Meet Information
Prior to 1907 there were a multitude of track meets being contested and reported in local papers. Both an indoor season, with indoor races bein contested in armories and fieldhouses in March, and an outdoor season were being held. Tpically a school would begin its outdoor season with an "Interclass Meet" early in May where seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshman competed as teams against each other. From this meet, the coach selected his squad for future competitions. Generally these competitions included dual meets, invitationals and then concluded with a city meet (e.g. Minneapolis) or a regional competition (e.g. Southern Minnesota Championship) or a large invitational (e.g. The Northwestern Interscholastic). 1907 marked the inaugural Interscholastic Meet sponsored by University of Minnesota Track Coach Dick Grant. This Interscholastic extended invitations to all high school and prep school track teams in Minnesota and throughout the Midwest. The records of this meet, minus those established by athletes on teams from outside of Minnesota, appear to be the records that were adopted by the MSHSL Meet in its inaugural year, 1923. For this reason, I begin my study in . . .
1907
In 1907 Shattuck dominated the State Track & Field scene with victories at the First Interscholastic and its own invitational. By 1907 Shattuck had instituted age limits for its competitive teams, but still raced collegiate teams during the year to find competition for its athletes. During this period it was common for the Minneapolis high schools to race the University of Minnesota Freshmen. Robert Hopwood of Minneapolis Central excelled in the sprints his junior year and ran even faster in 1908 for Phillips Andover Academy winning the Eastern Championships in 9.80 and 22.40. All Time State High School Records were set by Leonard Frank of St. Paul Central, 50-00.50 in the shot, and Christensen of St. Olaf Prep, 152-09.00 in the hammer throw. At the Interscholastic, Posten ran faster than the high school record time in the mile, but since he attended a prep school, his performance was not accepted.
(information taken from MNPrepTrack.com via Bill Miles)
1907
In 1907 Shattuck dominated the State Track & Field scene with victories at the First Interscholastic and its own invitational. By 1907 Shattuck had instituted age limits for its competitive teams, but still raced collegiate teams during the year to find competition for its athletes. During this period it was common for the Minneapolis high schools to race the University of Minnesota Freshmen. Robert Hopwood of Minneapolis Central excelled in the sprints his junior year and ran even faster in 1908 for Phillips Andover Academy winning the Eastern Championships in 9.80 and 22.40. All Time State High School Records were set by Leonard Frank of St. Paul Central, 50-00.50 in the shot, and Christensen of St. Olaf Prep, 152-09.00 in the hammer throw. At the Interscholastic, Posten ran faster than the high school record time in the mile, but since he attended a prep school, his performance was not accepted.
(information taken from MNPrepTrack.com via Bill Miles)