"Celebrating our Past and Embracing our Future"
The Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame
The Knoxville Track Club is eminently proud of the group of individuals whose boundless time and energy has contributed to the success of the KTC. In accordance, the club established in 2009 The Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame to honor those individuals whose efforts were paramount to the creation and growth of our club.
The purpose of the KTC Hall of Fame is to recognize and honor current and former members for their long-term and significant contributions to the club, to recognize distinction in athletic endeavors, and to acknowledge related accomplishments enhancing the image of the club.
The KTC Hall of Fame Selection Committee
proudly announces the 2011 class of inductees. The eight new members of the Knoxville
Track Club Hall of Fame are:
|
Brint Adams | Eddie
Reymond |
| Donnie Graham |
Marty Sonnenfeldt |
| Joyce
Hunter | Max Springer |
| Hayes Hunter | Jerry
Wrinkle |
Class of 2011 Induction Dinner
presented by
The eight inductees will be honored at the KTC Hall of Fame Induction Dinner on Thursday evening, October 27th, 2011 at Bearden Banquet Hall, 5806 Kingston Pike, Knoxville. Starting time is 6:30 pm. Reservations available online or by mail.
The 2009 Induction Dinner was a sellout, so please make your reservations early and help honor these terrific KTC Hall of Fame members on October 27th.
Guest Speaker - Dr. Farris Jordan
Dr.
Jordan is a licensed psychologist who knows what it means to take control of stress.
After receiving four degrees from the University of Tennessee, he has been extensively
involved in stress research.
Dr. Jordan is a motivational speaker
and author of four books and numerous articles on the prevention of mental and
physical illness. His clients include TVA, Bristol-Myers, WalMart, the US Army,
and UT to name just a few. He has received national recognition for his "hands
on" research on the effects of stress by becoming personally involved in
highly stressful events such as Brahma Bull riding, NASCAR race driving, sky diving,
Giant Canadian Bear wrestling, and alligator wrestling.
Dr. Jordan, a Knoxville resident and long-time member of the Knoxville Track Club, completed 13 consecutive Boston Marathons. Two of his most noteworthy accomplishments were completing the 2,150 mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine in 139 days, and traversing the 2,552 mile Mississippi River in a small canoe in 57 days. These experiences have enabled him to teach others how to control stress and stay motivated without fear or hesitancy.
Dr. Jordan tells his audiences to focus on gratitude for what they have. With much humor mixed in, Dr. Jordan urges his listeners to "develop an ability to cope with stressful events, refrain from making comparisons, avoid feeling entitled, never take things for granted, and build a sense of humor".
Inductee Biographies - Class of 2011
Brint Adams
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2011
There is a good chance that anyone who either participated in or attended a running event during the mid 1980's through 2002 caught a glimpse of Brint Adams, as he was most likely there organizing or volunteering his time to ensure it was done professionally. His footprint spans track & field, cross country and road races on every level, from teaching kids as young as 4-year olds about track to officiating college and USATF National meets. Brint also actively contributed to KTC from 1985 to 2002 by serving in numerous roles for a number of years including two as KTC President, fifteen on the Board of Directors, eight as Budget Director, nine as a LDC member, nine as State Records Keeper, four as Race Director for several races and eighteen as a race volunteer.
Brint was an active part of the KTC road racing community and he put his heart and soul into it ensuring that races were organized and run efficiently and professionally. Brint's son Bob can attest that, for every race Bob ran as he was growing up, Brint was there early enough to help set up the course, manage the finish line and help tear down afterwards where he recruited his son to help as well. Brint was awarded the Ginny Canfield Memorial Award - KTC Long Distance Program in 1998 for his outstanding contributions to the road racing community.
Brint's contributions didn't stop with road racing. He was also one of the pioneers for several youth programs that were just getting underway, ensuring that each expanded into new communities and continued to grow in the future. Two such highly successful programs involve the KTC Summer Youth Track & Field Program and the Middle School Cross Country and Track and Field Programs. Both were fledging KTC projects when Brint started out and he simultaneously held the titles of Farragut Site Director for the KTC Summer Youth Program and the Farragut Middle School Cross Country and Track & Field Coach for nine and ten years respectively. Within ten years, Brint helped grow the program from that first Farragut school to 25 middle school teams and ultimately all became part of the Knox County MS athletics program. In addition to helping coach other children, he also involved both of his sons, Bob and Brad, as well as his daughter, Ashley, in both the summer youth and middle school programs.
Brint also took pride in being a Track and Field official at all levels. He has been a USATF Track & Field official for more than 21 years and has worked hard to attain the highest certification level as field official for discus, shot put, hammer throw, and javelin. He has officiated at the USATF Outdoor Nationals and the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville for a continuous 17 and 19 years respectively and he continues to officiate other track meets annually. The Robert Neff Service Award - KTC Track & Field Official was awarded to Brint in 2000.
On June 27, 1996, Brint had the honor of carrying the Olympic Torch through part of Knoxville to celebrate the Atlanta Games. He also was honored to officiate at the 2004 and 2008 USOC Olympic Trials.
Donnie Graham
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2011
Donnie Graham was a star track athlete at Powell High School, winning the Lobetti Award as East Tennessee's top schoolboy trackman in 1965. He participated in the KTC Youth program starting in the fifth grade, representing KTC in many local and regional summer meets. Graham ran and placed in the first Vol Classic as a junior at Powell and won the Vol Classic 100 yard dash as a senior.
Graham was recruited to run at the University of Tennessee where he specialized in the 100/220/440 yard dash and the sprint relays. Graham's UT freshmen relay team set freshman school records in the 440 and 880 yard relays. For four years he was an important part of UT's SEC Championship Track & Field teams and continued as a student coach for one year. Graham graduated from UT in 1970 and followed up with a Masters Degree from UT in 1981.
Graham began teaching and coaching track and football at West High School in 1970. From 1978 to 1980, Graham coached track at Bearden Junior High School. For the next 19 years he was the track coach at Bearden High School. In 1999 he was transferred to Halls High School where he served as Assistant Principal and Athletic Director, Interim Principal, and Principal until his retirement in 2005. From 2008 until 2011 he has served the Knox County School System as Interim Assistant Principal at Karns High School and then at South Doyle High School.
Graham was on the KTC Board of Directors in the 1990's and served as VP before his job requirements in administration called him away in 1999. He was also on the KTC committee that originated the KTC Expo road race.
Graham was an early member of the KTC/Tennessee Officials group and is probably the only known person to participate in, or officiate, every KTC Vol Classic track meet from the start until 2010. Graham has been a primary starter for the KTC Officials since the group's inception. The starter is perhaps one of the most difficult officiating responsibilities as it requires a lot of experience. He holds a Master Official certification from USA Track and Field (USATF), the governing body of track and field in the United States. This is the highest level for certified USATF officials and is reserved for those officials who are qualified to serve as lead officials on a national level. USATF recently honored Graham as an Outstanding Official for the Olympiad - 2009-2012. He also earned the honor as starter for the TSSAA State Track Championships for 30+ years. As a Master Official, and representing the Knoxville Track Club, Graham has worked NCAA National Championships, numerous SEC Conference track and cross-country championships, the AAU National Junior Olympics and the Mobil National meet. He has been the starter at conference championships for the Big South, Southern, Atlantic Sun, and ACC conferences.
Graham is the recipient of numerous other achievement and service awards including Lifetime Achievement from the University of Tennessee/Track Officials for the Sea Ray Relays in 2008 and the Robert Neff Award in 2003. His community involvement and leadership includes membership in eight different professional organizations and active roles as an officer or board member of numerous other organizations such as VP for Tennessee Association of Physical Education or Department Chair for East Tennessee Education Association Physical Education.
Donnie Graham is one of those unique members that started in the youth KTC track meets in the 60's and continued to serve and contribute to the KTC and community for years after.
Hayes and
Joyce Hunter
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductees 2011
 |  |
Hayes and Joyce Hunter have been active volunteers for the Knoxville Track Club for more than two decades. The duo have staffed many finish lines, served as on-course monitors, and have been a valuable presence for track and field competitions at the University of Tennessee as well as local high school levels.
In the Footnotes Magazine back in 2005, Greer Fox wrote, "In 1972 Joyce and Hayes began helping with the youth track program at Webb School where Joyce was head of the Math Department. At the time there was no track program for girls, so Joyce volunteered to organize it, and subsequently served as the girls track coach for the next nineteen years." Joyce was selected KIL Coach of the Year in 1978. Joyce Hunter served as a member of the KTC Board of Directors during the 1990's including two years as Vice President. Both Joyce and Hayes were the race directors of the KTC Fireball 5K in 1995, 1996 and 1997.
The Hunters are widely recognized as outstanding USATF Master Officials specializing in the vertical jump events. The Master Official certification from USA Track and Field (USATF), the governing body of track and field in the United States, is the highest level of certified officials, reserved for those officials who are qualified to serve as lead officials on a national level. They have represented the Knoxville Track Club Officials at many major NCAA competitions including NCAA Division One National Championships across the United States, from Knoxville to Sacramento, and from Idaho to Louisiana and North Carolina. They have also officiated at NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships held at the University of Buffalo, the University of Texas, and at Drake University in Iowa. Their knowledge and skills are so great that they usually serve as Chief Judges for these events. Hayes and Joyce have also officiated NCAA Division Two National Championships in addition to ACC, SEC, Atlantic Sun, and Southern Conference Championships. As KTC Officials, they have represented the Knoxville Track Club and its excellent programs on the national scene since 1993.
The Hunters have been recognized on numerous occasions for their outstanding
contributions and were the recipients of the Robert L Neff Award for Outstanding
Service in 2001. In 2004, they were awarded the Canfield Award for KTC Volunteers
of the Year and for 2007, the University of Tennessee Track and Field staff presented
them with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Induction into the Knoxville
Track Club Hall of Fame is fitting for two such outstanding contributing members
of the club.
Eddie Reymond
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2011
Eddie
Reymond joined the KTC in 1999. It wasn't long before Reymond was deeply involved
in the KTC under the guidance of Allan Morgan.
Reymond, through his
business The Health Shoppe, started sponsoring KTC races in 2000 and has been
a sponsor for one of KTC's major races for each of the last eleven years. His
sponsorship began with the River Run and for the last nine years it's been the
New Year's Day 5K. Reymond has directed the New Year's Day 5K for the last nine
years as well. Reymond has also volunteered and worked many finish lines over
the years. His Health Shoppe has helped support KTC team trips to the Florida
Keys Relay; Hood to Coast Relay; Bourbon Chase, and others.
For his
community involvement, Reymond directed the West Hills 5K for four years, with
proceeds benefiting the West Hills Community Park and Greenway and has co-coached
the Bearden Middle School Cross-Country team for the last four years. Reymond
and his son were frequent volunteers for the KTC Greenway mileage marker project.
In
2010 The Health Shoppe/Knoxville Performance Lab was the main sponsor for the
Hal Canfield Mile Race. Reymond continuously promotes volunteerism among his 35-member
Health Shoppe staff; they all have been involved at some point in almost every
aspect of our club especially being a huge backbone of the Knoxville Marathon.
Reymond has donated gift certificates from his business to a majority of the KTC
races as well as non-KTC races.
Reymond was on the Long Distance Committee
for four years and the KTC Board of Directors for five years. He suggested several
ideas which were adopted and are in place today such as the point system for the
Grand Prix contest, volunteer awards and the team competition. Reymond oversaw
the team competition for the first three years and the winner's trophy is named
the Eddie Reymond Cup.
Reymond has helped well over a thousand athletes
from different sports, including Olympic and pro-athletes, with nutritional advice
and guidance. All four of the recent young finalists for the Footlocker National
Cross-Country Championships in San Diego were athletes that he worked with on
nutrition. For his business, he hires post collegiate athletes and accommodates
them with their training schedules so they may reach their full potential. Reymond
also suggested and helped develop a KTC post-collegiate aid program for local
talent trying to reach the next level in track and field as well as cross-country.
With the launch of his new Knoxville Performance Lab, Eddie has brought possibly
the best cutting-edge training and testing facility in the south right here to
the Knoxville community.
Last, but certainly not the least, Reymond's greatest contribution to the success of the Knoxville Track Club was in 2004 when he proposed The Knoxville Marathon. Prior to that, the KTC had a tight budget and a yearly struggle to maintain quality programs. Reymond co-founded the marathon with Zane Hagy. As its first director, Reymond spent over 1000 volunteer hours making the inaugural Knoxville Marathon a huge success. He remains a key member of the Marathon Advisory Committee. The continued and increased success of the Knoxville Marathon under the guidance of Jason Altman, among others, has placed the KTC on solid financial ground and enabled KTC to establish several programs and gifts to the Knoxville community such as the gift of mileage markers on all 35 miles of City of Knoxville and Knox County Greenways. In addition, marathon funds have supplemented the KTC Youth Athletic Program which had over 7000 local participants in 2010 and hundreds of kids were also able to participate in Knoxville Marathon programs, like the Kids Mile. As a result of Reymond's determination and tireless efforts to establish The Knoxville Marathon, the Knoxville Track Club is in a much better position to serve our members and our community.
Marty Sonnenfeldt
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2011
Marty Sonnenfeldt came to Knoxville in 1975 from the Netherlands to join Stan Huntsman's successful UT track and cross-country programs. Marty's impact was immediate as he helped the VOLS to the 1976-77 SEC Cross-Country Championship and the 1976-77 SEC Track and Field Championship. Individual honors won by Marty during his time at UT were All-SEC in Cross-Country (1977), the Six-Mile run (1976) and the 10,000 Meters (1977). He also finished in the top 15 at the 1976 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the 10,000m run.
After graduation, Marty continued to run competitively in local KTC road races through the late 1970's into the 1980's, winning most of them and setting course records which still stand today. Marty chose to remain in Knoxville and launched a successful 15 year career in the orthopedic implant and medical equipment industry. Marty wanted to serve his community and realizing the important role that sports can play in molding the lives of young people, he decided to volunteer to take over the KTC Youth Athletics Program in 1987. After 14 years of volunteering his time to the KTC Youth Athletics Program as its director Marty left the business world in 2000 to become the full time Director of the Knoxville Track Club's Youth Athletics Program (YAP).
During his tenure as YAP Director, with the support of the KTC and contributors, Marty took a good local program and elevated the program to another level. Today, the YAP serves 7000 area children ages 5-18 and is recognized as one of the best and most comprehensive youth Track & Field and Cross-Country Programs in the United States. The YAP accomplishments are numerous and span many, varied programs which include elementary, middle, and high school. For instance, the program's Outdoor Competitive Track & Field Team has produced 320 AAU All-Americans, 57 National Champions, and 12 National record holders. Two YAP athletes have gone on to make the U.S. Olympic team and in 2004, seven of KTC's current/former event specialty coaches qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials with three making the U.S. Olympic Team and two, Tim Mack and Justin Gatlin, becoming Olympic Champions.
But one of Marty's best accomplishments was helping to found the "Adopt-A-Kid" Program, a KTC program that helps to provide funding through track club members and donors for kids that are not able to afford program, travel, entry or equipment fees for KTC events and programs. The program has raised over $90,000 since 2000 to help kids in need participate and excel in the areas of track, indoor track and cross-country.
Marty was a board member of the Knoxville Track Club from 1984 to 2008. Some of his many other accomplishments include Co-Founder of the Greater Knoxville Triathlon Club ('84), member AAU and USATF, National Level Certified Track and Field Official, former Knox County Parks and Recreation Advisory Board Member, Director of the Volunteer Track Classic (oldest meet on Tom Black Track) since 1995, developed the first state cross country championship for Middle School aged kids in 2005 and is the current meet director for the state meet, co-directed the first prize money race in Knoxville - the Artfast 5K, directed the first running race to finish in Neyland Stadium - the Tri-Delta 5K and opened Knoxville's first running specialty store - Phidippides in 1979.
Marty and his wife, Betty, also a former UT Lady Vol track athlete, have been married for 31 years and have two children, Matthew, 21 and Daniel 17. Both sons have participated in the YAP program up to 14 years and have garnered many awards in their own right as well. KTC members and our many sponsors are extremely proud of Marty's outstanding contributions to the young people of the Greater Knoxville Community.
Max Springer
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2011
Max Springer began running at age 64 which goes to prove it is never too late to make a new start. He was a member of a noontime physical fitness class available to UT faculty and staff when it was suggested by a Dr. Halley that the group train to enter the first KTC Expo to be held that spring. Springer ran in that initial Expo race and every Expo, except one, over the next thirty years. Also at Dr. Halley's suggestion, Max ran three miles every other day for those thirty years.
Springer, who passed away just ten days before his 96th birthday, still holds three World and three U.S. records of the ten he set. Max was a shining example of the KTC spirit. After being diagnosed with cancer and undergoing chemotherapy in 2006, he immediately bounced back nine months later to compete at the National Senior Olympics and the USATF National Championships in 2007. In August 2009, Max set two American records at the National Senior Olympics in Palo Alto, California, just two months before his death. In total, he won 32 USTAF National Championship titles and placed in the top three twelve times at the WMA World Championships at distances from 200 to 5000 meters, plus the long and triple jumps. The WMA World Championships in which Springer competed were: Gateshead, England in 1999; Carolina, Puerto Rico in 2003; and San Sebastian, Spain in 2005. Springer also has 16 Tennessee state records in road racing and numerous Tennessee Senior Olympic honors. Max represented the Knoxville Track Club by proudly wearing the KTC jersey in all of these state and championship races.
Max was known nationwide in the Masters running world. He was inducted into the USATF Masters Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2006. He is in the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame as well. In addition, he served the club as a KTC/UT track and field official for many years.
Springer passed his love of running to his granddaughters, Alison and Audrey Springer-Wilson, and they have continued the family running tradition in their home state of Michigan. Max Springer was truly an inspiration.
Jerry Wrinkle
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2011
Jerry Wrinkle graduated from Carson-Newman College in 1956 and received his Masters Degree from Peabody College in 1959. He began his coaching career as assistant football coach at Lakeview High School in Catoosa County, Georgia in 1956 and in 1959 Jerry started the school's track program.
In the fall of 1959, Jerry became assistant football coach and head track coach at Fulton High School, his alma mater. In his first year as track coach, Fulton High won the News-Sentinel Relays and the state district championship, and went on to be runners-up to Oak Ridge in the state regional and to Nashville East in the T.S.S.A.A. State Championship. Jerry directed the State decathlon in spring of 1960.
Jerry was one of the original founders of the Knoxville Track Club. He and Hall of Fame member Charlie Durham organized the first group of athletes that competed as the Knoxville Track Club, taking them to Greenville, SC in 1962 to win their first AAU team victory at Furman University, where they met future UT track coach Chuck Rohe.
Jerry Wrinkle was part of the first slate of officers for the 1963 KTC as Chairman of the Membership Committee and Secretary/Treasurer along with Hal Canfield, President; Charlie Durham, Program Director and Coach; and Chuck Rohe, Executive Director. Jerry is one of nine living members of the original 50 KTC members in 1963.
Jerry and Charlie worked closely with UT track coach Chuck Rohe, spending many late, late nights in his office, assisting with planning and preparation for events related to UT and the KTC. They also provided transportation to out-of-town meets for UT and KTC athletes. According to Jerry, Chuck never slept and didn't realize that there were some people that did.
Jerry served as the head finish judge for the UT track meets, which included the SEC and NCAA Championships. He was a key factor in the planning and preparation for the first Southern Interscholastic Championships, a high school meet which later became known as the Volunteer Track Classic. Though it was run on an old cinder track the first few years, the S.I.C. drew high school teams and several hundred athletes from eight states. Jerry was director of the meet the first five years. By 1985 the Volunteer Track Classic had 2,530 boys and girls competing from sixteen states and Canada.
When Jerry had to give up the directorship due to work responsibilities, he continued his leadership within the KTC by helping Charlie, Chuck and others with planning and preparation for various track and field events, and officiating in those events.
As a charter member and based on the many years Jerry devoted to establishing the KTC and gaining the KTC national recognition at the time, he is a most deserving inductee to the KTC Hall of Fame.
2011 Corporate Table Sponsors
City of Knoxville Parks and Recreation
Cork
& Bottle
Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon
Health Shoppe
Pilot
Flying J Travel Centers
Coach O Registration
2011 Corporate Contributors
The
Trophy Shop
Joe Shirt
Curry Copy Center
Threds
2011 Nominating Committee
Dave Alderman, Paul Barrette, Laurie Gregory, Mike Marchant, Marge McLean, Bob McLean, Allan Morgan, Stanley Underwood
2011 Hall of Fame Induction Dinner Chairman
Bob Barber
2011 Induction Dinner Program and Website
Michael deLisle
2009 Inductees
Ginny
Canfield
Hal Canfield
Terry Hull Crawford
Charlie Durham
Stan
Huntsman
Allan Morgan
Bob Neff
Chuck Rohe
Al Rovere
Stanley
Underwood
Inductee Biographies - Class of 2009
Terry Hull Crawford
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2009
Terry Crawford, Terry Hull at the time, was a KTC pioneer. In the late 60’s before women’s sports took hold, Charlie Durham placed an ad in the News Sentinel announcing that the Knoxville Track Club was forming a women’s team to train within Neyland Stadium. About 50 girls responded, ages 10 to 20, and Terry, age 17 out of Greeneville High School, was in the first group.
Terry started as a 220/440 yard runner, progressed to the 880, and proudly represented the Knoxville Track Club in many national competitions. Terry represented KTC at the Millrose Games and Mason Dixon Games, and was a three time All-American at UT winning AIA National Championships at 220 and 440 in 1969, and at 880 in 1970. She was a member of the 1971 World University Games team and participated in the Pan-American Games that same year. She was also a finalist in the 1968 and 1972 Olympic Trials. In 1968 she was considered a favorite to make the two-person per event team, but injured a hamstring a few weeks before the Trials.
Terry graduated from UT in 1971 and was the UT Women’s track coach from 1974 to 1984, coaching the Lady Vols to the outdoor track national championship in 1981, the first national team title for any women’s sport at UT. Terry left Knoxville to become the women’s track coach at the University of Texas. She coached the Texas ladies to the 1986 NCAA Women’s Cross-Country title in addition to NCAA national championship teams in indoor track in 1986, 1988, and 1990. She coached the Texas ladies to NCAA outdoor track team titles in 1982 and 1986. Crawford’s 1986 Texas team is the only women’s team in NCAA Division I history to win the triple crown of cross-country, indoor and outdoor track in the same year.
Terry was inducted into the Lady Vols Hall of Fame in 2002 for outstanding accomplishments in the sports of track & field and cross-country. Former UT coaches Chuck Rohe and Stan Huntsman both agree that Terry did more for women’s track and field/cross-country in Tennessee than any other person.
In 1988 Terry was named head coach of the USA Women’s Olympic team. In addition to 1988 Olympic Coach, Terry has served in an international coaching position at the World University Games, the Pan-American Games, and the World Championships. She has served as the President of the Women’s College Cross-Country Association and President of the United States Track Coaches Association, serving all Division I schools. She currently sits on the board of directors for the governing board of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Terry is currently in her 16th season at Cal Poly as Director of Track and Field/Cross-Country.
Chuck Rohe
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2009
In 1962 a young Chuck Rohe approached Charlie Durham, of the newly formed KTC and announced that he was going to be named the new head coach at UT for track and cross-country. Before he even started his job, he had arranged a meeting with Charlie, Hal, Bob Neff and the KTC founders to discuss the future of the club in his office in Neyland Stadium. In fact, these meetings led to bi-weekly KTC meetings with Chuck Rohe. To quote Charlie Durham: “While the KTC was already formed, Chuck really was the motivation for expanding our program, through his leadership and fire.” Chuck Rohe was a partner with Charlie, Hal, Al Rovere and the founders in establishing all of the KTC programs at their beginnings: the KTC track and field team, the KTC cross-country team, the women’s program, the Vol Classic and the youth program.
While helping guide the KTC in its formative years, Chuck amassed 22 SEC titles in cross-country, indoor track, and outdoor track in his nine year run at UT. In addition to his coaching duties, Rohe was named head football recruiter in 1965 by Doug Dickey, and those teams posted the nation’s best seven year record and appeared in seven consecutive bowl games. He was the architect of the nexus between track and football that helped the Vols succeed in both sports.
While KTC’s founders were involved as local track officials before Rohe arrived, Chuck helped organize and motivate the growth of the KTC officials organization. During his years, in the absence of professional track, track clubs were very important to the sport, and KTC featured some of the best track and field athletes in the country. Many were post-graduate athletes drawn to Knoxville by Chuck Rohe, who found them employment, scholarships, and assisted KTC in their coaching. Chuck always helped find the funds to get these KTC athletes to the major meets around the country.
Chuck Rohe was the United States Track & Field Coach of the Year in 1967 and served as a representative on the United States Olympic Committee from 1968-76.
Chuck is in the University of Southern Mississippi Athletics Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, and the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame, and serves on the Board at the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. Chuck, who was executive director of the Florida Citrus Bowl for 20 years continues as a consultant to the Florida Citrus Sports Association and also serves as the National Director of the Nike Football Coach of the Year Clinics.
Stanley
Underwood
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2009
A member of the KTC for almost thirty years, Stanley Underwood first volunteered as an official following his 1990 retirement from management in the insurance claims industry. His role models, Hal Canfield and Bob Neff, set high standards and provided ample guidance.
His management experience provided insight into meet management; a track meet and a catastrophic storm have much in common, but a track meet may be controlled with well-trained officials. Serving as Meet Director for the 1993 AAU Junior Olympic Games, Stanley began an aggressive campaign to recruit and train local officials. The group grew from twenty or so to over 100 in the first year. At the same time, Stanley began to specialize as a pole vault official – becoming a Master Official in 1997.
In 1998, Stanley was appointed as USATF Official Certification Chair for the state of Tennessee. Continuing his aggressive recruitment, the number of USATF Certified Officials in Tennessee rose from 100 to 207 in 2008 with the KTC Officials serving as the nucleus for the entire state. Tennessee is number twelve among the fifty-six USATF Associations in certified officials.
As an active official, Stanley served as Chief Vault Judge for the USATF Indoor Championship from 1999 through 2004. He was Chief Vault Judge for both the 2000 and 2004 USOC Olympic Trials in Sacramento. From 1998 through 2008, he was Chief Vault Judge at five NCAA Division I Championships, six NCAA Division II Championships, numerous SEC, ACC, Sun Belt, Southern, and Atlantic Sun Conference Championships, as well as many VTC, Sea Ray, KIL, and other meets in the area.
At the 2004 USATF Annual Meeting, Stanley was awarded the Horace Crow, Jr. Award as The Outstanding Field Event Official for his service. He has also been twice recognized as an Outstanding USATF Official in the Tennessee Association. The Men’s Track Staff at Tennessee awarded him their Lifetime Achievement Award for his work at Tom Black Track.
Beginning in 1992, he served as Coordinator of Officials for the KTC until 2006; he was Coordinator of Officials for the University of Tennessee until 2005 and continues to serve as Technical Coordinator for Tom Black Track.
Facing the reality that no one really needs a 70 year old vault official, Stanley retired as an active official at the close of the 2008 USOC Olympic Trials. He continues as USATF Certification Chair for Tennessee.
Charlie Durham
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2009
Charlie Durham was one of the original founders of the Knoxville Track Club. In 1961 Charlie organized a new AAU track team named the Knoxville Track Club and took them to their first meet in Greenville, S.C. At this first meet, the KTC defeated the Piedmont Striders, Atlanta Track Club, and six other Southeastern AAU teams to win the championship.
When Chuck Rohe was named UT track and field coach in the summer of 1962, Charlie and the KTC worked hand-in-hand with Coach Rohe, meeting every two weeks to make plans for the future. All of the UT freshman, transfer athletes, and post-graduate athletes competed for Knoxville Track Club, with Charlie Durham as coach. In 1963 his KTC cross-country team took third place in the National USTFF championship in Chicago.
In the spring of 1963 Charlie and Jerry Wrinkle directed the First Annual Volunteer Classic track and field meet at Evans-Collins Field, attracting 300 of the top high school trackmen from eight states. Charlie continued to direct the Vol Track Classic for 27 years. In his last year of directing the Vol Track Classic the meet drew 2350 athletes from 15 states and the VTC was named as the Top High School Track & Field Meet by Track & Field Magazine. This was a monumental event for KTC. In addition to directing the Vol Track Classic, Charlie was an active official at high school and UT meets for over 30 years.
In a time when there were no formal track programs in Tennessee for college or high school girls, with the lone exception of the famous Tennessee State University “Tigerbelles” in Nashville, Charlie started the first KTC women’s track program in 1966, developing stars like Terry Hull and Judy Penton. Charlie raised the funds, usually through Tom Siler, sports editor at the The News-Sentinel, and took KTC athletes to national meets like the Millrose Games, Mason-Dixon Games, and the National AAU and National USTFF meets.
Charlie and Hal Canfield started the KTC Youth Program in the late 1960’s at Tom Black Track. What started as about 150 kids, now numbers thousands at tracks around East Tennessee, under the current leadership of Marty Sonnenfeldt. Hundreds of outstanding high school and college athletes have come out of the KTC Youth Athletic Program.
Charlie Durham was honored as an inductee in the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame.
Stan
Huntsman
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2009
Stan Huntsman succeeded his good friend, Chuck Rohe as the University of Tennessee head Track and Field Coach in 1971. He also succeeded Connie Smith as head Cross Country Coach upon his arrival. He continued the close relationship that Chuck had established between the KTC and UT. After coaching Ohio University for fourteen years, Stan spent fifteen of his thirty-nine year coaching career as UT’s head coach. The last ten years of his career were spent as head coach at The University of Texas, in Austin, where he and his wife Sylvia still reside.
In a thirty-nine year career as a collegiate head coach, Stan Huntsman compiled 46 conference championships. He coached 41 NCAA individual champions and four national champion relay squads. All this after being drafted by the NFL’s Chicago Cardinals in the 20th round of the 1954 draft. Stan’s UT teams won a remarkable total of 32 SEC titles in Cross-Country, Indoor and Outdoor Track.
Stan coached Tennessee to the 1972 NCAA Cross-Country Championship and the 1974 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship. Stan earned NCAA Coach of the Year honors six times during his tenure with the Volunteers, with those honors coming in outdoor track (1974-76-83), indoor track (1981-82) and cross-country (1972).
Stan coached American record holder, NCAA Champion, three-time Olympian, and former KTC runner Doug Brown. Doug later succeeded Stan as UT’s head coach in 1986. He also coached David Patrick, NCAA and US champion, and 1992 Olympian and Tennessee State Athletic Hall of Fame member Darwin Bond.
At Texas, Huntsman won six Southwest Conference outdoor titles, three indoor titles and earned Southwest Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1993 and 1994. Also at Texas, Huntsman’s cross-country teams won SWC titles in 1991, ‘93, and ’94. Stan was named SWC Cross-Country Coach of the Year in 1992 and 1993. Huntsman coached 112 All-Americans at Texas, and just a wild guess at the number of All-Americans Stan coached in his career may approach 200.
In addition to coaching national champion UT athletes, Stan brought national caliber track athletes to Knoxville who trained at UT and many of whom competed for the KTC. Athletes like Bill Schmidt won the US National Championship in the javelin in 1978 representing the Knoxville Track Club. Coached by Stan, Olympian Doug Brown, Pat Davey, and George Watts led a KTC Cross-Country team in 1977 to a second place finish at the AAU National Cross-Country Championships.
Stan’s
international coaching career is remarkable, serving as: Men’s Head Coach
of the 1988 Olympic Games; Head Coach for the US team at the 1983 World Championships
and 1977 World Cup; and as assistant Men’s US Olympic team coach at the 1976
and 1980 Games. Stan also coached the USA National Team at the World Indoor Championships
in 2003 at Birmingham, England.
Stan is in the USATF Track and Field Hall of Fame, class of 2004. He is in the NCAA Hall of Fame, and is being inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame on February 20, 2009.
Allan Morgan
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2009
In 1986 Allan Morgan became the first paid Executive Director of the Knoxville Track Club, and over the next eighteen years stewarded the club to levels never previously conceived of.
His first main accomplishment set the stage for all that was to come when he created the concept of and implemented the idea of a full time, paid ED to manage the club and incorporate a sense of professionalism into all aspects of the KTC.
In the first ten years of Allan’s tenure, 1986-1996, KTC grew from 700 to 2000 members. This phenomenal growth was accompanied by a whole new range of benefits for club members. KTC took its place as one of the largest and most active clubs, not only in the Southeast but in the entire country at large. Also KTC realized itself as a professional business by receiving 501-3C non-profit status and by hiring a CPA to make certain we were acting responsibly.
Allan oversaw an entire new schedule of races, many developed in his first five years on the job, including many that exist today: Fireball, Autumnfest, Dogwood, Straw Plains, Calhouns, New Years Day, Summer Solstice and Carter Mill. These new KTC events demonstrated a whole new level of excellence with shirts, greatly expanded awards, a professional sound system, a wide range of KTC apparel on display and for sale, implementation of RunScore and computerized registration for timing and results, increased signage, enhanced refreshments, and indoor venues for cold weather races.
One of Allan’s most important contributions was developing a new system to locate, nurture, train, recognize and reward an enlarged body of volunteers. "Volunteer Spirit at it Finest" was born and grew incrementally from 1988-95.
He took our club newsletter from two-three sheets stapled together in 1987 to setting the stage for the award winning publication we all now take for granted. By 1992 Footnotes began to win regional and national honors and still continues today.
His involvement with the Road Runners Clubs of America culminated in National recognition with the staging of the 1996 RRCA National Convention, a wonderful three day festival impossible without Allan’s energetic leadership.
During his tenure, the club began to provide technical assistance and personnel to make it possible for scores of East Tennessee non-profit organizations to stage their own events. Such assistance not only promoted KTC in the community at large but also greatly increased the variety of offerings for road racing opportunities for all. Between 1986 and 2000, the number of assisted organizations increased from two to more than twenty-five.
His stalwart leadership helped develop the framework and funding for tremendous growth in our youth athletics program.
In 1990 KTC, at Allan’s urging, created our Adopt a Highway Program and a few years later, our Adopt a Creek Program.
His retirement in 2004 left a legacy of accomplishment and achievement, the breadth and duration of which will not likely be replicated.
Al Rovere
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2009
Creating a
track club requires administrative and organizational skills along with great
passion and enthusiasm for the sport. The Knoxville Track Club was fortunate to
have all of those attributes and more when Al Rovere joined with others to found
the club.
Working alongside Chuck Rohe and Charlie Durham, Al was an
indispensable part of the group and earned the appellation as one of Rohe's "track
nuts." "A track nut is a man who will let a track coach talk him into
working free in an all-day track meet, from 8 am until 8 pm, with only a baloney
sandwich for lunch," states Durham.
Participating in the formation
and development of all of the early KTC programs and assisting Charlie Durham
with coaching KTC's track & field and cross-country teams, Al was there as
the program progressed to include the staging of local meets. For this next step,
there was an obvious need for officials. Again, Al was there to provide support
and leadership as the KTC Official Association was created. This group officiated
all high school and college meets in Knoxville and it was not unusual to see Bob
Neff and Al working most of them. In later years, the KTC Officials Association
conducted clinics for coaches and officials and for many Al Rovere played a key
role in helping local officials attain certification by the AAU. Al was essential
to organizing the News Sentinel Relays and the Oak Ridge Relays and along with
Bob Neff and Charlie Durham, spent countless hours doing the seeding and lane
assignments for these meets. For his efforts which spanned three decades, Al was
a multiple winner of the then annual Ben Plotnicki Award given to the most deserving
official in the Knoxville Track Club.
Al, whose son Robert was a nationally
ranked sprinter at East Tennessee State University, assisted Charlie Durham in
establishing the KTC Youth program, including the KTC girls/women's program. Charlie
Durham remembers Al "as always being there, no matter what the task."
While never directing the meet, Al was a key founder and contributor
of the Vol Classic high school track & field meet, a meet which eventually
drew 2350 athletes from 15 states and was named as the Top High School Track &
Field Meet by Track & Field Magazine, and continues today. Over the years,
Al remained the "right hand man" to meet director Durham in fostering
the growth and success of this nationally famous meet.
With tireless devotion to the sport and a willingness to share his skills, expertise, experience and renowned sense of humor , Al was beloved by all of the UT coaches and athletes.
Bob Neff
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2009
As a founding member of the Knoxville Track Club, Bob Neff contributed his considerable skills and experience in administration and officiating in ways that allowed the club to function effectively and grow in numbers.
After competing in track and graduating from the University of Tennessee, Bob Neff coached football, basketball, track and cross-country at South High School for thirteen years. In 1965 Bob was named Teacher of the Year in Knoxville City Schools and in 1969 he became assistant principal at South Young and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1983. Today, the National Honor Society at South Young High School is named for Robert Lee Neff.
A founding father of the Knoxville Track Club, Bob Neff, with help from Hal Canfield organized high school cross-country in the Knoxville schools and with the aid of Hal and Charlie Durham organized the first summer track program and our KTC Youth program. Also in the mid-sixties, Neff helped organize the KTC Officials organization to serve the Knoxville community.
Neff has won many awards, but none compare to his remarkable forty-one consecutive years of service as a KTC board member, from 1962 to 2003.
The recipient of the Distinguished Service Award by the East Tennessee Chapter of the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame in 1981, Neff has also received special awards from the Tennessee Track Coaches Association and from the University of Tennessee for his work associated with the Dogwood, now Sea Ray Relays.
To say Bob is an accomplished official is an understatement. In 1996 Neff was selected the number one track official in the state of Tennessee by the United States Track and Field Association. Bob holds the title of Emeritus Official with the United States Track and Field Association, a title very few officials ever attain. Also in 1996, Neff received the Founder’s Award for his work with the Volunteer Track Classic and the KTC Officials have further recognized Bob with the annual presentation of the Bob Neff Award, given to each year’s outstanding official.
All in all, Bob Neff worked as a track official for fifty-eight years covering 800 meets at the local, state, regional, and national levels.
In 1998 Bob was inducted into the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame.
Hal
Canfield
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2009
Hal Canfield was one of the original founders of the Knoxville Track and Field Club in 1962. Hal, Charlie Durham, B.E.Sharp, Ben Plotnicki and a few other men interested in promoting high school track & field and running in the community began to organize the Knoxville Track Club, the original goal being to organize a team for track competition in AAU summer meets in the Southeast.
Within a year, Hal, Charlie, Bob Neff, Jerry Wrinkle and Chuck Rohe had established the Knoxville Track & Field Club as a charter organization with a set of by-laws. Hal was the first President of the club.
In the fall of 1962, Hal, helped by his late wife Ginny, founded and directed the KTC running program, which included high school cross-country meets throughout East Tennessee.
In the days before road races and marathons were popular, Hal was a pioneer in staging the first road races in the Southeast. Operating on no budget at all, Hal began a series of road races, the first of which was a 10K cross-country race on the UT Ag campus. The KTC program of road race activity was the first of its kind in the entire Southeast. The founders and organizers of such clubs as Atlanta, Chattanooga, Huntsville, Birmingham and Nashville received their initiation into the sport from participation in Knoxville Track Club competitions organized by Hal.
In addition to organizing and directing all these events Hal was an exceptional athlete, completing a total of 38 marathons, including 18 consecutive Boston Marathons (1959 through 1976). He also competed in the 1964 and 1968 Olympic Marathon Trials.
Hal’s first big KTC road race was the Cades Cove Ten Miler, which attracted nationally ranked runners from around the country. Later Hal and KTC started the Smoky Mountain Marathon. In those early days of KTC road racing, three American records were recorded in KTC events, as Hal took road racing to a new level in the Southeast.
In order to successfully conduct track competitions, Hal, Charlie, Chuck Rohe and the other KTC founders, including inductees Bob Neff and Al Rovere, formed the track officials association in the mid sixties. They officiated all of the high school and college meets in Knoxville and began to conduct Coaches Clinics and Officials Clinics. At this time they began to get officials certified by the AAU.
Hal has received the highest honor by USATF in recognition of his track officiating skills, being named an Emeritus Official, and culminating with his selection as the Outstanding Track Official of the Year by the Athletics Congress/USA. He served as an official for the 1984 Olympic Games, the 1987 Pan American Games, and other national and international events.
Hal and Charlie Durham started the KTC Youth Program, sponsored by the Fountain City Jaycees and the Knoxville City Recreation department, in the late 1960’s. Originally there were six practice centers: Evans-Collins; Fulton, West, Central, East and South high schools, with the meets held at Evans-Collins. What started as about 150 kids, including fellow inductee Terry Crawford, now numbers thousands at tracks around East Tennessee, under the current leadership of Marty Sonnenfeldt. Hundreds of outstanding high school and college athletes, as well as community leaders have come out of the KTC Youth Athletic Program.
All the while, Hal has used the artistic skills developed at the Julliard School of Music. For 23 years he was first violinist with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra.
To marvel at what Hal and his associates achieved with very limited funds as the KTC was born is best exemplified in the following story submitted by Hayes Hunter:
“Back
in the mid-70’s there was a KTC race advertised as a 10K Relay that started
and finished in the village of Concord with Hal being the race director. Hal laid
out and measured the course. The relay team was a two man team with Hal determining
the team partners and not revealing who they were until the race was over. Finish
places were determined by the combined time of the two team members.
Hal arrived
well before race time, registered all the runners and distributed our bib numbers,
gave us our pre-race instructions, and fired the starting gun. He next drove to
the 5K turn-around on Turkey Creek Road, set up a water station, and handed water
to all the runners. After the last runner passed the water station, and the litter
was cleaned, Hal drove back to the finish line where he clocked and recorded the
finish times.
In short order, Hal hand-calculated the team results, determined the order of finish of each team, and then presented the awards.
This is
the only race I have ever run that was conducted by one person, and I am convinced
that no one but Hal could have successfully done it. Probably there is no one
other than Hal that would even attempt to do this.”
Hal was honored as an inductee in the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame.
Ginny
Canfield
Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame Inductee 2009
Working alongside her husband to promote and organize KTC events, it would be easy to induct Ginny and Hal together into the Hall of Fame. However, when we think of the people who have served the local running community and chosen to remain behind the scenes, Ginny Canfield was the epitome of the tireless and dedicated volunteer and deserves her own place in the KTC Hall of Fame.
Moving to Tennessee with Hal from her native state of New York, Ginny worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II. With two daughters, Ginny was already actively involved with the Girl Scouts prior to the formation of the KTC, but still found the time to work registration tables, water stops and practically every other task including timer for innumerable road races and track events. She was also instrumental in founding and directing the KTC running program, which included high school cross-country meets throughout East Tennessee. With all that, she never wavered from her commitment to the Girl Scouts and was subsequently elected as President of the Tanasi Girl Scout Council's Board of Directors.
After a long battle with cancer, Ginny passed away on May 27, 1985. In appreciation for her many years of service, the Knoxville Track Club created the Ginny W. Canfield Memorial Award which is presented annually to the "individual who best represents the club's volunteer spirit by going above and beyond the call of duty". Since its inception, the Ginny Canfield Award has become one of the most coveted awards given by the KTC.
While Ginny is the first female member of the KTC Hall of Fame, she certainly will not be the last. Her legacy of working with young people and giving back to the community inspires new generations of volunteers who are dedicated to healthy living and healthy communities.
2009 Nominating Committee
Paul Barrette, Mike Marchant, Hayes Hunter, Joyce Hunter, Dave Alderman, Marge McLean, Bob McLean
2009 Hall of Fame Induction Dinner Chairman
Bob Barber
2009 Induction Dinner Program and Website
Michael deLisle