Don Conder (2009)
Little Rock High School and Abilene Christian
Don Conder set a number of state high school records while running for Little Rock High School and then ran on some of the greatest collegiate relay teams in history at Abilene Christian College. As a junior at Little Rock, he ran on the winning 440-yard and 880-yard relay teams that set records, finished second to Clyde Hart in the 100 and beat Hart in the 220, setting a new meet of 22.7. As a senior he won five events in the Big Eight meet. He won the 100, 220 and 440, setting meet records in all three, tying the record of 10.1 in the 100 while beating Hart, setting records of 22.3 in the 220 and 50.5, also a state record in the 440. Conder ran on the winning 440-yard relay team that tied the record of 44.3 and also won the broad jump at 21-0 1/2". At Abilene he ran on the 880-yard relay team that tied the world record of 1:24.0 in 1956. That team included Bill Woodhouse, James Segrest and Bobby Morrow, who won the Olympic 100 and 200 that same year. Conder also ran on 19 relay teams that won titles at the three major relay meets of that era – Texas, Kansas and Drake. Conder later was an administrator for 20 years at Lubbock State School and was named to the Abilene Christian College Board of Trustees in 1983. |