ORONO, Maine -- The 1963-64 academic year was a successful one for the University of Maine men's cross country and track and field teams.

 

Coach Ed Styrna mustered a talented contingent of runners, jumpers and throwers who put together one of the best all-around seasons in school history.

 

The Black Bears owned the Yankee Conference that year, winning the cross country title, the indoor track and field championship and the outdoor track crown.

 

"It was just a great bunch of guys, very athletic," said Dick Nason, a weight and hammer thrower on the team who was inducted into the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.

 

"We weren't being paid to be there, we were there because we wanted to be there. It was just some really special people," Nason said.

 

One of the men who helped tie those squads together was Gerald "Jerry" Ellis, who served as the captain for all three teams. The senior stalwart, who in 2019 was inducted into the UMaine Sports Hall of Fame, set the pace for the 1963 cross country team.

 

The Black Bears, 5-1 in dual meets, annexed the Yankee Conference title in Burlington, Vermont, where Ellis finished second overall.

 

Bernd "Ben" Heinrich and Howard Shaffer locked up second and third place, respectively, while Fred Judkins finished sixth and Horace Horton came in 14th.

 

The Black Bears registered a runner-up finish to Brown at the New England championships in Boston. Ellis set the pace with a ninth-place performance, followed by Judkins (14th), Heinrich (15th), Shaffer (26th) and Horton (43rd).

 

Heinrich, who attended Goodwill School in Hinckley, said only UMaine gave him a chance to run in college.

 

"In my senior year, I ran in 10 meets and I won every one of them," Heinrich said. "That's why I got accepted at the University of Maine. I went to see Ed Styrna and he was all over me."

 

Heinrich went on to set several world records in ultrarunning and wrote two books on the subject.

 

UMaine capped the cross country season at the IC4As and wound up second to La Salle in the college division.

 

Other 1963 team members included Dick Davidson, Kirk Hansen, John Lee, Lynn Ellis, George Damone and Gerry Graffam.

 

The 1963-64 indoor track team went into the season without fanfare. A Bangor Daily News sportswriter proclaimed, "[Styrna] is sure of one thing, he is rebuilding."

 

After a five-meet regular season, UMaine hosted the inaugural Yankee Conference indoor track championship in March 1964. Sophomore Jim Ballinger, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011, led the way for the Black Bears.

 

"That was the first time that we had an indoor championship [in the conference]," said Ballinger, who later served as a cross country and track coach at UMaine for more than 40 years.

 

Ballinger won both hurdles events, claiming the 45-yard race in 6.0 seconds and the 65-yard race in 7.8 seconds.

 

"I'm from South Jersey, and it was kind of exciting to see my name in The Philadelphia Inquirer," he said.

 

Dick Nason claimed top honors in the 35-pound weight throw (60 feet, 3/4 inch), while Craig Hurd placed second and Garrett Morrison took third. The other individual champions were Steve Cowperthwaite, who sped to victory in the 50-yard dash (5.7 seconds) and Arnie Delaite, whose heave of 50 feet, 4 1/4 inches won the shot put.

 

Ellis took second place Shaffer third in the mile, David Lahait was the runner-up in the high jump and Murray Spruce was second in the 600. Judkins and Heinrich finished second and third in the two-mile, while Shaffer, Dean Stoddard and Ellis went 3-4-5 in the 1,000.

 

UMaine's indoor lineup also included Wayne Andrew, Morris Bonde, Ivan Braun, Bruce Brockway, John Buteau, Benson Caswell, George Clark, James Dean III, Willard Gillette, Richard Glidden, Paul Gray, John Gross, James Harmon, Jon Kirkland, John Lee, John McGonagle, John Meckley, Reginald Montas, Garrett Morrison, Armand O'Clair, Gerry Perkins, Paul Petrie, Michael Skaling, Kenneth Stetson, Peter Thompson, Stephen Watts, John White, Miller White, Albert Worden and Mike Zubko.

 

The 1964 outdoor squad continued the winning trend, claiming UMaine's fourth straight YanCon championship, a state meet title and third place at the New Englands.

 

At the state meet, Delaite swept the shot put, discus and javelin to win the Alan Hillman Trophy as the outstanding competitor.

 

Durham, New Hampshire, was the venue for the Yankee Conference meet. Delaite reigned supreme in the shot put (50-3 1/2) and discus (153-1 1/2) and was second in the javelin and third in the high jump. Zubko was the victor in the inaugural outdoor hop, skip and jump (triple jump) at 46-3 1/2.

 

Nason was the hammer champ and Spruce outran the field in the 440.

 

Other top-three performers were Heinrich (2nd, two-mile), Judkins (2nd, mile), Frank Hobbs (3rd, javelin), Ballinger (3rd, 440 hurdles).

 

At the 77th running of the New Englands, UMaine took fifth place. Delaite again was the catalyst, winning the javelin (211-6) and taking second in the discus and third in the shot put.

 

Nason was the runner-up in the hammer and Judkins claimed third in the two-mile.

 

Other outdoor team members were Joel Alpert, Carl Betterley, Bonde, Harry Bowden, Buteau, Caswell, Clark, Gillette, Gross, Douglas Hathaway, Joseph Kenna, Kirkland, Douglas MacPherson, O'Clair, William Patterson III, Petrie, Stetson, Stoddard, Thompson, Vernon Walker, Allyn Wassil, Watts, Webber and Miller White.

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The University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame will be inducting five individuals, as well as teams from three sports, at its annual banquet on Sept. 26 at Jeff's Catering in Brewer.