Nov. 10, 2008
(This is last of a series of articles on the 2008 induction class for the Baylor Athletic Hall of Fame)
By JERRY HILL
Baylor Bear Insider
Although he was an All-American in the 220-yard dash and a Southwest Conference champion in the 440, Roy Lee Smalley's career in track and field was more about the team.
Smalley ran on five conference relay champions and was part of the Baylor program's first two overall conference team championships in 1960 and '62.
"This honor, as I see it, is about the people that made it possible. And I'm just one part of that," said Smalley, 68, who was added to the Baylor Athletic Hall of Fame at the annual induction banquet Friday night. "It really was about the team. I really preferred that they stick the team picture up (instead of his picture). It takes three things: You've got to have some skill, you've got to have a coach to bring it out, and you've got to have great teammates. There was just a special feeling you got from winning as a team."
Along with high-jumper Eddie Curtis and sprinter Ray Knaub, Smalley was part of Jack Patterson's recruiting class in 1958 that eventually led to the Bears' SWC championships.
"Jack's plan was to put Baylor on the map in track and field," Smalley said. "Baylor hadn't won a conference championship in anything in decades."
Smalley said Patterson "took a real gamble," because both Smalley and Curtis were hurt so badly that they couldn't finish their events at the high school state track meet.
"I thought it was over," said Smalley, who was from Greenville, Texas. "But Coach Pat had seen me run at region. It was my first quarter (440-yard run), and I ran 50 flat. I had never run it before, so I just thought you went out as hard as you could and tried to hold on."
While freshmen couldn't compete for the varsity at the time, Smalley ran in a Freshman division at the prestigious Texas Relays in Austin and won the 100-yard dash. "And that was a big deal," he said, "because every class winner in Texas from the year before was in the final heat. And we just wore everybody out in the relays."
That trend continued the next year, when Smalley and Knaub combined with Tommy Minter and Billy Hollis to win the 4x110-yard relay at the SWC Outdoor meet in 40.6 seconds. Smalley, Knaub and Hollis then teamed with Joe Thompson to win the mile relay in the final event as Baylor captured the SWC title with 79 points.
"We showed up at the track with 14 guys and won the conference championship," Smalley said. "It was a big deal. We did things that had never been done at Baylor."
Baylor finished second at the SWC meet the next year, but Smalley ran leadoff leg on the winning 440-yard relay team and took third in both the 100- and 220-yard dashes.
He also finished sixth in the 220 at the NCAA Championships, the first point Baylor had scored at the national meet since 1947.
Smalley capped off his career the next year by running legs on the 440-yard and mile relays and winning the open 440-yard run with a school-record time that stood for 10 years.
"Baylor had some great runners like Clyde Hart and Ray Vickery, but really didn't have much of a team," Smalley said. "But all of a sudden, we had four sprinters that could run 9.5 (in the 100) and 47-second quartermilers. That group with Glynn Fields and Bill Kemp, we went to all the major relays, and I don't think we ever got beat."
Smalley continued his running career with the U.S. Marine Corps (1963-66) and then worked in the pharmaceutical business for several years before opening his own car-restoration business in 1976. Eurowerks, Inc., is a highly specialized shop in Campbell, Texas, that restores classic Porsches.
"I was going to have to move to New York or Puerto Rico or even Germany," Smalley said, "and this gave me a chance to piddle with my cars and get to know my children. So I never went back to work. And it was definitely worth it. The value of these cars has done nothing but go up. So it turned out to be a pretty good decision."
Joining Smalley in the 2008 Hall of Fame class were former baseball standout Marty Crawford, 14-year NFL veteran Ray Crockett, cross country runner Sally Geis Smart, director of tennis Matt Knoll and basketball's Tom Stanton. Also recognized was Jim Turner, a former basketball standout and Hall of Famer who was added to the Wall of Honor.
