1979 Antioch High School Boy’s Track And Field Team

The 1979 boy’s track and field team is statistically the greatest in Antioch High School history, according to Hall of Fame coach Mike Hurd.

The Panthers went undefeated in the Diablo Valley Athletic League (DVAL) (8-0) with the closest score showing 85-51 to rival Pittsburg High School. In four of those league contests, Antioch scored more than 100 out of 136 points. Additionally, two relay teams and a pole vaulter set school records.

The 1979 roster featured six individuals who took first place at the DVAL Championship Meet on the “sweltering hot” Friday of May 11th: senior co-captain Tony Lang in the 440-yard dash (50.2 seconds), senior Brian Hamilton in the two-mile run (9:49.6), senior Jerry Jones in discus (162’1”), senior Brook Sloan in the triple jump, junior Leon Hanson in pole vault (14’3” for a school record) and sophomore Rudy Viramontes in the 120-yard high hurdles (15.2 seconds).

Lang, Davis, senior co-captain Tim Crumpler and senior Alan Sowell clocked in an eye-popping 42.4-second 440-yard relay, while Lang, Davis and Crumpler joined senior Randy Larsen to swiftly finish the mile relay in three minutes and 20.2 seconds.

Jones also placed seventh in the California Interscholastic Federation State Championship with a 164’2” discus.

Senior Glen Davis won Team MVP by competing in the 220-yard sprint (22.5-second PR) and long jump (21’11”), along with the record-breaking 440-yard and mile relay teams.

Looking back, Coach Hurd created a fantasy track and field duel, pitting Antioch’s 1979 against its 1973 team, which consisted of five Hall of Fame athletes. Comparing season-bests in each individual and relay event, the 1979 team narrowly came out on top, thereby placing itself as the greatest in Antioch history.