1960 Men's Cross Country Team

Building on a successful cross country season of 1959 and the National Track Championship in the spring of 1960, this team was destined to be National Champions. Led by Mike Fulghum’s five first-place finishes in five meets, the Red Ravens won five of six meets during the regular season. Wins came against Wichita freshmen, Hutchinson Juco, Friends College, Emporia State’s “B” team & Oklahoma Baptist University. The only loss was to the University of Arkansas freshmen by 2 points.

The trip to Jackson, MI for the NJCAA Cross Country meet would be legendary. The trip started on Thursday night as Bill Thornton drove Coach Pryor’s station wagon to meet the Raven football bus near Miami, OK, as Coach Pryor had just completed his first season as the head football coach of the Red Ravens

Assistant football coach Bill Mills took the football team back to Coffeyville and Coach Pryor joined the cross country team.

They drove all night on their way to Michigan with freshmen Terry Powell driving most of the late-night hours. On Friday afternoon the team had a short work out at a YMCA park in Fort Wayne, IN, arriving in Jackson, MI soon after dark. An early morning breakfast on Saturday consisted of orange juice, tea, toast and honey, which was the usual pre-meet meal. The team arrived at 10:00 am at Sharpe Park, one hour before the meet.

Coffeyville placed five runners in the first 13 finishers to take home the trophy. The Jackson newspaper in a story about the meet said “A gritty Coffeyville, KS team won Saturday behind the brilliant balance and flying heels of Mike Fulghum”. The Red Ravens scored 39 points to earn the victory while Cobleskill of Utica, NY, the defending champion, was second with 64 points.

1^st  Place               Coffeyville                   39  points                 

2^nd Place              Cobleskill,NY                64  points                 

3^rd Place               Flint, MI                      94  points                 

4^th Place               Spring Arbor, MI          143  points                 

5^th Place               Grand Rapids, MI        175 points                  

6^th Place               Muskegon, MI            184 points                       

7^th Place               Jackson, MI               188 points                  

8^th Place               Wright                       243 points

9^th Place               Henry Ford                309 points