| Title: | Track & Field |
| Year: | 1969 |
Wanda Rae Kirkpatrick Crowell, Class of 1969, was one of the best track and field athletes in Brewer history at a time when track and field was just beginning for girls at Brewer High School. Track opportunities for girls in the 1960’s were very limited. In fact, in Maine, girls’ track was limited to one competition per season, a one-day track and field event called Olympic Sports Day which was open to all schools in the state with over 500 girls competing. Today this event is the Maine State Track and Field Championships. Despite the limited opportunities afforded girls during that era, Kirkpatrick persevered to become one of the best track athletes in the state specializing in the long jump, high jump, and the 50-yd and 100-yd low hurdles and she contributed significantly to Brewer’s relay teams. Under the expert coaching of Lura Hoyt, a 2015 Brewer Athletic Hall of Fame Inductee, Kirkpatrick and several of her Brewer teammates were dominant at the state level during this time period.
Kirkpatrick had an undeniable passion for the sport and an abundance of determination. Her freshman season she reached the podium over hundreds of athletes at her inaugural Olympic Sports Day to place 3rd in the long jump. Improving her skills into her sophomore year, she placed 2nd in the long jump as well as achieved a silver medal in the 50 yd. hurdles. Her junior year, she was the long jump champion and set a school record which stood for eighteen years! She was also a key member of the 1st place 440 yd. pursuit relay that set a new state record. The 1968 Brewer Girls’ Track Team was truly the beginning of Brewer’s dominance in track and field at the state level. In addition to her two gold medals at the 1968 Olympic Sports Day, Kirkpatrick also earned a silver medal in the 50 yd. hurdles. Perhaps it was the state-of-the-art track shoes made of kangaroo hide, paid for by herself, that launched her into champion status; but, those who know her would say it was her work ethic and competitive drive. Her senior year, she took home the gold medal in each of her three events: the long jump, the high jump and the 50 yd. hurdles. This 5-time state champion is currently ranked 9th on Brewer’s Outdoor Track & Field All-Time Top 20 List in the long jump and tied for 17th in the high jump.
Kirkpatrick was an active student at Brewer, participating all four years in the GAA (Girls Athletic Association), the main athletic opportunity at Brewer High School which focused on intramural sports. Track and field gave Kirkpatrick a sense of connection and belonging to school life and fostered social interaction, gifts she recognized were instrumental in shaping the woman she would become. In addition to track, she was an active skier in the Skiing & Outing Club and played varsity basketball her senior year.
Because the girls’ high school track and field program at Brewer in the 1960’s was practically non-existent, female Brewer track athletes including Kirkpatrick also competed in the AAU Junior Olympics competition program which conducted track and field events on a local, regional and national level.
Kirkpatrick was a 6-time gold medalist at the Maine AAU Junior Olympics: winning the 50 yd. hurdles, the high jump and the long jump in 1968 and 1969. She established a new state record in the long jump (15’ 5½”) in 1968 and broke her own state record in 1969 with a jump of 15’ 8”. She also set a new state record in the 50 yd. hurdles (7.6 seconds) her senior year. Kirkpatrick’s success at the state level qualified her to compete at the New England Regional Junior Olympics. In 1967, at the age of 15, she won the long jump (16’ 5 ½”) and the 50-yd hurdles (7.8 seconds) while placing second in the high jump. As a result, Kirkpatrick was crowned the high point winner at the 1967 NE AAU Junior Olympics! Kirkpatrick was also the 1968 New England 50 yd. hurdles champion. Her outstanding victories at the regional level in the long jump and hurdles enabled her to go on and compete at the 1967 National Championships in Washington DC where she placed 9th in the long jump. This young, talented female athlete put Brewer track on the national stage. Kirkpatrick also advanced to the 1968 National Championships in Knoxville, TN and she was the only athlete from Maine, female or male, to qualify for this prestigious event.
In addition to her participation in the AAU, Kirpatrick proved she was an exceptional well-rounded athlete winning gold at the Pentathlon Games at Colby College at the age of 15. She also set the Waterville Athletic Conference record in the long jump. The following year, she won the gold medal at the Maine AAU Women’s Pentathlon Games in Lewiston. In 1969, she earned the Outstanding Female Athlete Award at the Waltham Recreational AAU Meet for her two gold medals in the long jump and high jump.
After graduation from Brewer in 1969, Kirkpatrick attended the University of Maine at Presque Isle. She later returned to Brewer as an unofficial assistant track coach to Barbara Mattheis, helping with the hurdlers and jumpers. Wanda Kirkpatrick Crowell is married to Don Crowell and has one son James Chichetto and a granddaughter Veronica Chichetto. She splits her time between Florida and Brewer Lake and devotes her time to gardening and wildlife photography.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE INDUCTION AND ACCEPTANCE SPEECH OF WANDA KIRKPATRICK CROWELL
Presenter Gene Kirkpatrick and Inductee Wanda Kirkpatrick Crowell