My cousin Gary Green was four or five years older than I, and he was a very successful track athlete at Paris (Ark.) High School on a local and state level (not to mention a National Merit scholar). In junior high he was mainly a short sprinter, but in the district meet his freshman year, his coach entered him in the 440, which he won in a district record time of 54.3 seconds. Not bad for your first try. In his second race, in the state track meet, he set a state record of 53.0 seconds. By his junior year he had run under 50 seconds and had set the Meet of Champs record for anyone in his classification (Class A back then), where he placed third. In addition, he was a good enough long jumper that the University of Arkansas showed interest in him. He was injured his senior year or he might have competed at the college level.
My younger brothers and I were great fans of his. None of us accomplished what he did, but we enjoyed it very much and had some success.
Here is a LINK to more track and field.
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