Legendary track star Sid Garton will be memorialized Saturday

Sid and Cathy Garton
Sid and Cathy Garton

NEW BOSTON, Texas - One of this city's legendary athletes crossed the finish line recently. Former resident and high school graduate Sid "The Jet" Garton, will be remembered at a memorial service at 2 p.m., Saturday, at Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler. He passed away Oct. 29 at age 81.

As a New Boston High school graduate, Class of 1958, Garton earned a stellar reputation as being perhaps the fastest person in the world, while competing as a track and field sprinter during both his high school and college years.

As a star for the New Boston High School track team in 1958, Garton went on to attend East Texas State University-Commerce, where in 1959, he broke the world record in the 220-yard dash, by completing the distance in less then 20 seconds. Some 57 years later, ETSU inducted him into their Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016.

Garton's Widow, Cathy Garton, said Saturday's memorial will be a celebration of his life.

Shortly after it opened in 2017, the Three Bostons Museum in New Boston, set aside a place in its tribute to public education section that honors Garton.

"By setting records on the race track, Sid really put the New Boston School District on the map," said Three Bostons Museum curator Jane Hanna.

Garton set world records as a sprinter in 1957-60 at both East Texas State University and New Boston High School.

Dubbed the fastest man on earth at that time, Garton earned the nickname "The Jet." He matched world records set by the incomparable Jesse Owens, Bobby Morrow and Dave Sime. He even beat some of those records.

"In high school, I went to state four years in a row," Garton said in a 2016 interview with the Texarkana Gazette. "I went to state freshman year, got fourth place at state my sophomore year, junior year I won state, and my senior year I not only won state, but I set records.

"And we didn't even have a track, didn't even have a track coach at first."

While watching the Summer Olympics in 2016, Garton, came to a realization. In his prime, he was even faster than Usain Bolt's posted time in the 200 meters.

The difference being that when Garton raced, the races were measured in yards, whereas now they are measured in meters. Usain's 200 meters was a full 45.97 inches shorter than Garton's 220 yards.

Garton's name is in the Guinness Book of World Records and will never be retired thanks to the changes made in distance running.

When he was running for the university track team, he was on his way to the 1960 Olympics in Rome. Sportswriters all over the country had him pegged to win the gold. He had already qualified for the 100-yard dash, 220-yard dash and the 440 relay.

But he never competed. His then wife chose the day of Olympic trials to file for divorce. He was only 19 years old and went into a tailspin. He never made it to the trials.

Garton would get his life back on track and marry this high school sweetheart, Cathy.

In 1996 Garton was nominated to be an Olympic torch-bearer in Atlanta. He was in the running for the honor of lighting the flame. The Olympic Committee received about 1 million votes from around the country for Garton to receive that honor. Ultimately, boxer Muhammad Ali, who ran the last several yards to light the flame, was given the honor. Garton was runner-up.

During his running career, Garton received many awards and recognitions.

The Texas State Senate proclaimed an official senate resolution in his honor. A special Texas flag was presented to him that had flown over the state capitol in his honor.

He once returned from the Drake Relays in Iowa, the Super Bowl of Track and Field relays, with five gold watches he won. And his athletic feats were accomplished at a time when, compared to today, running conditions were primitive.

In 1960, the tracks were grass, dirt, cinder, or ash. Today, tracks are made of synthetic material. In 1960, five men would be near the tape at the end of the race with stop watches. Today, times are marked by electronic timing devices.

Just to show how fast Sid "The Jet" Garton was at the height of his running career, think of it this way: In the time it takes to read this paragraph, Sid Garton just ran the length of a football field.

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