The Southern California Striders are a Track and Field club. The club was formed originally in the fall of 1955 by five elite athletes; Olympic multiple Gold Medalists Mal Whitfield

Mal Whitfield

Malvin "Mal" Greston Whitfield is a former American athlete, a double winner of 800 m at the Olympic Games...

, George Rhoden

George Rhoden

Competitor for JamaicaVincent George Rhoden is a former Jamaican athlete, winner of two Olympic gold medals in 1952....

, sliver medalist Meredith C."Flash" Gourdine

Meredith Gourdine

Meredith Charles "Flash" Gourdine was an American athlete, engineer and physicist....

, NCAA Champions Lang Stanley, and George Brown. In its day it laid claim to being "largest and strongest multiracial track-and-field club in the history of the sport." They were also called a collection "America’s finest Olympic Track and Field Stars."

Between 1957 and 1965 the team won 8 AAU

Amateur Athletic Union

The Amateur Athletic Union is one of the largest non-profit volunteer sports organizations in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs.-History:The AAU was founded in 1888 to...

 National Team Championships by attracting a who's who of elite track athletes of the day. Among the people to wear the Striders uniform were: Rafer Johnson

Rafer Johnson

Rafer Lewis Johnson is an American former decathlete and film actor.-Biography:Johnson was born in Hillsboro, Texas, but the family moved to Kingsburg, California, when he was nine. For a while, they were the only black family in the town. A versatile athlete, he played on Kingsburg High School's...

, Ralph Boston

Ralph Boston

Ralph Harold Boston is an American athlete. He was an all around athletic star, but he is best remembered for his successes in the long jump during the 1960s....

, Bill Toomey

Bill Toomey

Bill Toomey is a former American track and field competitor and the 1968 Olympic decathlon champion....

, Mike Larrabee, Bob Seagren

Bob Seagren

Robert "Bob" Seagren was an American pole vaulter, the 1968 Olympic champion.A native of Pomona, California, Bob Seagren was one of the world's top pole vaulters in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He won six National AAU and four NCAA titles indoors and outdoors. Indoors he posted eight world...

 John Rambo

John Rambo (athlete)

John Barnett Rambo was an American athlete who competed mainly in the high jump.Rambo competed for the United States in the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan in the high jump where he won the bronze medal....

, John Smith

John Smith (athlete)

John Walton Smith is a former American athlete, who competed in the sprints events during his career. He is best known for winning the men's 400 metres event at the 1971 Pan American Games....

, Fortune Gordien

Fortune Gordien

Fortune Everett Gordien was an American athlete who competed mainly in the discus throw.Born in Spokane, Washington he competed for the United States in the 1948 Summer Olympics held in London, Great Britain in the discus throw where he won the bronze medal behind two Italians, Adolfo Consolini...

, Ronnie Ray Smith

Ronnie Ray Smith

Ronald "Ronnie" Ray Smith is a former American athlete, winner of the gold medal in the 4×100 m relay at the 1968 Summer Olympics...

, Larry Stewart, Marshall Clark, Otis Burrell, Charles Dumas

Charles Dumas

Charles Everett Dumas was an American high jumper, the 1956 Olympic champion, and the first person to clear 7 ft....

, Ed Caruthers

Ed Caruthers

Ed Caruthers is a former American athlete who competed mainly in the men's high jump event during his career....

, Bob Avant, Leon Coleman, Don Quarrie

Don Quarrie

Donald O'Riley Quarrie C.D is a former Jamaican athlete, one of the world's top sprinters during the 1970s....

, Adolph Plummer, Chuck Smith, Ulis Williams

Ulis Williams

Ulis C. Williams is a former American athlete, winner of a gold medal in the 4 x 400 meter relay at the 1964 Summer Olympics. He later served as President of Compton Community College in Compton, California, from 1996 to 2005....

, Rex Cawley

Rex Cawley

Warren Jay Cawley is a former American athlete, winner of 400 m hurdles at the 1964 Summer Olympics.Born in Highland Park, Michigan, Rex Cawley still holds the record time for the 100 yard dash at Farmington High School that he set in 1959...

, Wayne Collett

Wayne Collett

Wayne Collett was an African American Olympic athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres....

, Ralph Mann

Ralph Mann

Ralph Mann was an American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 meter hurdles. He was an undergraduate at Brigham Young University, and later earned a Ph.D. in Biomechanics from the Washington State University...

, Ronald Whitney

Ronald Whitney

Ronald Howard "Ron" Whitney is a retired American hurdler and middle-distance runner. Known for his fast finish, he finished in 6th place in the 400 metre hurdles at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico as David Hemery demolished the world record...

, Geoff Vanderstock

Geoff Vanderstock

Geoffrey Peter "Geoff" Vanderstock is an American track and field athlete primarily known for running hurdles. He was once the World Record holder in the 400 metres hurdles. His 48.94 was set at the high altitude United States Olympic Trials at Echo Summit, California on September 11, 1968...

, Jim Cerveny, Jim Dupree, Jerome Walters, Bob Seaman, Paul Wilson, Ron Morris, Dick Railsback, John Pennel

John Pennel

John Thomas Pennel was an American pole vaulter, and four-time world record holder.When Robert Gardner became the first man to clear 13 feet in 1912 many people thought the pole vault limit was close at hand. It was nothing of the sort, of course, but progress was painfully slow – about one inch...

, Dave Volz, Arthur Walker, Parry O'Brien

Parry O'Brien

William Parry O'Brien, Jr. was an American shot put champion. Born in Santa Monica, California, he competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics where he won two gold medals and one silver medal . In his last Olympic competition he placed fourth. For this, he is inducted in the U.S...

, Dallas Long

Dallas Long

Dallas Crutcher Long is an American track and field athlete, who was four time world record holder in the shot put. He was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.Long attended the University of Southern California...

, Rink Babka

Rink Babka

Richard "Rink" Aldrich Babka is a retired American discus thrower. A former world record holder in the event, Babka also won a silver medal in the discus at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome....

, Ben Plucknett

Ben Plucknett

Walter Harrison Plucknett was an American track and field athlete, known primarily for the discus throw. In 1981, he broke the existing world record with a throw of 233'7", and broke the record again with a throw of 72.34 m on July 7, 1981...

, Ed Burke

Edward Burke (athlete)

Edward Andrew Burke was an American hammer thrower, especially famous for carrying the flag of the United States at the Olympics in Los Angeles 1984. He was born in Ukiah, California. His best result at the Olympics was the 7th place in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.He also threw in the 1968...

, Hal Connolly

Harold Vincent Connolly

Harold Vincent "Hal" Connolly was an American athlete and hammer thrower from Somerville, Massachusetts. He won a gold medal in the hammer throw at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. During the course of his career, Connolly became the first American to throw more than 200 feet...

 Larry Young,
Mike Manley and
Max Truex. All (listed) were USA National Champions, most were also Olympians across the full range of disciplines in the sport. The last of these National Champions appears to be Ben Plucknett, winning his championship in 1981. Plucknett set the still standing United States record

United States records in track and field

The following are the national records in track & field in the United States maintained by USA Track & Field .Key:-Men:-Women:-Men:-Women:+ = en route to a longer distanceA = affected by altitude# = not officially ratified by IAAF...

 in the Discus

Discus

Discus, "disk" in Latin, may refer to:* Discus , a progressive rock band from Indonesia* Discus , a fictional character from the Marvel Comics Universe and enemy of Luke Cage* Discus , a freshwater fish popular with aquarium keepers...

 while wearing the Southern California Striders uniform.

With the egalitarian attitude professed at its inception, the team catered almost exclusively to male athletes. This is because in the era of their successes, prior to Title IX

Title IX

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a United States law, enacted on June 23, 1972, that amended Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 2002 it was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, in honor of its principal author Congresswoman Mink, but is most...

, women athletes were not common and usually segregated.

The President of the Striders during the 60's was Dr. Jerry Bornstein, who put together a team of fellow doctors to provide medical care, and sometimes airline tickets, for the athletes out of their own pockets. Doctors Whitmore, Silver, Mels and Barnes and trainer Paul Schecter were part of this team. Now retired, Dr. Bornstein continues to be involved in sports medicine leading the team of athletic trainers at LAUSD sporting events.

Just as the team had the finest talent, it also attracted the finest coaches. Several people have laid claim to coaching the team. Charlie Coker joined in 1962. Joe Mangan also coached for the team. Later John Bork became the Coach and Athletic Director Other coaches and managers included Pete Petersons, Hank Erlich, Carl Ito, and Whitey Taylor.

The club continues today, primarily in Masters track and field, though some elite athletes continue to represent the team. The club now has a sizable female membership and the club's president is female Masters World Champion

World Masters Athletics Championships

The World Masters Athletics Championships are the biannual championships for athletics events held under the auspices of World Masters Athletics, formerly called the World Association of Veteran Athletes, for athletes over the age of 35 years old....

Brenda Matthews.

The club hosts an annual meet, the Southern California Striders Meet of Champions.

Olympic accomplishments

• Mal Whitfield 5 Olympic Medals, 3 Gold
• Parry O'Brien 3 Olympic Medals, 2 Gold
• George Rhoden 2 Gold Medals
• Mike Larrabee 2 Gold Medals
• Don Quarrie 4 Olympic Medals, 1 Gold
• Ralph Boston 3 Olympic Medals, 1 Gold
• Rafer Johnson 2 Olympic Medals, 1 Gold
• Bob Seagren 2 Olympic Medals, 1 Gold
• Dallas Long 2 Olympic Medals, 1 Gold
• Rex Cawley 1 Olympic Gold Medal
• Hal Connolly 1 Olympic Gold Medal
• Charles Dumas 1 Olympic Gold Medal
• Bill Toomey 1 Olympic Gold Medal
• Ulis Williams 1 Olympic Gold Medal
• Ronnie Ray Smith 1 Olympic Gold Medal
• Fortune Gordien 2 Olympic Medals
• Larry Young 2 Olympic Medals
• Rink Babka 1 Olympic Medal
• Ed Caruthers 1 Olympic Medal
• Wayne Collett 1 Olympic Medal
• "Flash" Gourdine 1 Olympic Medal
• Ralph Mann 1 Olympic Medal
• Ron Morriss 1 Olympic Medal
• John Rambo 1 Olympic Medal