Whether it’s senior, junior, sophomore, school or various meet marks, the sport’s directors and historians must be armed with an eraser.

That’s why there are two records in Blair County that deserve some spotlight.

Ironically, both were set in field events, which usually get less notoriety than their speedier counterparts, and, remarkably, both have stood for 60 years.

Altoona Area High School legend Mike Reid established the school shot put record in 1965 with a throw of 58 feet, 0.25 inches, while Hollidaysburg’s Joe Burr followed a year later by setting the Golden Tigers’ discus record with a chuck of 173 feet.

Mike Reid of Altoona (pictured) and Joe Burr of Hollidaysburg still hold school throwing records, 60 years later.

To this day, those involved with the sport remain awed.

“Mike Reid’s record standing for all these years speaks to his incredible talent and athleticism,” Altoona track coach Mike Adams said. “Every year at districts, we have coaches and spectators reminisce about his accomplishments. He is one of the iconic athletes in Altoona history.”

Retired Altoona track coach Tom Musselman, who led the program from 1975-2004, said Dick Frasca held the Altoona javelin record for many years, “and then they changed the javelin.”

The shot, though, remains a 12-pound ball.

“For a high school kid to throw a 12-pound shot that far is absolutely amazing,” Musselman said. “All records are meant to be broken, but a 12-pound shot has been a 12-pound shot forever. Every now and then you read about high school kids who have been over 70 feet, but it’s hard to put that into true perspective.”

Reid also set and maintained the Altoona discus record for a while, heaving it “about 140,” he said, but it’s now held by Tom Carey, whose throw of 180-9 in 1999 marked a District 6 record.

Somerset’s Nick Hyde set the D6 shot standard with a throw of 61-1 in 2019.

The PIAA marks in the shot and discus are held by Knoch High School’s Jordan Geist, who threw the shot 74-3.5 and the discus 207-06. He went on to win a national championship in the shot for the University of Arizona and also medaled in world competition.

Reid is Altoona’s most decorated athlete. He starred as a defensive tackle at Penn State and played five NFL seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals before moving onto a renown songwriting career.

While football brought him fame, he considered the competition of track more fun.

“I can’t say I had a deep enjoyment of football,” Reid, now 78 and living in Nashville, said. “I thought it was meaningful, but for sheer enjoyment, coming out and throwing the shot put in the spring, outdoors, I had complete joy.”

He didn’t have much guidance in the shot, he said, noting that former Altoona football coach Earl Strohm “would hang out and want to talk football.”

In the discus, he recalls an Altoona coach named Cy Ramsey who encouraged him to “keep your eyes up when you release, and when I did, I bounced that discus off the chain-link fence, 25 feet further than I had ever thrown it.”

The next week, he broke the school record.

He was inspired to hit 60 feet with the shot. During a break in a late-season meet, he fondly recalls wandering from Mansion Park for a snack with his close friend and tennis standout Dave Berry, who had been reading about shot putters letting out a yell to aid their breathing.

“Berry came out to the event and was my coach that day,” Reid said, laughing. “We went up to the Dairy Queen, and I loaded up on candy bars. I never thought of competing with an exploding yell. The first time I tried it, the shot went a foot further than I had ever thrown it … All these years later, we’ve had a running joke. He thinks it was his coaching, and I think it was the candy bars.”

Prior to setting the school record, Reid did throw 60 feet, but “I fouled.”

He uncorked the shot 60 feet at Penn State, where he held the record for 20 years (he was also an Eastern wrestling champion) before a knee injury curtailed him and limited his involvement to just football.

“All the guys today are doing the spin move,” Reid said of shot putters. “Rarely do you see the glide anymore where you glide back on one foot, cock your hips and torque your hips into the throw.”

He admits he’s surprised his shot-put mark has lasted this long.

“You would think it would be broken by now,” he said.

While Reid has led a life of notoriety, Burr moved to the Reading area, where he still resides and prefers a low profile.

“Joe’s a quiet guy,” said former Hollidaysburg football teammate John Leamer. “He was a good athlete and a good person.”

Like Reid, Burr relied on his strength. He was also a member of the Golden Tigers’ unbeaten football team in 1965.

“Back then, there weren’t people around to teach you,” Leamer, who went to the University of Miami baseball team as a pitcher, said. “Joe learned the discus on his own, and he did quite a job with it.”

Marshall Wagner has a unique perspective. He was a year behind Burr at Hollidaysburg and earned a football scholarship to PSU, where he backed up Reid on the nation’s top defense.

Wagner also threw the discus in high school.

“Joe was really into it and that discus just flew out of his hand,” Wagner said of the PIAA gold medalist. “You remember those things. He was a teammate on the football team, too. I also wrestled with Joe, and he was as quiet as can be. He just went about business.”

Wagner watched Reid competing at Mansion Park, “but I really didn’t get to know Mike until we got to State College.”

He marvels at the longevity of the two track records.

“To have two people like that and be able to do what they did,” he said. “That’s really something.”

Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.