Toms River Track Teams in the Early 1950s

In the 1950s, the Toms River Track teams were dominant in the Shore Conference area.  Going into the 1950 season, Toms River had won 8 of the 14 Conference Championships.  Below is a recap of the results we have found so far for the first five years of the 1950s.

Most of this decade was coached by John Dalton.  In 1950, the team was led by Paul Dech (’52), Paul Werner (’50), Dick Revie (’50), Sid Kassenoff (’51), and Jake Newman (’51).  The manager was Harvey Hendricks (’50).

Caption in Yearbook reads: “The track men pictured above were the outstanding performers for Toms River during the 1950 track season. LEFT TO RIGHT: Manager Harvey Hendricks, Paul Dech, Paul Werner, Dick Revie, Sid Kassenoff, Jake Newman, and Coach John Dalton."

In the Red Bank Register newspaper on May 18, 1950, Toms River High School was dubbed the favorite going into the Shore Conference Championships.  Here are some excerpts from the article:

“The 880-yard run is expected to be a two-way battle for top honors with Webb, Neptune, and [Sam] Purpuri, Toms River Indian, fighting it out for a Conference medal.  In this event the Indians’ Purpuri is expected to get the nod as the favorite.”

“When it comes to the mile race, Toms River is one of the strongest schools in this particular event and the Indians are not only expected to take first place, but also second and third.  [Paul] Dech and the Harvey brothers, “Butch” and Randy, generally sweep all three places.”

Link to article:  http://209.212.22.88/DATA/RBR/1950-1959/1950/1950.05.18.pdf

Going into this Shore Conference race, “Toms River definitely is the school dominating the meet, winning the title eight times.  Neptune is next in line with half that number and then comes Red Bank and Freehold with one win each.”

They posted the Shore records as of 1949:

100 yard dash – Viron Jones, Neptune 1940.  Time 10.1.  Co-holder of this mark with Jones is Richard Clement

200-Yard Dash – Viron Jones, 1940, and Alfie Morgan, Manasquan, 1947. Time 22.8

440-Yard Dash – Charlie Simons, Toms River, 1946. Time 52.7

880 Yard Dash – Bruce Anderson, Rumson, 1939. Time 2:00.1

Mile – Jack Milne, Toms River, 1938  Time 4:36

120 high hurdles – Al Sica, Toms River, 1941. Time 15.8

220 Low hurdles – Al Bentzen, Neptune, 1938. Time 26.3

Shot Put – Alex Schibanoff, Freehold, 1937.  Distance 48’5 ½”

Discus – Arthur Van Schoick, Toms River, 1938. Distance 128’4”

Javelin – Walt Kurdechyk, Manasquan, 1944, Distance 141’

High Jump  – Viron Jones, 1940 and D. Myers, Manasquan, 1949.  Height: 5’10”

Broad Jump – Arnold Taylor, Neptune, 1947. Distance 21’11 ½”

Pole Vault – Bob Duckenfield, Freehold, 1948.  Height 11’7 5/8”

*Of the 13 track and field events, Toms River held four records.

Toms River lived up to the favorite status and dominated the 15^th Annual Shore Conference Championships in 1950, scoring 56 5/6 points.  Highlights from the meet included:

Martin Koscica (’50) – 3^rdin the 440 yard dash

Sid Kassenoff ('51)

Sidney Kassenoff (’51)-  4^th in the 440 yard dash, 2^nd in the 120 yard high hurdles, and 3^rd in the 220 yard low hurdles

Sam Purpuri (’51) – 1^st in the 880 in a time of 2:05.6

Paul Dech (’52) – 2^nd in the mile

Ed Harvey (’51) – 4^th in the mile

Carlton Hamilton (’52) – 5^th in the discuss

Richard Revie (’50) – 2^nd in the shot

Paul Werner (’50) – 2^nd in the javelin and 2^nd in pole vault

William McHugh (’52) – tied for 3^rd in the pole vault

Ed Harvey – tied for 1^st in the high jump with a jump of 5’4”

Joseph Fuccile (’51) and Roscoe Earyes (’52) –  tied for 3^rd in the high jump

Link to article and results:  http://209.212.22.88/data/rbr/1950-1959/1950/1950.05.25.pdf

The next year brought very similar championship results.  In 1951, the team was very strong in many events.

1951 Track Team

Here is a caption on the beginning of the track season in the 1951 yearbook:

At the Shore Conference Championships that year, Toms River again won the title with a score of 44 points.  The article from the Red Bank Register highlights that it is their 10^th title in the last 16 meets:

“Coach Johnny Dalton’s field operators came through with the necessary points in the last few field events which were responsible for the Toms River squad marking up is second straight championship.” 

Paul Dech (’52) was the individual highlight of the meet for Toms River as he dominated the mile race in a time of 4:42.  Also, Sid Kassenoff (’51) won the 120 yard high hurdles in a time of 16.2 seconds.

Sid Kassenoff ('51), second from the left, winning the 120 yard high hurdles

Other scorers included:

George Cranmer (’53) – 5^th in the 440 yard run

Sam Purpuri (’51) – 5^th in the 880 yard run

Ed Harvey (’51) – 5^th in the mile run and 4^thin the javelin

Carlton Hamilton ('52)

Joseph Fuccile (’51) – 4^th in the 120 HH and T-2^ndin the high jump

Carlton Hamilton (’52) – 2^nd in the discuss and 2^nd in the shot put

Harvey Kaplan (’52) – 3^rd in the shot put

Roscoe Eayres (’52) – T-5 in the high jump

William McHugh (’51) – T-2^nd in the pole vault

Link to article and results:  http://209.212.22.88/data/rbr/1950-1959/1951/1951.05.24.pdf

The team went on to win the Central Jersey Meet, which seems to be very similar to the Sectional State Championship meets that we have today.

Although losing seven out of the eleven varsity lettermen from last year, the 1952 team also had a lot of success.  There only dual meet loss that year was to the undefeated Red Bank team.

Link to article and results:  http://209.212.22.88/DATA/RBR/1950-1959/1952/1952.05.08.pdf

1952 Track Team

But the Toms River team rebounded really well from this defeat and just narrowly missed their 3^rd straight Shore Conference title.  They scored 42 points losing only to that same Red Bank team.  Three first place medals were given out to Roscoe Eayres (‘52) in the high hurdles, Larry Snow (’52) in the low hurdles, and Harvey Kaplan (‘52) in the javelin.  Other scorers included:

George Cranmer (’53) – 2^ndin the 880 yard dash

Hellis Reininghaus ('52)

Herbert Hahn (‘53) – 3^rd in the 880 yard dash

Randolph Harvey (’52) – 3^rd in the mile

Hellis Reininghaus (’52) – 2^nd in the pole vault

Eayres – 3^rd in the low hurdles and 2^nd in the high jump (as well as tied for 1^st in 120 yard high hurdles with Wes “Batman” Reavey of Red Bank in a time of 15.9)

Snow – 3^rd in the high hurdles (as well as 1^st in the low hurdles in a new Shore Area record of 21.6)

Kaplan – 5^th in the discus and 3^rd in the shot put (as well as 1^st in the javelin with a throw of 163’2”)

Link to article and results:  http://209.212.22.88/data/rbr/1950-1959/1952/1952.05.22.pdf

Another result we found for the 1952 season was that Toms River got 4^th overall at the Group II State Championship with a score of 19.5 points.

We could not find too much information on the 1953 season.  We found that they won three dual meets, including a victory late April against Middltown, where Toms River won 71 to 41.  Charles Richter (’54) won both the hurdle events that day.

Link to article and results:  http://209.212.22.88/DATA/RBR/1950-1959/1953/1953.04.30.pdf

1953 Track Team

At the Shore Conference Championships, Toms River was 5^th place overall with a score of 16 1/10 points.  Scorers at this meet were:

John Anderson (’53) – 3^rd in the 880 yard dash

James McVaugh (’55) – 1^st in the mile in a time of 4:52.3

Rolf Henn (‘55) – 4^th in the mile

Charles Richter (’54) – 1^st in the 180 yard low hurdles in a new record of 21.3, 4^th in the 120 yard high hurdles, and T-3^rd in the high jump

Anthony Raniero (‘53) – T-3^rd in the pole vault

The Toms River High School track team also place 2^nd in the State Conference Meet out of 4 school and place 4^th out of 21 teams at the State Meet.

Finally, in 1954, the team brought back the overall team championship at the Shore Conference meet by scoring 32 2/5 points.  Highlighting the meet was Harvey Braun (’54) who finished in a dead heat in the 180 yard low hurdles with Walt Freeman of Freehold to share a new mark of 20.6.

Harvey Braun ('54), third from the left, in the hurdles

Other scorers included:

Ken Weippert (’55) – 2^nd in the 100 yard dash and 3^rd in the low hurdles

James McVaugh (’55) – 1^st in the mile in 4:50.2

Charles Richter (’54) – 3^rd in the 120 yard high hurdles, 4^th in the low hurdles, and T-4^th in the high jump

William Mehler (’54) – 1^st in the discus with a throw of 130’7 ¼”

Rolf Henn (’55) – 2^nd in the javelin

Andrew Errickson (‘55) – 3^rd in the javelin

Richard Garretson (‘54) – 3^rd in the broad jump

William Small (‘55) – T-4^th in the high jump

Braun – 2^nd in the high hurdles (as well as 1^st in the low hurdles)

Link to article and results:  http://209.212.22.88/data/rbr/1950-1959/1954/1954.05.27.pdf

1954 Track Team

Later next month, we will go through the teams of the mid to late-1950s.  We would love to get some stories from the guys that were on these teams.  Please let us know if you have any contact information for the names in this article or on the roster list from the link below:

Track Alumni Spreadsheet

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