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1974 - Memorial Stadium, Bakersfield, June 1st. The 56th CA state meet was a twilight affair to escape Bakersfield's hot afternoon temperatures. This meet was the first one in which girl's competition was included, this addition increased the possibility of competitors doubling. Rich Kimball of DeLaSalle HS (Concord), National leader this year in the mile (4:02.4) and two mile (8:51.0), was giong to be the first to take advantage of the additional time. He would attempt an unprecedented distance double (mile/2mile). The starting times in the finals were an hour and twenty minutes apart. The two mile would be first... Many thanks to Ken Ernst for the shots. |
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2M - They're off. Eric Hulst (Laguna), a sophomore, will lead the first lap in 65.4. |
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Kimball will take over at two laps in 2:09.8 (64.4). |
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The field strings out. Steve Mowry (Madison), Kingery (San Carlos), Benton Hart (Modesto), Kirk Pfeffer (Crawford), Jim Schankel (Lompoc), Jaun Garcia (Redwood) and Gary Blume (Marina). |
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Schankel begins to move up. |
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Schankel (Lompoc) moves into 3rd. |
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The battle for places 10-20th. |
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Kimball builds a 15 yard lead by five laps: 5:28.5... |
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| But Hulst came back strong, with a 67.6 lap, and took over at 6½ laps. With a lap to go Hulst led by a yard (7:43.6). | With 330 yards to go, Kimball makes a definitive move to the front... to stay... |
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Kimball puts on his sprint and pulls away with a 63.1 final quarter. His 8:46.6 moves him to a then third on the all-time prep list behind greats Craig Virgin and Steve Prefontaine! Hulst, the sensational soph, moved to a then seventh with his soph class and age-16 record of 8:50.5!! 1. Rich Kimball (DeLaSalle), 8:46.6 2. Eric Hulst (Laguna), 8:50.5 3. Jim Schankel (Lompoc), 8:56.9 4. Benton Hart (Modesto), 8:57.8 5. Kirk Pfeffer (Crawford), 8:59.5 6. Steve Mowry (Madison), 9:03.1 7. Jaun Garcia (Redwood), 9:04.3 8. Mitch Kingery (San Carlos), 9:05.0 9. Roy Kissin (San Ramon), 9:08.0 10. John Avila (Avene), 9:08.1 11. Guy Arbogast (Crespi), 9:14.6 12. John Sisler (Petaluma), 9:14.8 |
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The Mile: an hour and ten minutes later... |
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The early pace was slow with the favorites (Kimball, Serna and Andy Clifford (Sunny Hills), running in the middle of the pack. |
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| Jay Woods (Vista) leads past 880 in 2:05.9, while Kimball moves into second. |
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Kimball moved into the lead at three laps (3:09.8), and then on the backstretch (L) charges for home. Andy Clifford follows and gets to within a yard of Kimball's shoulder on the turn but no further - all the way to the finish. Kimball's 56.5 last lap holds off Clifford's notable 55.7! 1. Rich Kimball (DeLaSalle), 4:06.6 2. Andy Clifford (Suny Hills), 4:06.7 3. Ray Wicksell (West Covina), 4:08.2 4. Ralph Serna (Loara), 4:09.2 5. Tom Colley (San Gorgonio), 4:09.5 6. Rusty Nahirny (Washington), 4:09.6 7. Tom Smith (Granite Hills), 4:10.6 8. Jay Woods (Vista), 4:11.0 9. Conrad Suhr (Leigh), 4:11.4 !!!! **Kimball, running with heavily taped ankles, accomplishes an amazing feat of winning both the mile and two mile races!! |
PREVIOUSLY
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At the San Jose Relays (Invitational) April 13, Kimball raced a nation leading 4:05.8 (59.1, 60.9, 63.4 & 61.4 (*Strong wind on the backstretch effected the third lap!). May 4, Kimball returned to San Jose (Invite), and ripped a nation leading & state record 4:02.7!... then sped to Castro Valley and raced a 8:51.0, later, to complete a distance double!! |
