BILLY SPEAR – 1952
With all the superb track teams that came out of Andrews, it sometimes gets overlooked that our first individual State Champion was Billy Spear.
Billy won the high hurdles in 15 flat in 1952 in Austin to bring home the gold.
According to Max, the famous Flying A shirts donned by his tracksters got its start when Elaine Goldsmith started making shirts for youngsters who participated in Max’s summer track program. These shirts were cherished by most youngsters who wanted to some day run track for Max Goldsmith. The first time I saw the Andrews “Flying A” was in 1958. I saw Andrews dominate the Cowtown Relays in Ft. Worth, Texas. It seemed each time awards were given out, one or more Flying A was on the winner stand. Those shirts alone probably intimidated some opponents.
Written by J. Mark Wallace