The state track meet is one of those great sporting events, but this year it has fired up Del Sutherland of the Falls City Journal.
There's a rule at the state meet that penalizes a young man if he's good at more than one event, Sutherland charges.
He explained that Steve Orton of Nebraska City was among those who got the shaft.
The problem arose when boys had to shuttle between Omaha Burke and Boys Town. Orton finished second in the highs and fifth in the lows in the Saturday finals. In the meantime the action went on at Boys Town.
Ole' Give-'em-hell Del says:
"When Orton got to the high jump site, the bar was at 6-4. He was told he could either start at the height or wait until everybody else had finished and then start at 6-2.
"It put him at quite a disadvantage with the other guys, who had had their practice jumps and then kept jumping as the bar went up.
"He took his three tries at 6-4, and then left.
"True, he would have had to clear 6-2 to score in the event, but the others in the event got to try that height after a number of other jumps, they didn't have to tackle the height cold.
"The incidents bring to mind a question: Is the State Meet run off for the kids who qualify or is it run off for the convenience of the guys in charge of the various events?
"If the answer is the latter, then the rule is quite proper, and the young men should be penalized for being good.
"If, however, the meet is for the boys, then it's a dumb rule, one that should be changed. The kids work too hard all spring to qualify for the State Meet to have somebody kick them in the pants because he's in a hurry to get home."
The Falls City paper had another interesting item: Navy Chief Ray Noyes of Nebraska City was pictured in his "dress blues" presented a U.S. Naval Academy appointment to Sandra E. Schawang at the Falls City Sacred Heart high school graduation.
Congratulations to Miss Schawang. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Schawang.
We think the Navy did it right when it assigned Chief Noyes to make the presentation. He's not an academy graduate (Uni. of Mo.) but he's all-Navy and a man who loves to work with youngsters.
The newspaper said Miss Schawang was the first woman appointee to the military academy from Nebraska. That's not entirely correct. Roxanne Gude, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Gude, received a Naval Academy appointment a year ago when she was a senior at Nebraska City Lourdes.
However, she turned it down and the family now lives in Bellevue. Perhaps if the Sacred Heart girl accepts her appointment, she will, in fact, be the first gal from Nebraska at the academy.
Roxanne is the granddaughter of Mrs. Helen Durr, a resident of Riverview Terrace. Thanks to Father Schrader for refreshing my memory on Roxanne and family.