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1930s Track Star, Then and Now
At ninety, Irv Small still remembers battling Clyde Newell for first place at the 1929 Freshman Varsity Track Meet and winning. Though he weighed only 137 pounds he had a history of winning. He had run track and won medals at his New York City high school, but after graduation he wanted a small town atmosphere. So when a friend told him about OU, he came to Athens where he ate, slept, and drank track and set a number of records for the team. As a sophomore he ran the half-mile in 2:01.1 and later set a new Ohio indoor half-mile record with a time of 2:09.4.
Mr. Small now lives in Connecticut with his wife Harriet where he recently celebrated his 66th wedding anniversary and where he continues to regale his family with stories of his days at Ohio University.
