Jack Mashin coached football at Grossmont from 1925-47 and posted an excellent record, 125-66-19 (.644), but he became more known as an international figure in track and field.
Mashin would, under auspices of the U.S. State Department, coach the first Pakistan Olympic team in 1956 in Melbourne, Australia, and his decades-long success at Grossmont led to the friendly mentor’s legendary appellation, the “Fox of the Foothills”.
From 1950-57 Grossmont produced eight shot putters who reached at least 54-feet, 6 inches; two who hit at least 60 feet, and several others of at least 50 feet.
Clyde Wetter (58-4 ¾, 1951) and Hal Norris (58-2 1/2, 1950) now were in college and sophomore Dick Bronson, who had a best of 46-9 ½ in his first meet this season, was going to eventually produce similar results under Mashin’s guidance.
Mashin, whose teams won 143 league championships in all sports at Grossmont from 1923-59, continued to work with weight men as an assistant coach/consultant at Grossmont and was coaching at Cal Western University in San Diego and at Grossmont College well into his eighties.
Mashin also refereed many Hoover-San Diego football battles and thousands of games in football and basketball.
2/22/52
Bert Kohnhurst was a double winner at :10.3 in the 100-yard dash and :23.6 in the 220 as Grossmont swamped Chula Vista, 86-18. Kohnhurst also would have anchored the 880-yard relay team but Chula Vista forfeited the race.
2/26/52
Grossmont scored 39 points to lead defending champion San Diego (31) and La Jolla (31), and Kearny (30) in the varsity portion of the fourth annual City Prep League relays in Balboa Stadium.
La Jolla won Class B (31) and Grossmont Class C (34).
San Diego’s Walter (Red) Taylor won the 100-yard dash in :09.9 and anchored a 1:34.1 victory in the 880-yard relay.
Hoover’s Bernie Nelson high jumped 6 feet, 1 ¾ inches, and Kearny’s John Rushing won the 120-yard high hurdles in :15.3 in the other, standard events.
Grossmont won the distance medley (440, 880, 1320, mile) in 11:11.09.
2/28/52
Tom Parker, later to be a successful football coach at Sweetwater, took over at Mar Vista for Garold (Gerry) Spitler, who left to become recreation director in the Marshall Islands.
3/1/52
Kearny’s Jim Weir (4:46.9 mile) and Roy Howell (2:07 880) set school records as Kearny opened the CPL season with a 67-37 dual-meet win over La Jolla.
3/6/52
Bernie Nelson high jumped 6-1 ¾ for the leading mark in Hoover’s 63-41 City Prep League opening dual meet with La Jolla.
3/15/52
Rain, which fell a fourth-highest-on-record 18.16 inches in San Diego County for the 1951-52 calendar year, was playing havoc. Three CPL duals were washed out.
Sweetwater and arch-rival Chula Vista managed to get in a meet and the Red Devils came away with a 54 ½-49 ½ Metropolitan League victory by winning the 880 relay in 1:39.1.
3/19/52
Continual rain forced a meeting of CPL coaches at the San Diego Education Center, where re-scheduling and makeup meets were coordinated.
3/21/52
Tracks had finally begun to dry out and CPL thinclads posted season highs in four events.
John Parker sailed 23 feet, 8 inches, to break the San Diego High record of 23-6 ¾, set by Bob Logan in 1938.
Parker also won the 220 in :22.5 and was part of the Cavers’ relay team that lowered the best time to 1:32.8.
Parker’s teammate, Hubert Smith, lowered his area lead in the 440 to :51.9.
The short end of a 64-40 team score didn’t diminish the individual accomplishments of Point Loma’s Lincoln Lucero, who topped the San Diego hurdlers, winning the 120 highs in :15.3 and the 180 lows in a school record, season best :20.2.
Point Loma’s Lance Morton set a school record with a 51-3 ¼ shot put.
–Kearny defeated Hoover, 54-50, as Jim Weir logged a school-record 4:37.7 mile and Roy Howell a school record 2:06.1 in the 880.John Rushing doubled in :15.2 and :20.8 in the hurdles and brought the Komets to victory by anchoring a 1:34.1 triumph in the relay.
–The first-ever Grossmont-Helix confrontation resulted in an expected win by the more established Foothillers, 67 ½-36 ½. Bert Kohnhurst led the way for Grossmont with :10.2 and :22.8 sprint victories.
–Coronado’s Harry Sykes ran :19.7 in the 180-yard low hurdles against Mar Vista.
3/29/52
SOUTHERN COUNTIES INVITATIONAL
LARGE SCHOOLS
Compton won this portion of the 31st annual meet with 34 points to San Diego’s 30, but the Cavemen had four first places to the Tarbabes’ two.
Red Taylor won the 100 championship in :09.9, Hubert Smith one of the 440 races in :52.8, Bernard Hansen one of the 880s in 2:03.3, and John Parker the broad jump at 23-4 ¾.
Point Loma’s Lincoln Lucero won championships in the high hurdles (:14.8) and lows (:20).
Burt Kohnhurst was second to Taylor in the 100 and then swapped places with the San Diego athlete in a :22 flat 220. George Davis of Grossmont set a school record with a 2:03.2 880.
San Diego entries had seven first places in 16 events.
4/1/52
Walter Taylor ran a :09.8 100, fastest in Southern California, and San Diego won 11 of 12 events in a 77 ½-26 ½ win over La Jolla.
Hubert Smith bettered his 440 time with a :51.5 and Taylor also won the high jump at 5-10.
La Jolla’s Andy Skief hurled the shot 48-2 for the Vikings’ only first place.
–John Rushing won the 100 in :10.3, the 120 high hurdles in :15.1, and the broad jump at 20-4 1/2, but Grossmont depth trumped Rushing and the Komets, 60 2/3-43 1/3.
Rushing defeated Tommy George in the short race, in which Bert Kohnhurst did not enter. Kohnhurst won the 220 in :23.
4/4/52
San Diego (5-0) posted the fastest time of the season with a 1:32 in the 880-yard relay in a 73-31 dual-meet win over Kearny in Balboa Stadium. Walter Taylor won the 100 in :10, the high jump at 5-9, and was second to Hubert Smith’s :51.9 440.
John Rushing ran :14.9 and :19.9 in the high and low hurdles for Kearny.
–Sweetwater’s Ted Granger tied the school record with his :15.8 in the 120-yard high hurdles and Don McCarver of San Dieguito cleared 11-5, breaking a school record of 11-3, set in 1946.
4/12/52
Kearny and Grossmont entered small contingents in the Santa Barbara Relays. John Rushing won the small schools broad jump at 22-1.
Dick Bronson of Grossmont was fourth in the large schools shot put at 48-10.
4/17/52
SOUTHERN PREP LEAGUE FINALS, @VISTA
Army-Navy outscored Vista, 96-64 1/2, for the team championship. Brown Military had 48 ½. Fallbrook won Class B and Vista Class C.
One varsity meet record was set by Vista’s Dick Bedford, who covered the 180 low hurdles in :21.7.
Kearny athletes set four school records in a 68-36 win over Helix. John Rushing ran the 100 in :10.2 and 220 in :22.8. Ray Howell toured the 880 in 2:05.6, and the 880 relay team, with Rushing running anchor, timed a reported 1:32.9.
4/22/52
LEAGUE TRIALS
Hoover, mediocre (3-3) in the dual-meet season, provided a mild surprise by qualifying for 11 berths in the City Prep League at San Diego State, but San Diego led with 14. Grossmont had eight, La Jolla, Point Loma, and Kearny, seven each.
John Rushing set a record with a time of :19.6 in the 180 low hurdles and Bert Kohnhurst bettered the record with a :21.9 220 on the San Diego State straightaway.
Sweetwater’s defending team champion qualified 10 to dual-meet champion Coronado’s 8 in Metropolitan League trials at Vista. Escondido led with 15.
Harry Sykes, who led Coronado to its first outright league dual-meet championship since 1925, remained undefeated with victories of :10.4 in the 100 and :21.3 in the 180 low hurdles. Ted Granger bettered his Sweetwater high hurdles record with a :15.5.
4/25/52
FINALS
METROPOLITAN LEAGUE, @CHULA VISTA
Dick Geck of San Dieguito ended the unbeaten season of Coronado’s Harry Sykes in the 100, but the Islanders won the team championship with 44 points to 33 for Escondido, which won the Class B and C championships.
Geck’s 100 time was :10.4 and he won the 220 in :23.1. Sykes, a virtual triple winner in almost every meet, won the broad jump at 21 feet, 10 inches, and the 180 low hurdles in :20.9.
George Edwards rallied from fifth place on the final turn to win the mile in 4:58.7, and Charlie Rose was the Islanders’ third winner at 5-11 in the high jump.
CITY PREP LEAGUE, @SAN DIEGO STATE
Writer Gene Earl of The San Diego Union described the conditions at San Diego State as a “biting and oft-time strong wind (that) razored across the Montezuma oval.”
The hefty breezes affected many performances, but favored San Diego still outlasted Grossmont for the team title, 53-49 ½. Grossmont won Class B and Kearny Class C.
San Diego’s Walter (Red) Taylor battled the wind in the 100 and edged Grossmont’s Bert Kohnhurst in :10.1. Kohnhurst won the 220 in :22 after Taylor withdrew, complaining of a stomach ache.
Grossmont led, 48 ½ to 48, but finished fifth in the final event 880-yard relay, won by the Cavers in 1:32.8.
John Rushing figured in 18 of Kearny’s 35 points, winning the high (:15.8) and low hurdles (:20.6), placing second to the 23-6 broad jump of San Diego’s John Parker, and anchoring the Komets to second place in the relay.
Grossmont’s other victory came in the shot put as Dick Bronson reached 50 feet, 11 ¼ inches. Foothillers weight man Dick Barnes won the Class B shot put at 53-5 1/2.
5/3/52
San Diego led all teams with 10 qualifiers in the Divisional quarterfinals at San Diego State, but junior Lanny Carter of Orange made the headlines with a Southern Section record of :48.9 in the 440 around two turns.
Some quarter miles began in a chute and covered only one turn, at about the 220-yard mark. Carter bettered the record of :49.2 by Duane Lewis of Compton in 1940.
John Rushing doubled in the high and low hurdles in :15.2 and :20.1, respectively, and Bert Kohnhurst doubled in the 100 and 220 in :10.1 and :22. John Parker of San Diego set a County record of 23-9 1/2 in the broad jump and broke a school record of 23-8 he set earlier.
San Diego’s Bernard Hanson won the 880 in 2:01.6 and defeated reigning Southern Section champion Bob Suess of Huntington Beach.
5/10/52
Walter Taylor won his heat in :10.0 and ran a leg on the relay as the San Diego squad of Taylor, John Parker, Jon Taylor, and Hubert Smith posted the fastest heat, 1:30.5, in the Divisional semifinal meet at Ontario Chaffey.
Grossmont’s Burt Kohnhurst, one of the favorites, finished a nonqualifying third in his heat, won by George Lewis of El Monte in :09.8.
Kohnhurst recovered to win a 220 heat in :21.7. San Diego’s Bernard Hansen won his 880 heat in 2:02.5 and Kearny’s John Rushing won a heat in the 180-yard low hurdles in :19.7 after failing to qualify in the 120 highs.
Rushing also was third at 22-1 in the broad jump and San Diego’s John Parker fifth at 21-6 ½.
Grossmont’s Tommy George doubled in the Class B sprints, winning his heats in :10.2 and :22.5.
Five qualified, including Hoover’s Bernie Nelson, at 5-10 in the high jump, and five made the finals in the pole vault, including Jim Terry of Helix at 11-9 ½.
San Diego, Alhambra, and San Bernardino each led qualifiers with 5 each for the following week finals.
5/17/52
San Diego was fourth in team scoring with 8 points, behind the Compton Tarbabes, who ran away with the championship with 31 points at Huntington Beach.
Kearny scored 6 points, Grossmont 2, and Hoover and Chula Vista 1 each.
SAN DIEGO HIGH
Walter Taylor was third behind a :09.9 100 by George Lewis of El Monte and ran a leg on the 880 relay, in which the Cavemen were second to the 1:30.1 of Long Beach Wilson.
Bernard Hansen was fifth behind a 1:59.7 880 by North Hollywood Harvard’s Bert Purdue.
KEARNY
John Rushing was second in the broad jump at 22-10 ½ and fourth behind the :19.2 in the 180-yard hurdles by Newquist of Long Beach Wilson.
GROSSMONT
Burt Kohnhurst finished fourth in :21.5 in the 220, won by Mal Hughes of Beverly Hills in :21.2.
HOOVER & CHULA VISTA
Bernie Nelson of Hoover was fourth at 6 feet in the high jump and Fred White of Chula Vista fifth in the shot put at 51-9 1/8.
BEES AND CEES
Tommy George of Grossmont was third in the Class B 100 and fourth in the 220. Teammate Dick Barnes won the 10-pound shot put competition at 53-5/8.
Helix’ Young won the Class C 180 in :18.7.
Ron Vavra of team champion Glendale Hoover won the B 100 in :10.2 and seven years later opened the new El Capitan High program in La Mesa and followed with a long tenure as track coach at Grossmont College.
5/24/51
The 34th state meet was held at the Los Angeles Coliseum. County athletes barely avoided a shutout.
Walter Taylor was fourth in his heat in the 100 in :10.2 but did not place in the afternoon finals. John Rushing of Kearny was fourth in the broad jump at 22-8 ¾.
SAY, AREN’T YOU?
Grossmont coach Jack Mashin need not have asked that question. Mashin was well acquainted, with the shot putter from a school almost 300 miles away.
Jay Humphrey of Strathmore in the Central Section had attended and competed at Grossmont but transferred to the Northern community for his senior year and finished third at 58 feet, 4 inches, behind the 60-9 1/8, national record by Leon Patterson of Taft.
Jeff: I made the corrections. I apologize. I thought I had corrected the errors when we first corresponded. All the best.
Rick Smith.
Regarding your article, “1952: Grossmont Shot with ‘Mashin Putters”…
My father’s first name was erroneously misspelled twice in the article.
Under 4/25/1952: CITY PREP LEAGUE, @ SAN DIEGO STATE (last paragraph): My father’s name should show as “Dick” Barnes (not “Matt” Barnes).
Under 5/17/1952: BEES AND CEES (first paragraph): Again my father’s name should show as “Dick” Barnes (not “Matt” Barnes).
In addition, another 1952 record that was not mentioned in the article was the 1952 SCIF “Class B” Shot Put Champion, “Dick” Barnes, @ 53’ 11 1/2″ with a 10 lb shot. Dad held Grossmont High School’s Track “Class C” and “Class B” Shot Put Records.
My sincere thanks. Both my father and I really enjoy your work!
Jeff, I made those name corrections. Thank you. I must have been thinking of Dick Barnes, a Hoover basketball star of a few years before your dad. Correct me again if I’m wrong, but I have your dad winning the Southern California Class B finals at 53 feet, 5/8 inch. When did he go 53-11 1/2?