Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Pages past - Jan. 18

On this date ...

1973: The Eastern New Mexico University track and field team, led by freshman Mike Boit of Kenya, was headed to Kansas City, Missouri, for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Indoor Track Championship.

Seventeen Greyhounds — the largest group to date — had qualified and were making the trip, under the guidance of coach Bill Silverberg.

Boit was in his first year at Eastern, fresh off snagging a bronze medal in the 800-meter run at the 1972 Munich Olympics the summer before.

The Greyhounds were also represented by three all-America athletes at the meet: Rex Maddaford of Aukland, New Zealand; Sam Yavala of the Fiji Islands; and Jim Lincoln of Houston.

1968: Billed as "world's fastest freight train," Santa Fe Railway's "Super C" had passed through Clovis on its inaugural run from Chicago to Los Angeles. But it was so far ahead of schedule that local photographers failed to get any pictures of it.

Powered by 3,600 horse power diesel locomotives, the train was expected to carve 20 hours off the cross-country time.

In its first pass through Clovis, the Super C made its five-minute stop two hours and 20 minutes ahead of schedule, and was headed west long before dawn. The Clovis News-Journal had to rely on a photo supplied by the Santa Fe Railway to use with its story of the event.

Pages Past is compiled by Betty Williamson. Contact her at: [email protected]