High Stepper

In the town of Berea, Ohio, an elderly lady walked up to a student on the street last week and asked: "Are you the one?" Harrison ("Bones") Dillard, 24, son of a day laborer, grinned. "Guess I am," he replied. The old lady grabbed his hand and said that she was certainly glad to know him.

One of the few Negro students at Baldwin-Wallace College, Bones has been a campus celebrity for some time. Last year his fellow students raised $1,500 among themselves to set up a scholarship for his firstborn child (if & when he begins to raise a family; he is still a bachelor). Bones's fame has now spread far beyond the campus. A skinny 5 ft. 10 in. tall, he is the greatest high & low hurdler who ever wore spikes. He holds nine world records at different distances, and is the safest bet the U.S. has for the Olympic Games in July.

Unlike Georgia's tall (6 ft. 2 in.) Spec Towns, who won the no-meters high hurdles in Berlin in 1936, Bones drives hard into a hurdle. Towns used to float over them. A notoriously slow beginner, Towns seldom got into the race until he reached the third hurdle. Dillard believes that the first seven strides (before taking the first hurdle in the 120 highs) are all-important. Says he: "They say I am unorthodox. But I figure any form that gets you there fastest is orthodox form."

At the start, Dillard sits in his blocks, then drops his head and looks at his right knee instead of the tape. It helps him to relax. He has an uncanny knack for anticipating the gun. Then it is seven steps and drive. He takes a tremendous (13 ft. 2 in.) glide, the left leg cocked stiff and horizontal as it leads over the hurdle, the right knee up under his arm. When he is practicing, Bones concentrates on those first seven steps--developing speed up to the first hurdle.

Last week Bones, who was not invited to run in the traditional I.C.4-A. Championships at New York City's Randalls Island Stadium (his college is not a member), performed for the home folks. At Delaware, Ohio, he won three more races, stretching his record string of consecutive victories to 73. Next month is graduation, and then the Olympics. After that Dillard would like to own a haberdashery. Says he: "I just like to be around good clothes."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.