The race was on cinders. One of the things that made the race so special was that Andrew Jackson and Boys High (simply "the High") were long time PSAL rivals, especially in the shorter relay races--4x220 and 4x440. Each school had its own chant while a race was going on ("Boys High mambo, olay olay"; and ""High's on a heat wave, swoop swoop"). It sounds a bit corny now, but in person, at that time, it was electrifying. Also, at least among track fans who were outsiders to those schools, it was never "Jimmy," it was only "JimmyJack" (as if it were a single word).
wineturtle wrote:
Mark Bloom
http://theharrier.com/marcbloomrunning/booklets/nyclassics.phpwrote a great account of that race. St Johns installed an All-Weather rubberized asphalt surface at some point I want to say before this meet but my memory is fuzzy.
cinders,- the lane one (often 2 also) being chewed up badly as the meet progressed added to the slower/less rebound of cinders.
Jackson-Julio Meade 1:54.3,Bill Jacobs-1:57.3,Sam Thomas 1:52.7 Mark Ferrell 1:51.3
Boys-Mark Edmead 1:54.3,John Henry 1:56.6,Mike Randall 1:53.1, Jimmy Jackson 1:50.6
Jimmy returned and has been the coach at (now called) Boys&Girls HS for many years.