Wilson
Smith Biography
Huntington
High (Class of 1968) / Huntington, WV
Classification:
AAA Boys
Specialty:
Mid Distance / Distance
Villanova
University
Wilson Smith a
standout distance runner and a 1968 graduate of Huntington High School in
Huntington, West Virginia. Old Huntington High School is a historic high school
building located at Huntington, Cabell County, West Virginia. It was built in
1916 and is a 4 1/2 story buff brick building in the Classical Revival style. The
last graduating class was in 1996. A new facility was built to consolidate Old
Huntington High and Huntington East High School into a single institution; the
new school opened in August 1996 as Huntington High School.
In 1967, Smith
won the West Virginia high school all-class boy’s individual state cross
country championship.
In track, Smith
won six state titles in three years. His sophomore year, he was on the Pony
Express winning 2-mile relay squad. His junior year, he ran a state meet record
in the 880, was on the Pony Express winning Mile relay squad, and helped the Pony
Express claim a state championship (1967). His senior year, he broke the Class
AAA boys state meet records in the 440 in 48.9 (since broken), the 880 in 1:54.0
(since broken), was part of the record-setting two-mile relay in 7:58.5 (since
broken), and earned high point honors. Smith has the best time in the 880 in
state history of 1:50.4, which converts to 1:49.76 for 800-meters.
While in high
school, Smith was coached by the legendary Ray McCoy.
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.
He is the son
of Dr. Wilson and Maida Smith of Huntington.
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]
On November 13th,
1965, at the West Virginia high school all-class boy’s state cross country championship
at Morgantown (WV), Follansbee’s Mike Beckelheimer circled the 2.1-mile
Morgantown Country Club Course in 11:10 to set a new course record and take top
individual honors. Stanley Backus of Charleston, last year’s winner, finished
second eight seconds off the pace. Huntington East placed two runners among the
top seven finishers to capture the team title. Charleston finished a close
second with Keyser third, followed in order by Romney, Triadelphia, Wheeling,
West Union, and Follansbee.
Note: I could
not find complete results or where Huntington’s Wilson Smith participated in
the State Meet.
On May 21st,
1966, at the West Virginia high school class AAA boy’s state track meet at
Laidley Field in Charleston (WV), Bill Jarrett led Stonewall to the ’66 Title,
his first as Coach. He had led the Generals to three titles as an athlete, and
in defeating runner-up Parkersburg were able to defeat those of his mentor,
Russ Parsons. Jim Hedrick and Mike Lambert led the powerful Stonewall team, but
it was Parkersburg hurdler Phil Parsons who garnered high point honors with
17.5 points. Parsons won the 180-yard low hurdles (20.0) and broad jump
(21-6.5), was anchor on the winning shuttle hurdle relay team (56.7) and placed
second in the 120-yard high hurdles. Wilson Smith ran a leg on the
record-breaking Pony Express 2-Mile Relay team (Hale, Smith, Congleton, Earls)
8:13.5. Huntington High placed fourth in the team standings with 26 points.
[Junior
Year]
On November
12th, 1966, at the West Virginia high school all-class boy’s state cross
country championship at Morgantown (WV), Charleston High led by Bob Phillips
won the team championship by just edging out Herbert Hoover - 50 to 51 (low
point wins). Phillips winning individual time for the hilly, 2.3-mile Morgantown
Golf and Country Club Course was 11:40. Mike Robinson of Huntington East was
runner-up with a time of 11:45, while Huntington High’s Wilson Smith was third
in 11:47.
Individual
Results (All-State):
1) Bob
Phillips, Charleston (11:40); 2) Mike Robinson, Huntington East (11:45); 3)
Wilson Smith, Huntington High (11:47); 4) John Hover, Hoover (11:48); 5) Dale
Slator, Keyser (12:07); 6) Wayne Kee, Hoover (12:08); 7) John Welch, Hoover
(12:24); 8) Cliff Brooks, Keyser (12:25); 9) Larry Letart, Charleston (12:26);
10) Ronnie Woodson, Charleston (12:29)
On May 20th,
1967, at the West Virginia high school class AAA boy’s state track meet at
Laidley Field in Charleston (WV), 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. The junior ace 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. Oak Hill’s
Robert Collins broke the 220 mark with a 21.6. The record of Huntington’s Jimmy
Warfuel had stood since 1931. George Washington’s Steve Stevenson set the pole
vault record, being the first to hit 13 feet.
Smith also
ran a leg on the winning Pony Express Mile Relay team (Jackie Hysell, Wilson Smith,
Larry Diggs, Remella) 3:29.9.
[Senior
Year]
On November
4th, 1967, at the West Virginia high school all-class boy’s state cross country
championship at Morgantown (WV), 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).
On May 25th,
1968, at the West Virginia high school class AAA boy’s state track meet at
Laidley Field in Charleston (WV), the Huntington High Pony Express placed third
behind Charleston (51) and St. Albans (40) out of twenty-eight AAA teams. Class
AAA athletes set seven state records and tied one.
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-8:00 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.
In June of
1968, Smith ran 800-meters in 1:50.4 in the Amateur Athletic Union Track &
Field Championships in Sacramento, California.
In October of
1968, Huntington High’s Wilson Smith was named to the high school All-America
track and field team by scholastic Coach Magazine. Smith, who owns the state
high school half-mile record, ran that distance in a time of 1:50.4.
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
6th 60’s AAA
4x400 Relay
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 blog 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 10th, 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."
VILLANOVA MEN’S TRACK
& FIELD/CROSS COUNTRY
(RECORDS)
Villanova’s
Cross-Country Records (2.9 Miles) Top
10 Overall Times:
1st - Wilson Smith
(14:02) 10/12/68 at Georgetown (freshman race) Washington, D.C.
1st - Donal
Walsh (14:02) 10/12/68 at Georgetown (freshman race) Washington, D.C.
1st - Dave
Wright (14:02) 10/12/68 at Georgetown (freshman race) Washington, D.C.
Villanova’s
Cross-Country Records (Three Miles) Top 10 Overall
Times:
10th - Wilson
Smith (14:29.8) 10/26/68 vs. Saint Joseph’s (freshman race) Belmont Plateau
(Philadelphia, Pa.)
10th - Donal
Walsh (14:29.8) 10/26/68 vs. Saint Joseph’s (freshman race) Belmont Plateau
(Philadelphia, Pa.)
Villanova’s
Cross-Country Records (Three Miles) Top 10 Athletes:
Villanova’s
Cross-Country Records (Six Miles) Top 10 Overall Times:
3rd - Wilson Smith 28:56 11/23/70
NCAA Championships Kingsmill Plantation (Williamsburg, Va.)
Villanova’s Cross-Country Records (Six
Miles) Top 10 Athletes:
3rd - Wilson Smith 28:56 11/23/70
NCAA Championships Kingsmill Plantation (Williamsburg, Va.)
Villanova’s Distance Medley Relay (1320-440-880-MILE)
Top 10 Overall Times:
10th -
Villanova (9:38.5) 4/24/70 Penn Relays (Championship of America) Franklin Field
(Philadelphia, Pa.) (Wilson Smith, Greg Govan, Chris Mason, Marty Liquori)
Villanova’s
Distance Medley Relay (1320-440-880-MILE) Top 10 Overall Times –
Outdoors:
8th -
Villanova 9:38.5 4/24/70 Penn Relays (Championship of America) Franklin Field
(Philadelphia, Pa.) (Wilson Smith, Greg Govan, Chris Mason, Marty Liquori)
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.
Submitted by
Coach Mike McMillion (updated 08/16/20)
Results
courtesy of RunWV
Sources:
Jesse Skiles, West Virginia High School Track & Field State Meet: Boys (A
Statistical History 19:14-2001); Archives; Villanova Men’s Track & Field/Cross
Country Records