It’s almost as if it all happened in Hollywood, scripted and released on one of those old 1940s black-and-white movie reels. How else to explain the tremendous career of William Jewell College’s longtime coach, Darrel Gourley? You see, he was a high school freshman when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and then was forced to wait… Read more »
News
Sport: Running/Track and Field
Harriett Bland Green
Harriet Claiborne Bland (February 13, 1915 – November 6, 1991), later Harriet Bland Green, was an American sprinter from St. Louis, Missouri. Bland nearly qualified for the 1932 Summer Olympics team and protested the decision to exclude her. She qualified for the 1936 team but was told that there was no money to send her… Read more »
1977-1979 Era Greenwood Laboratory School Girls Track & Field
It’s been more than 40 years since Greenwood Girls Track & Field captured back-to-back state championships in 1978 and 1979. But the achievements of those teams, and the bonds they formed, still stand strong today. Coached by John Charles, the Blue Jays gave everyone a hint of what may lie ahead when they finished fourth… Read more »
Brutus Hamilton
Brutus Hamilton was a track and field athlete who grew up next to President Harry S. Truman’s family farm. In high school, and later at the University of Missouri, he excelled in all track and field events, finally winning a spot on the 1920 U.S. Olympic team. He won a silver medal in the decathlon… Read more »
Terry Higgins
In the early 1980s, when he first began teaching at Carl Junction High School, Terry Higgins was asked to be the public address announcer for junior varsity and freshmen football games. He still remembers that first contest – a 6-0 JV Bulldog victory against East Newton – but little did he know that press boxes… Read more »
Jerry Hughes
These days, there is nothing small about so-called small college athletics, and Jerry Hughes – the longtime athletic director of the University of Central Missouri – has been among its champions. Just walk across the Warrensburg campus. A $6 million fundraising effort has led to the football team’s new locker room, strength and conditioning center… Read more »
Kip Janvrin
Influenced by his dad, who was a teacher, coach and athletic director, Kip Janvrin’s quest to positively impact the lives of young athletes as a coach hit a roadblock in his early 20s. You see, as a decathlete, he also had eyes on the Olympics. So you can imagine how the real world was grabbing… Read more »
Jefferson City High School Track and Field Program
For the past quarter decade, the Jefferson City Jays have set a bar of excellence which few programs exceed. the records created by combining their boys and girls teams, boast an impressive 20 undefeated seasons, 40 District Championships and 9 State Championships. During that time, the Jays head coach Dennis Licklider has had a total… Read more »
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
To a generation of kids who came of age in the 1980s and early 1990s, she will be the incredible track and field superstar forever remembered standing atop the Olympic podium, both of her arms raised in the air while sporting a stars and stripes jacket and hoisting flowers. To kids of this generation, they… Read more »
Natasha Kaiser-Brown
So how in the world did Natasha Kaiser-Brown, who became an NCAA and Olympics standout, ever find her way to the University of Missouri? “It’s really kind of cool,” Kaiser-Brown said. “I was at the Junior Olympic Trials in Los Angeles, my junior year in high school. Right before I ran the 400 meters, this… Read more »
Don Knapp
We no longer live in a time where people stay in the same job for 30-plus years. We’re more transient now, able to move from place-to-place and job-to-job without much of a second thought. Spend 37 years working in one place? Who would do that? Don Knapp, that’s who. The former Rolla High School cross… Read more »
Muna Lee
Growing up in Kansas City, Muna Lee was convinced she would one day play in the WNBA. But a simple request in the sixth grade pointed her life in a completely different direction. A Kansas City track legend, Lee participated in the United States Olympic Trials as a senior at Central High School, where she… Read more »
Dennis Licklider
Dennis Licklider of Holts Summit, served as the head coach for the boy’s and girl’s track and field teams at Jefferson City High School for 24 years. In those years, his teams have posted a dual meet record of 237-5 and have won 106 major championships and 40 District Championships. With 20 undefeated seasons under… Read more »
Roberta Licklider
While serving as Head Volleyball Coach for 11 years at Jefferson City High School, Roberta logged 32 years as the Assistant Girls Track Coach. Under her guidance, the Lady Jays sprint team recorded 93 Individual and Relay Championships at the District and Sectional level, and six State Championships. Her athletes also recorded 69 All-State (Top… Read more »
Lincoln University Track and Field Program
Under the guidance of Coach Victor Thomas, the Lincoln University Track program has sprinted to tremendous success. The women’s program has won 10 NCAA National Championships, with the first coming in 2003 at the outdoor national championships, where his athletes won seven events, one short of the record for first place finishes at the Division… Read more »
Harry Lineberry
In 1979, with his heart tugging on him to return to coaching high school runners, a northern Missouri native turned his eyes to the southwest corner of the state and a town called Neosho. Harry Lineberry didn’t know what he was getting into. And Neosho didn’t know what it was truly getting. For both, fortunately,… Read more »