Racing with Huntington’s dream team

Throughout its rich and glorious history, Huntington Beach High has

produced some fine athletes, and one of the proudest moments in the

school’s sports history occurred in 1922.

During this time, the track team was winning trophies and medals

throughout Orange County.

During an April 1, 1922, track meet of the Orange County high

schools at Orange Union High, Huntington High was able to take home

three cups and 18 medals.

There were teams from Santa Ana, Anaheim, Fullerton, Orange and

Capistrano at the race.

Included on Coach Ray Walker’s dream team were Bud and Milt Nash,

Charles Bickmore, Ross Nichols and the team’s captain, Bill Kerr.

Our track team won the Southern California title in Long Beach on

April 22, 1922, and was ready to go to the state championship in

Stockton. I might add that Coach Walker’s nickname was “Feet,” which

he received while running a race in Long Beach in 1914. Walker had bought himself a pair of spikes that were five sizes too large, but

he succeeded in setting a record despite this handicap.

At the train depot on May 3, 1922, 500 of our townspeople gathered

to see Coach Walker and the team off to Stockton.

R.V. Cooley of the Huntington Beach Auto Beauty Parlor saluted the

team by firing a rocket into the air 15 minutes before the train

pulled out.

At 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 6, word reached our town of the success

of the team.

Walker telephoned to say, “We won the meet,” and the news spread

rapidly throughout the town.

Cooley again fired off one of his aerial bombs to let everyone in

earshot know of the team’s victory.

Our town went wild with excitement, as our team was now the state

champion.

When our team arrived home on May 8, they were met at the train

depot by a large crowd. Each member of the team was carried to a

nearby flatbed truck, and photographs were taken of the champs. They

were marched up and down Main Street in a long procession.

As the team arrived at the school auditorium, another large crowd

met them and gave them a big cheer.

On the school’s auditorium stage sat the schoolboard president,

C.A. Johnson, who congratulated the lads and told them they were the

representatives not only of Huntington Beach but also of Orange

County and the great state of California.

Our chamber of commerce held a great rally that evening inside the

school auditorium. Again, a large crowd of well-wishers packed the

auditorium.

The stage was decorated to look like a home library. On the

library table sat the trophies the team had won -- the $700 bronze

Southern California trophy they had won in Long Beach and the

Spaulding trophy they won as state champions.

The team was seated on stage in a semicircle with Johnson, City

Attorney Lew Blodget, newspaper editor James Conrad, chamber of

commerce president W.I. Clapp, Mayor Richard Drew, Coach Walker,

school board member William Newland, Principal M.G. Jones and chamber

of commerce secretary M.A. McCreery.

Mayor Drew got up and joked that he could jump as far as Bud Nash,

but only if he could do it in four sections.

The city attorney told the boys not to be over-confident, but to

stick to the task at hand.

Then the girls’ glee club performed a musical number entitled “The

Gingerbread Man,” with music furnished by the school orchestra, both

under the direction of Francis Douthit.

Kerr assured the audience the team would do its best at the

national championships, to be held in Chicago.

Chamber secretary McCreery, who rode along on the team’s trip to

Stockton, told the story of one team member who was so rattled when

they left Los Angeles in the Pullman car that he pressed the wrong

button to get a drink of water and filled his cup with liquid soap.

It was also mentioned that the Stockton meet was covered in more

than 2,400 daily newspapers and more than 8,000 weekly and semiweekly

publications.

What a proud day for Huntington Beach.

Jones spoke of the value of athletics to the life of the school.

After his speech, he presented the champs with a large cake. This

cake, baked and hand-decorated by John Eader, was inscribed with the

words, “California Champions 1922,” and included a design of the cup

won by the team.

Next week, we’ll see what preparations our town made to send the

team to the national championships in the Windy City and of the

trials, successes, and heartbreaks the team faced there.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.