The Ryun Project - 5

I remember picking up my oldest sister's Abilene High School yearbook in the summer of 1965.  It was in the early days of my growing obsession with sports.  I went through the sports section likely looking for pictures of my two Cowboy basketball heroes, Mark Norton and Mike Wood.  I noticed Norton's picture in the cross country section.  It turned out that Mark could not shoot hoops but was an outstanding distance runner.  Then I noticed a picture of Jim Ryun.  The AHS annual found Ryun's smashing victory at the state cross country meet noteworthy coming as it did just a month after his return from the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The abbreviated cross country schedule came under the tutelage of Jim Ryun's new coach, J.D. Edmiston.  Bob Timmons had left Wichita East to become an assistant coach at the University of Kansas under the legendary Bill Easton.  J.D. turned out to be a heck of a high school track and field coach in his own right.

Besides handling Ryun's senior campaign Edmiston would later coach East distance great Randy Smith.  Smith ended up setting the state record for 2 miles and later win the AAU National Championship in the 3000 meter steeplechase after finishing up his career at Wichita State.  When I interviewed Edmiston for the Ryun documentary, almost as an afterthought, I realized that J.D. felt that his contributions had been long overlooked.

J.D. and I talked for about an hour and as we finished the interview he began to tear up.  I was stunned and thought I had done something to hurt his feelings.  J.D. explained the rush of emotions this way, "Nobody's ever asked me these questions before, nobody ever thought to ask me."  Of all the things that went into making the documentary, that moment made everything worthwhile.

J.D. passed away a few years ago.  He went to his grave knowing that he is the only prep coach to guide an American high school athlete to an American record in the mile.  Along with that victorious record run in San Diego, Jim Ryun took the scalp of 3 time Olympic Gold Medalist Peter Snell.

Fall of 1964/Spring-Summer 1965


10-31-64   2 Mile     9:31        1st          Wichita, KS       Echo Hills Golf Course   Regional
11-7-64     2 Mile      9:08.2     1st        Wamego, KS     Wamego Country Club    State Championships

Date        Event       Time        Place       Splits

3-18-65   880          1:53.5      1^st            56.0-1:53.5

South Invitational   South High School  Wichita, KS

3-27-65   1 Mile      4:07.2      1^st            61.5-2:06.0-3:10.0-4:07.2

State Indoor Championships  Ahearn Field House                Manhattan, KS

3-30-65   Mile         4:04.4      1^st            59.6-2:04.7-3:07.7-4:04.4

              220          21.6         1^st            880 relay

East Invitational      East High School     Wichita, KS

4-3-65     Mile         4:30.4      1^st            65.0-2:16.0-3:24.0-40:30.4

Washington Invitational         Washington High School       Kansas City, KS

4-10-65   Mile         4:15.9      1^st            62.1-2:09.5-3:16.4-4:15.9

Wichita State Invitational      Wichita State          Wichita, KS

4-16-65   Mile         4:04.8      1^st            59.5-2:05.0-3:09.3-4:04.8

Kansas Relays                         University of Kansas               Lawrence, KS

4-17-65   880          1:47.7      1^st            55.8-1:47.7 (2 mile relay/anchor leg)

Kansas Relays                         University of Kansas               Lawrence, KS

4-24-65   Mile         4:02.0      1^st            57.0-2:010-3:04.0-4:02.0

Hutchinson Relays  Hutchinson High School         Hutchinson, KS

5-1-65     880          1:51.5      1^st            27.1-55.9-1:25.1-151.5

City League Championship     Wichita State          Wichita, KS

5-7-65     Mile         4:08.2      1^st            NA

Regional  Hutchinson, KS

5-15-65   Mile         3:58.3      1^st            58.0-2:00.8-3:02.6-3:58.3

State Championship               Wichita State          Wichita, KS

5-29-65   Mile         3:58.1      1^st            NA

Modesto Relays      Modesto, CA

6-4-65     Mile         3:56.8      3^rd            NA

Compton Relays      Compton High School             Compton, CA

6-13-65   3  Mile     13:54.0    1^st            66.2-2:17.0-3:27.0-4:38.0-5:48.0-6:59.0-8:11.0-9:21.5-10:31.0-11:42.0-12:52.0-13:54.0

All Comers              East High School     Wichita, KS

6-19-65  2 Mile      9:04.0      1^st            NA

Mile         4:04.3      1^st            NA

Golden West Invitational       Sacramento, CA

6-26-65   Mile         4:11.4      1^st            prelim NA

AAU National Championship  Balboa Stadium      San Diego, CA

6-27-65   Mile         3:55.3      1^st            59.5-2:00.3-3:01.3-3:55.3 (American Record)

AAU National Championship Balboa Stadium        San Diego, CA

7-16-65   Mile         4:04.3      1^st            NA          

               880          1:50.5     1^st            NA

               3 Mile      14:04.8   3^rd            NA

Carreras Invitational               Kingston, Jamaica

7-23-65   Mile         4:10.4      3^rd            NA

U.S. Team Exhibition              Wichita State          Wichita, KS

8-1-65     1500        3:40.4      2^nd           NA

U.S.A. vs. U.S.S.R.   Kiev, Ukraine U.S.S.R.

8-7-65     1500        3:49.6      1^st            NA

U.S.A. vs. Poland     Warsaw, Poland

8-13-65   1500        3:41.6      1^st            NA

U.S.A. vs. West Germany       Augsburg, Germany