An extraordinary class opens the High School Hall of Fame

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

From Renaldo Nehemiah to Allyson Felix, and 28 presentations in between, the induction ceremony of the first class of NSAF's National High School Track and Field Hall of Fame was a one-of-a-kind gathering of U.S. track and field royalty. 

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The event celebrated the Titans of high school track and field, knitting together the stories of people who not only moved athletics in the United States but also changed society.

Betty Robinson and Helen Stephens pioneered the widespread acceptance of women as athletes in the 1920s and 1930s.

Sol Butler, Jesse Owens, Cornelius Johnson, Alice Coachman, Milt Campbell and Willye White were among those who made incalculable contributions not only to track and field, but race relations and civil rights. 

Bob Mathias, forever remembered as the 17-year-old from Tulare, Calif. who won the Olympic decathlon in 1948 in some ways ignited a post-WWII youth culture that saw new and boundless horizons. 

But it was the nuggets of seldom heard stories that kept producing wow moments at the New York Athletic Club. 

Michael Carter's 81-foot moonshot in the shot put in 1979 -- a four-foot improvement on his own national record on the final attempt of his high school career -- was inspired by his girlfriend. 

"She told me to get 80 for her," Carter said. "So I didn't want to go home and tell her I'd only gotten 76 or 77."

Carter married that girl and together they had Michelle Carter, the women's Olympic shot put gold medalist and a possible future inductee. 

Chandra Cheeseborough used her time to remind everyone how good she was at basketball, boasting a frequent stat line of "26 points, 13 rebounds."

Kim Gallagher befriended a young Michael Jordan at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The mercurial Gerry Lindgren said he never wanted to win his races, but saw himself as 'wimp,' a target, to push others to run faster. 

The granddaughters of Owens and Robinson spoke with elegance about what it meant to grow up and learn that they had come from greatness. Owens' granddaughter recalled going to the 1972 Munich Games and being amazed at how Jesse was mobbed by adoring Germans. 

Joe Newton's son, Tom, wore a green bow tie to honor his father's 60 years coaching the York Dukes in Illinois. 

Tom Newton said his father's greatest fear was in being forgotten. Tom's father and mother both passed away in the past three months.

On Thursday night at the NYAC, the stories and legacies of Newton and everyone else inducted in the Hall of Fame were preserved for all time.