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ALUMNI STORIES: HARRY MCCALLA

HARRY MCCALLA

Fullerton Junior College Track Coach Jim Bush (FC Hall of Famer) saw Harry at a few big high school meets and recruited him to attend Fullerton JC in the fall of 1960. “I was blessed to team up with the great Leroy Neal (FC Hall of Famer) and the mighty Jan Underwood, two of the greatest junior college middle distance runners in the U.S.”, stated McCalla. Together, they dominated JC Cross Country and Track & Field in California during the 1960 season. Named the FJC Trail Blazers, the team had one of the finest seasons in Cross Country school in history finishing second in the Eastern Conference Finals and second in the Southern Cal Championships. Harry finished 2nd to teammate Leroy Neal in the Eastern Conference Cross Country Finals and Leroy finished second to Harry in the Southern Cal Cross Country Finals.

Leroy and Harry battled back and forth in the during the 1961 track season pushing each other to be the best in California. Heading into the State Meet, Harry owned the best national time in the Mile at 4:09.0. Harry went on to finish second to Leroy in the Mile with a time of 4:09.3 to Neal’s 4:09.1, but Harry took the Two Mile with a time of 9:06.2. It was a great year to be a Hornet as FJC won most of the two mile relays (4x880) and Distance Medley Relays they entered. McCalla transferred to Stanford University where he was coached by the legendary Payton Jordan. “FJC had prepared me well for the academic rigors of Stanford as Jim Bush prepared me well for the training regimen of Payton Jordan”, stated McCalla. By his senior year, Harry had run 4:01.5 in the mile, 8:52 in the two mile, and 8:59 in the steeplechase. He won the PAC 8 three mile and was NCAA All American in Cross Country in 1962 and 1964. McCalla was the utility man for Jordan running everything from the 880, the 3 mile, and the steeplechase. His focus was always the Mile. Harry was honored with a Stanford University Athletic Hall of Fame induction in 1971.

McCalla went on to run for the US Air Force/the 49ers Track Club while serving in the military for four years. His team set a world indoor record in the two mile relay at Albuquerque in 1967. In June of 1967, Harry ran in the same race with Jim Ryan when he broke the world record in the Mile with a time of 3:51.3. Harry ran the best mile of his life with a time of 4:00.6.

Harry’s first and only marathon effort was in the 1968 Los Angeles Marathon where he ran 2:34.40 finishing 11th overall.