In 1973, White’s Institute High School was a part of the Metropolitan School District of Wabash County that included Northfield, Southwood and Whites’s High Schools. White’s is a public school in a private institution. At the time, White’s had 220 students, of which 130 were in grades 9-12.
The track team in 1973 had 12 members and no actual track on which to to practice. They practiced on a U-shaped driveway next to the White’s administration building. The 296 yards started and ended on a well-traveled county road. It was what it was and they made the best of it. They won the Huntington Sectional scoring 81 points, with Huntington and Manchester tied for second with 49 points each.
The White’s mile relay team consisted of James Brashers, Elix Brewer. John Maggott and Mike McDonald. They only ran together four times during the year because they were split up to score more points – two on the 880 relay and two on the mile relay. They ran together for the first time at Logansport Relays and won, beating Kokomo by six seconds. Next up was the Huntington Sectional.
They easily won the mile relay, setting a new meet record of 3:23.0. They then moved on to the regional at Northrop High School in Fort Wayne. Big John Maggott led off the relay with a 49.8 leg. Then James Brashers increased the lead with an identical 49.8 leg. Mike McDonald took the third leg and kept the lead going with a 49.9. Elix Brewer took over on the anchor leg and ran his relaxed three-quarter speed gate to the backstretch. Then, as Northrop anchor Rick Magley began to close in, Elix went to his stutter-step and sprinted to the finish line in 49.5, bringing the total relay time to 3:19.0.
They knew the state finals was going to be a very hot day, so they practiced all week during the hottest part of the day. During the state finals, Big John got them a 10-yard lead and made a good hand off to James, who maintained the lead (despite becoming violently ill due to eating several hot dogs right before he ran). James stubbornly hung on and got the baton to McDonald. Mike held off the second-place runner, giving a nice lead and handoff to Elix then eased his way to the back stretch. When he felt Rick Magley coming up on him like in the regional, he started into his stutter-step and pulled away. The time was 3:22.2, which
was outstanding considering the heat.
Their big dream came true and
“The Miracle at the Tute” was born.