Did you know?: S.C.S.D.B. Eye Opener

scrunners.com is starting a series this season called, Did you know? The series will include research on meets, how they started, changed and different methods used for timing and other notes that you may not have known.

Photos provided

Want to know something about a meet? Email jolson@milesplit.us and we will try to find the information. 

The first did you know is on this weekend’s S.C.S.D.B. Eye Opener. 

  • Jack Todd has been director of the meet since it started in 1984. 
  • The name of Eye Opener came with the help of Bob Jenkins to see how ready his team was for the season. The meet did not have an official name before this. “He was such an influence, “ said Todd on Jenkins. “It just seemed to match.”
  • 1988 was the first year the meet used a computer timing system and has grown to pull tags, bar codes and now chip timing. 
  • Jim Kilbreth helped time with meet with a timing board and 2” x 3” cards that were posted on the board to tabulate results. Popsicles sticks weren’t used. The board was first used in the state in 1978.
  • Kilbreth on the timing board and its history: “A guy by the name of Earl Heinhorst developed this scoring system for Joe Newton of York High School.  I was in Illinois in 1965 and the system was in use at that time.  I copied the board system from Joe and then began to use it at Lyons Township High School, LaGrange, Illinois, in 1968.  I brought the system with me when we moved to Spartanburg in 1978.  We later saw the board system, in a more pleasing style and design, advertised in sports magazines.  This system was easy to copy though instead of purchasing it.  In fact Dorman later bought a huge, beautiful board.  An advantage to the board scoring system was that runners and parents could instantly see all results and times.  They would always flock around this board as we kept posting the finishing runners' results.  Prior to the board system, popsicle sticks were issued to finishing runners and the coach had to write the runners' names and finishing places on a long sheet to be submitted to the race director.  Consequently, it was very time consuming and the results were very slow to be announced.”
  • Two starting lines: The meet had two starting lines in 1998 and 1999 due to size at the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind and took place during the week. The meet moved to The Roger Milliken Center in 2000 to better accommodate growth. 
  • The meet had changed courses six times. 
  • 2014 numbers: 81 high schools with 3,115 entries and 21 colleges with 346 entries.
  • Week 3 live updates article: Help share weekend news
  • S.C.S.D.B. Eye Opener: A historical look
  • College entries
  • Entries - by state, Sept. 1
  • Final HS team entries
  • Time schedule