SITRAC Blast From the Past
By Bill Welsh
The Place: Curtis High School
The Date: May 19, 1909
The Blast: Curtis just opened its new,
five-lap to a mile, cinder track and for the first time the Public
Schools Athletic League held a City Track and Field Championship on
Staten Island.
Of the twelve schools, which scored,
Curtis finished sixth. The Warriors tallied thirteen points on two
wins and a second - all scored by just two young athletes.
John Drebinger Jr. struck first,
gaining three points by taking second in the senior 100-yard dash.
John was a gifted sprinter and had scored in PSAL meets off Staten
Island. After he graduated from Curtis, Drebinger became a writer
for the Advance, reporting under the nom de plume "Ten
Flat". He contributed a column called, "The Sporting
Sector" and was instrumental in our local newspaper printing a
full page of sports daily.
In the 1920’s John went on to work
for the NY Times where he won acclaim for his reportage of baseball
and the World Series for more that three decades.
Curtis’ remaining ten points were
earned by a diminutive walk–on from the championship high school
baseball team, Rosebank’s Able Kiviat. Abel not only won the mile
in four minutes forty-three and two fifths seconds but just three
running events later returned to race and win the 880-yard run. In
winning the half mile, Kiviat amazed by setting a PSAL record of
2:04 and 4/5 seconds.
In taking his two city championships,
a Curtis " baseball player" bested the renowned Charles
Major of Boys High. Major had been the reigning cross country and
mile champion of the city and was considered unbeatable.
Less than six weeks later at Travers
Island on July 10, 1909 Abel gained headlines again by winning the
Met AAU Junior Championships, 880-yard title in a spectacular 1:59
and 2/5. This came after running a preliminary heat to reduce the
field to nine men. Abel won the final by five yards going away. From
then on, the little Jewish boy from Rosebank was the hero of the
Irish-American Athletic Club, his newfound team. In later years he
claimed to be their chaplain!
Like Drebinger, Kiviat had to travel
to locations off Staten Island to continue his running and claim to
fame.
This was back in 1909!! Think of the
thousands who have been forced to follow in their very distant
footsteps. Future Blasts will reveal more of Abel’s career.
In 2009 ground is to be broken at
Ocean Breeze for our Indoor Track. At that time, the 100th
anniversary of Drebinger and Kiviat’s great day at Curtis, we will
rejoice that, unlike them, today’s runners will no longer be
forced to travel to run, race and really enjoy being Staten
Islanders.
