Tales of the track: Kokomo's Barsh unspools stories of watching and working big meets

May 23—When Ron Barsh sifts through the lunch box he carried to track and field meets, it shows him how much has changed between the time he started working meets at Kokomo — when former coach Walter Cross was still involved — to now, at Walter Cross Field.

The lunch box wasn't for food, it was spare items that a team or official might need to run a meet.

"I do have in there little cards that say first, second, third, what event. I have finish line string," Barsh said.

Some of the objects in the lunch box trigger stories and the string triggered one. Before there was electronic timing, officials had to hold a string across the track for athletes to hit as they crossed the start-finish line.

"Walter Cross ... he never wanted to waste anything," Barsh said. "If it broke — every once in a while it broke — Walter just tied a knot into it. I've got finish line string that's got knots in it that I think were tied by Walter Cross himself."

What else is in the lunch box?

"Other things I have in there: pencils, paper, finish cards," Barsh said. "They used to have numbers, bibs on the back of their shirt. They don't have those anymore. Some have chips, others have a number [on the athlete's pants]. You always had to have extra safety pins in there.

"I do have a cassette, of the national anthem."

One more important item in the lunch box: He's also got a backup baton in case a team forgets theirs.

Barsh, a retired teacher, coach and athletic director at Kokomo High School, was pulled into working track meets as soon as he arrived.

"I came to Kokomo High School in 1970 and back then they expected everybody that was on the athletic staff to work the Kokomo Relays," Barsh said. "It took so many people to put it on."

Barsh said it took about 60-70 people to run a big meet at that time. Timers and spotters would stand on a stairstep contraption at the start-finish line and others in the bleachers. Times were kept by hand.

A Warsaw native, Barsh was basketball-centric when he arrived in Kokomo. After being commandeered into working his first Kokomo Relays, the experience stuck with him and he kept on coming out, through his teaching and coaching career, and into retirement.

"Walter Cross told me one time, you meet the nicest people at track meets," Barsh said. "I think he's right. You watch, somebody in one of those track meets [last week] was way, way behind, probably been lapped, and when he crossed the finish line people were cheering him and encouraging him."

Barsh worked the 100th Kokomo Relays earlier this month, and was on hand at the girls and boys sectionals last week, as well as Tuesday's girls regional.

"When we got to about 90 in the Kokomo Relays, I thought it would be really nice to live long enough to see the 100th Kokomo Relays," Barsh said. "It's the longest continuous track meet in the United States. So I met that one goal this year. I've seen 54 in a row. There's probably not a lot of people in Kokomo that can say that."

Barsh talked to the Tribune about what meets were like when he arrived, what's changed, and what has been memorable about watching the action, first at Kautz Field when the high school was downtown, and after that at the current football and track facility, Walter Cross Field. Here are some of his stories:

Q: Tell us about meets at Kautz Field.

RB: "Kautz Field was not a regulation track. It was only 385 yards because of the [Wildcat] Creek. It was all cinders, it was chalked lane lines. They had a concrete curb all the way on the inside so obviously you had to be careful not to step on the concrete curb. And the biggest thing about it is every race didn't finish where it started [due to the track length].

"Obviously now at Walter Cross Field, we have this beautiful all-weather, 400-meter track. We've gone from yards to meters. It's advertised as one of the fastest tracks in the state. People love to run on this track.

Q: How did the old Kautz Field quirks trip up visitors?

RB: "We were running a team in a dual track meet and you just knew this kid was used to running a 440-yard, one-lap race, and he takes off and he's way ahead of everybody else, and he stops exactly where he started. Well, that was not the finish line

"I can still see his coach saying, 'Go on! Keep going!' and this kid is so dumbfounded. 'What do you mean, Coach? I came all this way to this meet and I give you one lap and that's what I've got.' While he's standing there, these Kokomo kids passed him. It was a little strange, very strange."

Q: What's the most exciting or memorable day or performance you've seen?

RB: "Probably one of the most exciting things for me, Kokomo, they have them down in the IHSAA book for nine state championships. They won one in 1911, they won some in the '20s and '30s. Well, I never thought we'd win a track state [once I arrived] because that's when Gary Roosevelt was winning.

"Kokomo had a great coach in Larry Ruch and Kokomo had a great staff and also had some great athletes like Frankie Young [who won the long jump in 1994], and Jauron Pigg [second in long jump], Bobby Pettigrew [won shot put], Rolando Tyler [scored points in sprints]. In 1994 we added another state track championship to Kokomo High School

"I was so happy for the kids and Larry Ruch and his staff. I never thought that might happen."

Q: Who is the most electrifying athlete or athletes you've seen?

RB:"We've had a lot of great long jumpers, a lot of great state champions ourselves, but those guys that won the state, those guys were fun to watch, awful fun to watch.

"Anderson one time came to our track regional. They brought four kids in a car with the coach. They had sprinters in the 100 and 200, they had long jumpers — two long jumpers — and they had a 400 relay team. And they won the regional track meet with just four guys. Back then, if you won the sectional, you got a trophy, and if you won the regional, they just got a plate that went on the sectional trophy. I'm down there giving the guy the plate and he says, 'What's this?' 'It goes on your sectional trophy.' 'Well, we didn't win the sectional.'

"We called up the IHSAA and sent them a trophy to put a plate on.

"There was a kid from Oak Hill. He almost won the regional himself. He won the 100, 200 and long jump. He scored 30 points and I think the winning score was 35 or something."

Q: What has changed since you started helping out at track events to now?

RB: "You had hand-held watches, you had finish line string. [Two people would time each lane.] You had some 30 people on the finish line and you had people that picked the place. We were timing and someone else was trying to determine who was first. Every once in a great while, someone in the middle of the pack — if you had a lot of great 100 dashmen — a guy could get missed.

"Now in the field events, our runways are so much better [now]. We went from bamboo poles to steel poles and they're all fiberglass now. It's changed so much, and how you work a track meet with the timing system now, nothing hardly with pencil and paper anymore. Everything comes from the official timer down there at the finish line.

"People that high jump and pole vaulted, they had an aluminum crossbar. Every now and then a guy would crush one. Now all those crossbars are fiberglass. They bounce right back."

"There's a lot of technology. Things have changed for the better."

Q. Batons haven't changed much. And what of the lunch box baton?

RB: "Baton was always returned!"