|
When
it came clear to Charlie Simpson you knew
what you were going to get. The 1972
graduate of Centralia High School was a key
contributor for the Orphans' strong cross
country and track programs of the time,
including the 1971 cross country squad that
took second in the state. "He
was absolutely dependable," said Rod
White who coahed both CHS track and cross
country at the time. "Charlie was
quiet but you knew he was going to go out
and give you his best effort every
time." Coming
to Centralia as a freshman after his family
moved here from Johnston City, Simpson went
out for track and began to make his presence
felt as a sophomore, starting with cross
country in helping the Orphans win
conference, district and sectional titles
each of the next three seasons. He
was seventh at the South Seven Conference
meet, 14th at the district, 20th at the
sectional and 114th in the state meet at
Detweiler Park in Peoria. The
following year (1970) he was an even more
consistent performer for the Orphans, taking
second at the South Seven meet, third in the
district at Olney and was second in the
sectional at Foundation Park in 14:14,
topped only by future Olympian Craig Virgin. He
was also the top finisher for the Orphans
who were sixth at state, coming in 34th
overall. Then
came the memorable 1971 campaign. "A
lot of things came together," said
Simpson. "We had a good group of
parents and dedicated fans. Secondly,
as we came along through the years the
upperclassmen were good team leaders.
Marc Schroeder, Richard Glen and Craig
Freels were among those who were patient
with us and also showed us the meaning of
hard work. "Paul
Reynolds [also in the Class of '72] took a
leap forward and stood out his sophomore
year. That helped show us what we were
capable of. Everybody stepped up,
challenged each other and by the time we
were seniors it all fell into place. Simpson,
a team tri-captain, won the South Seven that
year in 15:54 on the Foundation Park course
while taking fifth at the district and
seventh in the sectional. The Orphans
- who were 313-5 in head-to-head team
competition up to that point - rolled to the
title and headed to state and Detweiler Park
where Simpson had placed fourth earlier in
the season at the Peoria Invitational which
was a tune-up for the finals. Once
there, Centralia became one of only three
larger schools from Southern Illinois
(besides Edwardsville and O'Fallon) to evr
place in the top two at state which wa won
that year by nationally ranked Elmhurst
York. "Back
then, it took a couple of hours to total it
[the race] up and I remember sitting there
waiting, and when we were announced as the
second-place at the ceremony it was a
thrill," Simpson said. That
spring Simpson also had a sensational
season. He was a state qualifier in
the 880 in 1:58.1 and set a meet record at
the Orphan Relays as the third leg on the
two mile relay team with Paul Reynolds, Stan
Vannier and Mike Heitkamp in a time of
7:52.3 and later this season went 7:49.5 for
a school record that still stands today. Simpson
also ran on the distance medley team that
set a CHS mark in 10:32 and received an
invitation to the Top 10 Meet at Chicago
which was for athletes who were in the top
10 times and distances nationally in their
events. He was also part of four-mile
relay team that turned in an 18:34.2 time. As
a junior he won the two-mile at the
conference meet (9:51.5) and was second in
the mile (4:35) before switching places at
the district in taking the mile in 4:29.7
and was second in the two mile in 9:45. Simpson
then attended Southern Illinois University
at Edwardsville and went on to earn eight
varsity letters in cross country and track,
and set records in the one, four an five
mile runs. A team captain, he
qualified for the NCAA Division II nationals
with a time of 4:11.9 in the mile. Following
his graduation from SIU-E Simpson went into
coaching and teaching at Mascoutah Middle
School where he was a science instructor for
34 years before retiring four years ago. He
also coached track and "that was a lot
of fun," Simpson said. "I
saw some pretty good athletses come through
there." One
of them in Chris Martin went on to win the
1,600 meters at the 2013 Illinois High
School Association Class 2A state track
meet. "I
can't say enough about Coach White and all
that he did," said Simpson.
"All my teammates - there's so many
names to mention and I'd hate to forget one
- made workouts challenging and worthwhile
and that was a key to our success.." list@morningsentinel.com
|
