Doyne Hunnicutt (2001)
Born in Gravelly, Arkansas, March 3, 1913, Doyne won the National High School Track Meet in the broad jump at Chicago over a field of 62 entries. His jump, 23 feet 8 1/4 inches, was the third best world's high school distance, with Jesse Owens holding first place and Lonoke's Eddie Hamm second.
Doyne never lost an event while in high school. He was highly recruited by Southern California, Georgia Tech, the University of Arkansas, and several other state schools. He attended Georgia Tech and the University of Arkansas, but did not compete because of an injury received in the National High School Meet that didn't respond to the healing process. He attended Hendrix College in 1936-38 and competed. His best jump was 25 feet 8 1/2 inches. He competed for 10 years and lost only five times. Doyne qualified for the 1936 Olympic finals. He never made it to Munic, Germany because there were no sponsorship programs then, and his family's budget did not support a trip of that magnitude. |