We wanted the list to be objective as possible and the first step was to narrow the list down to a manageable number of athletes to review. We decided that the fairest way to do this was to set some standards for consideration. If you met one of these standards, you were included in our list to review. Here are the six standards.
1. Ranking in the Early Era All Time Top Ten High Point list using Inclusive or Exclusive Methods
2. Being ranked in the Early Era All Time Top Ten in more than one event
3. Winning the state meet high point award more than once
4. Scoring 20 points or more for the decade high point scoring
5. Being ranked in the top six scoring athletes in more than one decade
6. Being ranked number one in an individual event in your class
Note Early Era is defined as 1914-1959.
Once again, our goal was to be completely objective so we set to creating a formula for ranking the athletes selected by the above criteria. Details of the scoring system and a full list of athletes and scores are included below. Here are the top ten athletes of Early Era.
Early Era All Time Top Ten List
1. Bob Wright - Huntington (1937-1939)
2. Bill Fields - Parkersburg (1954-1957)
3. Bill "Catfish" Hearst - - Wellsburg (1958-1959)
4. Curtis Wickline - Charleston (1947-1948)
5. Jimmy Warfuel - Huntington (1929-1931)
6. Dieter Garrett - Dunbar (1956-1958)
7. Pete Barnum - Parkersburg (1919-1922)
8. Rock Ehle - Charleston (1951-1953)
9. Jimmy Dial - Huntington (1945-1947)
10. Johnson - Elkhorn (1948-?)
The Athletes were ranked using the following scoring system.
Total List Points + (Number of Events x 3) + (Number of All Time Marks x 2) + Number of Decade Marks + (State Meet Points Scored / 10) = Ranking Points
Total List Points - Points were given for each mark on the all time list using the 10,9,8...1 scoring system. That means if you were second in the All Time Early Era Long Jump and fifth in the All Time Early Era 200 Meters, you were given 15 points (9 for 2nd and 6 for 5th). Points scored in relays were not counted for these points as it was deemed unfair to those athletes that had less talented teammates than those that might have had a lot of help on the relays.
Number of Events - For each individual All Time List the athlete made in their class, they were given 3 points. If an athlete had 3 marks all on one list, they were given 3 points. If another athlete had marks on 3 different lists, they scored 9 points. The reasoning behind this was that an athlete would score more points for a team if they were great in multiple events than if they were great in only one. A coach would rather have an athlete that was among the greatest of all time in 3 events than one who was the best of all time in one event.
Number of All Time Marks - For time an athlete's name was listed on an Early Era all time individual list, they were given two points. The reasoning behind this was that we wanted to close some of the gap between a person who had one mark in the top ten (1st for 10 points) and another person who had two marks in the top ten (8th and 9th for 5 points). The person who turned our marks good enough for the all time top ten list in multiple years would have benefited their team more than a person who only did it once (no matter how good they were).
Number of Decade Marks - For each time an athlete's name made a decade top six list, they were given one point. The reasoning behind this was that this helped give some extra credit to athletes who just missed the all time top ten but still had an outstanding time.
State Meet Points Scored - For each point the athlete scored at the state meet they were given .1 ranking points (also known as points scored divided by 10). This was designed to give additional points to those athletes that may have not been great at a third or fouth event, but were good enough to gather places in a state meet. It also benefited those that were very good for multiple years of their career. The factor of dividing by ten was added so that this score would not tip the balance of the rankings.
Here are the athletes and their scores.
Rank Name School TLP NE TM DM SMP RF Reason 1 Bob Wright Huntington 32 3 6 9 110 73 1,2,3,4,6 2 Bill Fields Parkersbrg 30 2 5 5 58 56.8 1,2,4,6 3 Bill Hearst Wellsburg 25 2 3 3 30 43 1,2,4 4 Curtis Wickline Charleston 15 3 4 5 58 42.8 2,4 5 Jimmy Warfuel Huntington 19 3 3 4 44.5 42.45 1,2,4,6 6 Deiter Garrett Dunbar 18.5 2 3 4 64.5 40.95 1,2,4 7 Pete Barnum Parkersbrg 6.5 2 3 5 153 38.8 2,3 8 Rock Ehle Charleston 17 1 2 3 55 32.5 1,4,6 9 Jimmy Dial Huntington 10.5 2 2 4 71.5 31.65 2,3 10 Johnson Elkhorn 10.5 3 3 3 30 31.5 2 11 Paul Heydrick Charleston 9.5 2 2 5 64 30.9 2 12 Richard Harrison Charleston 9.5 2 3 3 64 30.9 2,4 13 Jimmy Canterbury Oak Hill 14 2 2 2 38 29.8 2 14 Russell Thomas Charleston 13 2 2 2 36 28.6 2 15 Keith Locke Huntington 16 1 2 2 21 27.1 1,6 16 Dornick Huntington 8 1 1 5 89 26.9 3,4 17 John Perry Huntington 8 2 2 3 58 26.8 2,3 18 Dean Dugger Stonewall Jack. 10 2 2 2 38 25.8 2 19 Johnny Winters Charleston 10 2 2 2 23.5 24.35 2 20 Derald Hillenbrand Stonewall Jack. 9 1 1 2 39.5 19.95 1 21 Carl Hickey Huntington 10 1 1 2 26 19.6 6 22 H.G. Lee Dunbar 10 1 1 1 35 19.5 6 23 Larry Legrande Huntington 7.5 1 1 1 59.67 19.467 3 24 Garland Barnhardt Anstead 10 1 1 1 21 18.1 6 25 John Minichan Huntington 10 1 1 1 18 17.8 6 26 Bob Arnold Glenville 10 1 1 1 12.5 17.25 6 27 Tommy Reeves Charleston 2 1 1 2 56.375 14.6375 3 28 Don Gwinn St. Marys 5 1 1 1 18 12.8 6 29 Russell Calloway Huntington 3 1 1 2 26.5 12.65 4 30 Lane Anderson Charleston 0 0 0 6 62.5 12.25 4 31 Norton Huntington 5 1 1 1 10 12 6 32 Bobby Downs Stonewall Jack. 0 0 0 1 49.5 5.95 3 TLP = Total List Points (See Explanation Above) NE = Number of Individual Events on All Time List for Early Era TM = Total All Time Individual Marks on All Time List for Early Era DM = Total Number of Decade Individual Marks for Early Era SMP = State Meet Points Scored RF = Ranking Factor. This score dicatated where the athlete was ranked. Reason = Why the athlete was considered for the list. 1. Ranking in the Early Era All Time Top Ten High Point list using Inclusive or Exclusive Methods 2. Being ranked in the Early Era All Time Top Ten in more than one event 3. Winning the state meet high point award more than once 4. Scoring 20 points or more for the decade high point scoring 5. Being ranked in the top six scoring athletes in more than one decade 6. Being ranked number one in an individual event in your class