Bright Faces of the Future
Except for a continuing chronicle of their deeds, there is little left to say about Jim Ryun, Ralph Boston and Tommie Smith, not to mention Randy Matson, Jim Hines and Gerry Lindgren. But what do you know about Pete Romero, Marty Liquori, Jerry Proctor or Dave Morton? Probably not much—but you will soon. Together with the other athletes shown on the following pages they form a remarkable group of highschoolers. Next week the best of them will be after national AAU titles, and should you wonder how well they will do, consider these performances: Romero (opposite), who runs 15 miles every morning through the vineyards of northern California, did a 1:56.6 half, 4:15 mile and two miles in 8:53, all in the same day. Just recently Liquori ran a mile .4 second over four minutes, Proctor jumped right into the world class with Boston and Morton found himself matching strides with San Jose State's Lee Evans in a 46-flat leg of a mile relay. For those who worry about the U.S.'s continued domination of Olympic track and field, there is simple advice: forget it.
Soaring Jerry Proctor (left), 17, a senior at Muir High in Pasadena, Calif., may be the most talented of the youngsters. An expert hurdler, he has also broad-jumped 25'9".
Smiling student at right is Mark Murro, 18-year-old javelin thrower of Essex Catholic, Newark. He is 6'1", weighs 225, and just this May set a scholastic record of 252'8".
Lean and supremely competitive, 17-year-old Marty Liquori, also of Essex, has overcome mononucleosis to become the most promising schoolboy miler since Jim Ryun.
Doug Smith (above left), a slim 17-year-old junior at Sioux City (Iowa) Central, expects to run a sub-four-minute mile before the year is out.
Doug Greenwood (above) is only 15 but already is a star athlete at Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, Conn. He has thrown the hammer 176'8".
A giant in the decathlon, sprinter-weightman Bill Blanchard (left) of Reedley (Calif.) High is the U.S.'s best all-round high school athlete.
Lanky Dave Morton (right), who has run a 46.7 quarter, anchors the record mile-relay team at Spring Branch Memorial High of Houston.
Lightly built Robert Yslas (left), 17, is a distance runner with endless staying power. A junior at Madera (Calif.) High, he has run six miles in 30:18 and the two miles in 9:10.
Surrounded by his young admirers (right), big (190-pound) Jim Jackson of Boys' High, Brooklyn is 18 and holder of two national indoor records at 880 and 1,000 yards.
High Jumper Tom Clyburn, using the old-fashioned Western roll, cleared 6'10" last year as a 16-year-old junior at Balboa High in San Francisco to set a state record.
ELEVEN PHOTOS