Lawrence (Larry) Snyder - Canton Central great & long-time OSU head coach

JAVMAN83

JAVMAN83

Well-known member
I learned some interesting facts recently after a small rabbit-hole excursion into Mr. Snyder's personal athletic accomplishments BEFORE his era as track coach.

I already knew he tied for 1st in the high jump at the 1914 state meet competing for Canton Central HS.

What's new to me is that while he went OSU after WWI, he competed from 1922-25 having a wife and young daughter, was captain of the team in '24-'25, and had the most impressive marks of:

HJ - 6' 1 1/2"
LJ - 23' 3" (broad jump as it was known then)
TJ - 45' 7" (hop-step-jump)
120ydHH - 14 6/10 sec.
220ydLH - 24 2/5 sec.
440yd - 50 2/5 sec.

Pretty good athlete!
 
 
Thanks for the information.

Two interesting questions.
1. Were the times recorded as fractions? As a math teacher, this is awesome.
2. Was the LJ listed as running the broad jump? When I see a broad jump I always assume it is a standing broad jump. Not running a broad jump.
 
EuclidandViren said:
Thanks for the information.

Two interesting questions.
1. Were the times recorded as fractions? As a math teacher, this is awesome.
2. Was the LJ listed as running the broad jump? When I see a broad jump I always assume it is a standing broad jump. Not running a broad jump.
Click to expand...
1. Yes. Mechanical stop watches of the time recorded to the 1/5 fraction of a second up until the early-mid 1920s. At the state meet of 1924, you see the shift from recording from 1/5 sec. increments to 1/10 sec. increments. How pervasive this was, I don't know, but like all newer technology roll-outs, I suspect it took a few seasons for this to be pervasive at all levels. Mechanical stop watches are precision instruments, not like the throw away electronic watches of today.

2. Yes, what is now known as the long jump was formerly the running broad jump, or broad jump as you'll see in reports of the time period. The change in terminology at the HS level came about in the 1960s.
 
As a follow-up on the recording of times by mechanical stop watches of that period, I am replicating those same fractions in my compilation of State meet results as they were reported then, not in today's vernacular. I think this is important to give proper historical context to the reporting of performances of the period.
 
JAVMAN83 said:
1. Yes. Mechanical stop watches of the time recorded to the 1/5 fraction of a second up until the early-mid 1920s. At the state meet of 1924, you see the shift from recording from 1/5 sec. increments to 1/10 sec. increments. How pervasive this was, I don't know, but like all newer technology roll-outs, I suspect it took a few seasons for this to be pervasive at all levels. Mechanical stop watches are precision instruments, not like the throw away electronic watches of today.

2. Yes, what is now known as the long jump was formerly the running broad jump, or broad jump as you'll see in reports of the time period. The change in terminology at the HS level came about in the 1960s.
Click to expand...

#2. I see you clarified your answer. But there was an event called the standing broad jump in addition to the running broad jump. Both events were competed in high school, college, and Olympic levels. The standing broad jump is still used at the NFL Combine.
 
EuclidandViren said:
#2. I see you clarified your answer. But there was an event called the standing broad jump in addition to the running broad jump. Both events were competed in high school, college, and Olympic levels. The standing broad jump is still used at the NFL Combine.
Click to expand...
Yes, but I can't find any example of the standing broad jump being contested at any HS meets except at early 20th century county meets. Never at a higher level in HS. Even at the earliest of the OHSAA state meets back to 1908, and the three (3) prequel state meets of 1905-1907, there wasn't a standing broad jump.

I've yet to come across the SBJ contested in college, and the Olympic SBJ stopped after the 1912 Stockholm Games (of Jim Thorpe fame).
 
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A few useless tidbits to add here:

1. Snyder was the 1st individual/relay track and field champion from Stark County. In total, there are currently 114 boys individual/relay track field champions and 56 girls individual/relay track and field champions from Stark County. Those numbers include championships won in the seated events.

2. Snyder was portrayed in the film Race which was based on Jesse Owens' career from college through the '36 Olympics.

3. There was a point in time when the OHSAA had credited Snyder's state HJ title to Canton Central Catholic HS, but they corrected their database after a concerned individual made Tim Stried aware of the error. Canton CCHS did not exist under that name and configuration until 1945.

4. Canton Central HS was the lone public HS serving the city of Canton until 1918 when the original McKinley HS building opened. At which point, Central's building was relegated to a junior high. The Central building was later razed and replaced by Timken Vocational HS in 1939. Timken Vocational was renamed Timken Senior HS in 1976 when Canton City Schools downsized from 4 public HSs to 2 by closing both Lincoln HS (alma mater of Dave Wottle) and Lehman HS. CCS then went to 1 senior HS in 2015 but continues to use Timken's building to serve its 9th grade population.

Incidentally, the original McKinley HS building still stands and was for sale/rent, as of 5 months ago. It was most recently operated as a convalescent home. After closing, Lehman was relegated to a junior high until being replaced by a new building of the same name at a different location. The original Lehman building is currently being renovated into some sort of apartment building. The Lincoln building was purchased by Heritage Christian School in the late '70s. HCS currently houses grades Pre-8 after closing its HS operation in 2018. The Timken building's status has been mentioned. IIRC, that land parcel was deeded to Canton City Schools under the stipulation that a school building always remain on it.
 
Speaking of Larry Snyder in the movie Race....
My son and I watched Race at the theater. While Jason Sudekis did a very good job, he seemed miscast due to his previous comedic roles. We kept waiting for him to say or do something goofy
 
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