Inductees

In the quaint southwest Missouri town of Miller, the story is legendary: Local teen began competing in track and field only as a high school sophomore, goes on to win four state track titles, got recruited by the best college track programs out there, was asked to pitch in front of a New York Yankees scout, later helped the University of Tennessee program win a national title and competed in the Olympic Trials.

If some old-timer were telling the story at the barber shop on a hopping Saturday morning, the others sitting nearby would chuckle and say, “Yeah, right.”

Yet, it’s true. Just ask John Richardson. He pulled it all off.

In fact, his success in track and field – and specifically the javelin – is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Richardson with the Class of 2020.

“My dad, Stewart Richardson, was instrumental. He said to me at a very young age, ‘It’s not the size of the dog in the fight. It’s the size of the fight in the dog,’” Richardson said. “That always stuck with me. To me, I had to work harder than everyone else to gain the success I wanted and not let anyone take the wins from me.”

A 1987 graduate of Miller High School, Richardson was a standout in track, as he won four state championships at the MSHSAA Track & Field Championships – in high jump, long jump, shot put and discus. Javelin was banned in Missouri high schools but, as a Junior Olympian javelin thrower, he set national records in multiple age divisions.

At the University of Tennessee in the javelin, Richardson was a three-time NCAA All-American (1989, 1990, 1991), a four-time All-Southeastern Conference and helped the Volunteers win the SEC and the NCAA Championship his senior year, when he was the national runner-up in the event.

He also was part of USA teams in the 1988 World Junior Championships, 1990 Scandinavia Development Tour and 1991 World University Games.

And to think how it all began.

Miller track coach Mike Rader recruited him to throw discus in 1985, and he was long jumping and triple jumping by the end of the season.

That summer, Richardson took up the javelin with a local Junior Olympics Track Club – he had thrown a football 85 yards to convince the coach — and six weeks later set the 16-and-under national Junior Olympic record. He appeared in Sports Illustrated’s famed “Faces in the Crowd” section.

If not for a blown out right knee, he might have been a big recruiting target in football. Still, at one point, he won the default national high school meet, and helped Miller to a state runner-up finish.

Recruiting letters poured in, and Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska and Texas were his track finalists. However, he chose Tennessee, whose staff included Bill Webb, who had coached the U.S. and world record javelin throwers. The NCAA Division II national javelin champion, David Stephens, was to train there for the Olympics, too.

In Richardson’s senior year, the track team featured three Olympians, a world championship team decathlete and six NFL players, including Alvin Harper and Carl Pickens.

At the 1991 SEC Championships, Richardson placed third. At the NCAA Championships, his national runner-up finish helped Tennessee win it all as the Volunteers pulled a nearly 20-point swing in the final hour.

“That year was like a dream,” said Richardson, whose All-American javelin throws went 237 feet, 6 inches followed by 234-3 and 236-3. “What I remember most about that season was the day-to-day grind of practice and weight room work we all put in. We pushed each other every day in practice and it paid off.”

That summer, he finished second to Sweden’s world record holder, was fourth at the U.S. Mobile Championships and, despite a left knee injury in a pick-up football game, finished 10^th at the 1992 Olympic Trials.

Richardson thanks many: Miller coaches Mike Rader, Rick Johnson and Jim LaSalle; American Legion coach Keith Newcomb; Missouri State coach John McGee; Webb and Stephens (D-II champion and UT training partner).

“I would like to thank my parents for the time, effort, and financial support they put into my athletic career,” said Richardson, Vice President of Sales for Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Company who has since seen Miller High School retire his track and field jersey. “We were not a family of great means, and I didn’t really understand or appreciate the sacrifices they made so that I might pursue these dreams until later in life.”