Richard Watts Biography

Huntington East High School / (Class of 1973) Huntington, WV

Classification: AAA Boys

Specialty: Distance

Marshall University / (Class of 1977) Huntington, WV

 

Richard Wesley Watts (born on February 10, 1955) grew up in Huntington, West Virginia. He is a 1973 graduate of Huntington East High School and a former distance running standout at Marshall University. He is the middle child of Wesley and Rosemary Watts. Richard has two siblings, an older sister Patty and younger brother Mike.

 

Watts idolized Wilson Smith and his brother Steve when he first started running. The Smith’s both ran for Huntington High, not East. They were coached by legendary coach, Ray McCoy.

 

High School:

Watts ran for Huntington East High School from the fall of 1970 to the spring of 1973. He was coached at East by Hyman Smith in cross country, by Cagle Curtis in track, and unofficially by Bill Drinkard (Corky), whose son was on their undefeated 2-mile relay team.  Bill later moved to Madison (WV), where he has assisted the Scott High School team for years.

 

During his senior year, at the 1972 West Virginia High School All-Boys Class State Cross Country Meet which was held at Morgantown, St. Albans won the team championship as eleven teams competed for the title. Keyser’s Dale Redman captured top individual honors, while Huntington East’s Richard Watts placed 7th, earning him all-state honors.

 

Top 10 Individual All-State Runners over the 2.3-mile course were:

1. Dale Redman, Keyser (13:10.3); 2. Kenny Hensley, Montcalm High (13:14.0); 3. Kevin Schwing, John Marshall High (13:16.0); 4. Terry Wigfield, Keyser (13:18.0); 5. David Rollins, St. Albans (13:20.0); 6. Charles Miesner, Washington Irving (13:21); 7. Richard Watts, Huntington East (13:25); 8. Allen Peters, St. Albans (13:26); 9. Steve Tucker, St. Albans (13:27); 10. Mike Redman, Keyser (13:30)

 

Team Scoring:

1. St. Albans - (56); 2. Keyser - 59; 3. Huntington East - (99); 4. Brooke County - (137); 5. Tie between Morgantown and Greenbrier East (150 each); 7. Montcalm (163); 8. John Marshall (170); 9. Fairmont (195); 10. Stonewall Jackson (240); 11. Huntington High (301)

 

At the 1973 Class AAA Boys West Virginia State Track Meet, it was a St. Albans-Charleston battle for the sixth straight year, with St. Albans coming out on top for the fourth time in five years, 54 to 42 3/5 points. Charleston’s Mike Tyson and East Bank’s Claude Geiger tied for high point honors. Tyson tied records in the 100 (9.7) and 220 (21.1), and also defended his long jump title. He went on to make the ‘76 Olympic Trials at 100 meters.

 

In the distance events, Craig Casto of Parkersburg won the mile in 4:26.4, while Damon Clark of Wheeling outlasted the field to win the 2-mile in 9:52.1. This was the first time the 2-mile run was held, which made it a state record.

 

Huntington East’s Richard Watts placed third in the 1-Mile Run with a time of 4:29.3 and he anchored the Highlanders 2-mile relay team to a state championship. Their relay team went undefeated the entire outdoor track season.

 

Mile Run Results:

1. Craig Casto, Parkersburg (4:26.4); 2. DeVault, Fairmont East (4:26.5); 3. Richard Watts, Huntington East (4:29.3); 4. Brown, Martinsburg (4:31.2); 5. David, Beckley (4:32.5)

 

Watts wasn't a superstar in high school like a lot of his contemporaries, but he really improved in one year from high school to college.

 

After high school, Watts increased his mileage and intensity substantially while in college.

 

In 1973, Richard Watts, ran in the Charleston Distance Run 15-miler inaugural race the summer before he started college at the age of 18 years old. He would finish 28th out of 213 runners with a time of 1:30:18. He earned a second place finish in the 18-30 age division for West Virginia runners.

 

College:

 

Cross Country and Track (1973-1977):

Jerry Dotson was Watts roommate for two years. His Thundering Herd teammates were Damon Clark, Dave Kline, John Dotson, Tim Koon from Fairmont, Steve Carnohan, Gary Sheets from Chesapeake (OH), and David Shafer from Maryland.

 

Watts set 18 records, both individually and as a member of relay teams, in his career at Marshall, including the indoor mile, the outdoor mile, the indoor 1,000-yard run, the steeplechase, the four-mile relay and the 1,500-meter run.

 

He won the Marshall Invitational cross country meets in both his junior and senior years.

 

He broke the Marshall Mile record during his freshman year, and got all the way down to 4:13 that year. He ran 4:09 on Marshall's home track as a sophomore.

 

Watts ran a school record for 1500-meters with a time of 3:49, which converts to a 4:07.25 Mile.

 

As a freshman, he was "Most Valuable Runner" (cross country), "High Scorer" (track). Then as a sophomore, Watts was "Most Valuable Runner" (cross country), "Track Man of the Year" (a co-winner with Hall of fame members Joe Johns and Dave Kline) and First-Team All-Southern Conference in 1977.

 

He was the team captain of the 1977 team and a MU scholar-athlete all four seasons.

 

Watts ran at Marshall for Dr. Don Williams in 1973-74, for coach Andy Nameth in 1974-75 and for Hall of Fame member in coach Rod O'Donnell from 1975 to 1977. He helped the Herd to a third-place finish in the Southern Conference Cross Country meet, Marshall's first Southern Conference competition, and he finished eighth to claim All-Southern Conference honors, the first All-Southern Conference honors for the Thundering Herd program in its first year in the league.

 

He finished third in the mile in the Southern Conference Outdoor meet in 1977, again breaking his school record, and the Herd was fifth in the league that year. In his final meet at Marshall, Watts won the 800-meters run and was second in the 1,500-meter run as Marshall beat Cleveland State, 98-45.

 

Watts graduated from Marshall with a Bachelor of Science in 1977, then received his Master’s in 1994.

 

Watts was Inducted into The Marshall University Athletic Hall of Fame for Cross Country and Track in 2012.

 

Watts was invited to run the 1-Mile Run in the Inaugural Hall of Fame Classic track meet held during the 1975 Induction Weekend at Laidley Field in Charleston, West Virginia. He got to run against Frank Shorter who was the gold medal winner in the 1972 Olympic Games. Shorter ran the Mile in 4:12, while Watts would finish two seconds back in 4:14. Watts was the only local that got to run the Mile, while Carl Hatfield and David Duncan got to compete against Frank Shorter and Bill Rogers (the former Boston Marathon record holder) in the Two Mile Run.

 

Post-Collegiate:

Watts won three consecutive Virginia State Mountain Bike Masters championships, between 2000 and 2003. After graduating, Watts has finished third in the National Steeplechase event in National Masters Meet in California and was 15th in the World Mountain Bike Masters in Bromont, Canada (City in Québec).

 

On September 1, 2012, Watts (57) ran in the 40th Annual Charleston Distance Run, while placing 202 out 633 runners with a respectable time of 2:13:42.7.

 

Personal:

Richard Watts currently lives in Charleston, West Virginia. He is employed by Ackenheil Engineers and Geologists, Inc. in Nitro, WV as Senior Geologist and Vice-President.

 

Submitted by Coach Mike McMillion (04/12/19)