans (11:55).
In the 1968
state track meet, the Huntington High Pony Express placed third behind
Charleston (51) and St. Albans (40) out of twenty-eight AAA teams.
Huntington’s
Wilson Smith, a 5-foot-8 140-pound senior, put on a tremendous show, breaking
records in the 440-yard dash (48.9), 880-yard run (1:54.3), and was part of the
record-setting two-mile relay (Haworth, Daniel, Harvey, Smith) 7:58.5. Smith
captured high point honors with 13 ½ points.
Smith
qualified for the Mile run, but Coach McCoy yanked him from that event, so he
could run the 2-mile relay as a team.
The Pony
Express was the first team to run a sub-eight in the 2-mile relay.
Coach Ray
McCoy gently chided Smith after he anchored the two-mile relay team. McCoy said
“Smith didn’t run the last quarter-mile. He coasted. He looked around three
times.” Smith was looking for Huntington East’s Mike Robinson, who was his pal since
they attended Beverly Hills junior high. Smith ran the first quarter-mile in 51
seconds and finished his half-mile in 1:53, which was a respectable time
considering his running start.
During Smith’s
high school career, he scored a total of 45.5 points at the West Virginia State
Meet.
Note: The longest standing Track
& Field state record for West Virginia high school boys, is the 800-meters
by Wilson Smith of Huntington High, with a time of 1:49.66 (Converted Hand
Time) at the 9th Annual Golden West Invitational Track & Field Meet,
California back in 1968 (49 years).
High School Running Resume:
State Final PR's:
440 Yard Dash
– 48.9 (Record)
880 Yard Run
– 1:54.0 (Record)
Mile Relay –
3:29.9
2 Mile Relay
– 7:58.5 (Record)
State Titles:
1966 – 2
Mile Relay
1967 – 880 Yard Run, Mile Relay
1968 – 440
Yard Dash, 880 Yard Run, 2 Mile Relay, High Point
State Meet All-Time Lists:
2nd 60’s AAA
400 Meters
1st All-Time All Class 800 Meters
1st All-Time
AAA 800 Meters
1st &
2nd 60's AAA 800 Meters
4th All-Time
All Class 4x800 Relay
4th All-Time
AAA 4x800 Relay
1st &
4th 60’s AAA 4x800 Relay
College:
On November
23rd, 1970, at the 1970 National Collegiate Cross Country Championships (6
Miles) at the College of William and Mary at Kingsmill Plantation in
Williamsburg, Va. Smith placed 23rd (28:56) out of 307 runners. Villanova finished with 85 points in
the team standings and came in 1st out of the 39 teams that earned berths to
the NCAA meet. This title win didn’t come without controversy (See story
below).
Donal Walsh
led the Wildcats with a 2nd place overall finish in 28:08. Marty Liquori was in
the top 10 with a 9th finish in 28:37, Wilson Smith placed 23rd in 28:56, Chris
Mason placed 37th in 29:14, and Les Nagy was the fifth scoring runner in 62nd
place (29:30). The other
two finishers for Villanova were Bill McLoughlin who finished 85th in 29:44 and
John Hartnett in 168th place in 30:28.
On November
22nd, 1971, at the 33rd Annual National Collegiate Cross Country Championships
(6 Miles) at the University of Tennessee at Fox Den in Knoxville, Tn. Smith
placed 238th (33:14) out of 285 runners. Villanova
finished with 161 points in the team standings and came in 4th out of the 30
teams that earned berths to the NCAA meet.
Dave Wright
led the Wildcats with a 15th place overall finish in 30:09. Donal Walsh
finished 25th in 30:27, Marty Liquori placed 30th in
30:33, Bill McLoughlin placed 69th in 31:09, and John Hartnett was the
fifth scoring runner in 127th place (31:47). The other two finishers for
Villanova were Wilson Smith and Les Nagy in 238th and 239th place in 33:14
respectively.
In a blog on
Villanova Running dated Thursday, December 10, 2009 reads -
The Strange Case of Villanova's 1970
Cross Country Crown
On November
23, 1970 the NCAA Cross Country Championship was held at the College of William
& Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. The top contenders for the team
championship were UTEP, which had won the crown in 1969 and returned all 5 top
finishers from that race, Oregon, 3rd in 1969 and led by the iconic Steve
Prefontaine, and Villanova, which had won the title in 1966, 1967, 1968 and
finished second behind UTEP in 1969. By all accounts, though, Villanova was in
something of a rebuilding phase in 1970 and most observers had UTEP as the
pre-race favorite.
Oregon,
though, had seemingly pulled the upset. Steve Prefontaine, 3rd the year before,
won the race in 28:00 and Oregon was declared the team champion, beating
Villanova 86-88. UTEP was third. The championship trophy was awarded to Bill
Dellinger and his Ducks, the top teams stood atop the podium, and the press
conference was held. Oregon departed for the airport, trophy in hand, believing
it had won the championship.
However,
when Les Nagy, Villanova's 5th finisher, look at the results board, he noticed
that several runners he knew he had beaten were listed ahead of him in the
list. Nagy claimed that after having crossed the finish line he had fallen to
the ground, and several runners had passed him in the finish chute prior to the
runners having gotten their place cards. Villanova filed a protest of the
results and refused to leave the site until the 8mm film of the finish line was
reviewed. Sure enough, Nagy was correct. After reviewing the film, Nagy was
awarded 62nd place overall, instead of 67th, and as a consequence Villanova was
declared the team champion 85-86 over Oregon. Bowerman and the Ducks filed a
protest, but to no avail. Villanova's squad -- Donal Walsh, Marty Liquori, Wilson
Smith, Chris Mason, Les Nagy, Jerry Bouma, and Dave Wright -- had won its 4th
national title in 5 years.
Here are the top 25 finishers in that
1970 championship race:
1. Steve
Prefontaine, Oregon 28:00
2. Donal
Walsh, Villanova 28:08
3. Don
Kardong, Stanford 28:10
4. Greg
Fredericks, Penn State 28:12
5. John
Bednarski, UTEP 28:14
6. Keith
Munson, Oregon State 28:22
7. Bob
Berlesen, Ohio 28:28
8. Sidney
Sink, Bowling Green 28:30
9. Marty
Liquori, Villanova 28:37
10. Scott
Bringhurst, Utah 28:40
11. Jerome
Howe, Kansas State 28:43
12. Richard
Sliney, Northern Arizona 28:44
13. Don
Smith, Washington State 28:45
14. Jerome
Liebenburg, Western Michigan 28:46
15. Kerry
Pearce, UTEP 28:47
16. Mark
Covert, Cal State Fullerton 28:48
17. Mark
Hiefield, Washington State 28:48
18. Gary
Harris, Western Michigan 28:50
19. Dennis
McGuire, Iowa State 28:50
20. Ken
Popejoy, Michigan State 28:55
21. John
Cragg, St. Johns (Minn) 28:58
22. Greg
Carlberg, Nebraska 28:56
23. Wilson Smith, Villanova 28:56
24. Edmund Norris,
Kent State 28:59
25. Ron
Martin, William & Mary 29:00
TOP 5 TEAMS:
Villanova (85), Oregon (86), UTEP (124), Indiana (195), Western Michigan (214)
After the
race Villanova coach Jack Pyrah commented: "We were really surprised to
win it. UTEP had everyone back and Oregon had its usual fine personnel. We
really don't have a cross country runner except for Walsh. The rest of our
runners are half-milers and milers who are suited more for the track. Marty
doesn't like to run cross country. He doesn't like to run hills -- in fact, we
didn't even run him in the IC4A meet the week before at Cortlandt Park in New
York because the course has so many hills. He has muscle problems in his leg
and a hilly course aggravates it. But the course at Williamsburg was pretty
flat."
While
honoring the 100th West Virginia high school boys State Track & Field Meet,
Wilson along with several other record holders for running events when the
state meet was held in yards (pre-1980) came back to Laidley Field to present awards
to those who won a state championship. Those presenters included: David Bowman,
Duval; Frances Daniell, Parkersburg; Kerry Marbury, Monongah; Tom Pridemore,
Ansted; Paul Reed, St. Marys; Tom Reid, Woodrow Wilson; Bob Rieves, Wheeling; Cynthia
Shelton, DuPont; Wilson Smith, Huntington.
[Note: I’m
still in the process of finding Wilson Smith’s College Track & Field
results.]
Submitted by
Coach Mike McMillion (03/17/18)