Athletic Prowess

horseback riding: another athletic event

Petunia at volleyball match.  If the coach had been more experienced this team would have won state.

Eglantine: runner extraordinaire

One of my cousins must have been a great high hurdler in high school.   I surmise this because I discovered some old movie footage of this cousin running the high hurdles mixed in with my Dad's old home movies.  Another cousin was a pretty good distance runner. I remember seeing him run at the JayCee Relays (now Skor Dekam relay).  Petunia was a very good basketball player and was offered a scholarship to play volleyball.  Eglantine was a superb 400 runner, 800 runner, 200 sprinter, and high jumper.  The dilatory track coach decided to enter Eglantine in the 200 and the high jump during some of Eglantine's last meets during her Senior year.  I'm guessing when the coach entered Eglantine in the 200 meter race at Divisional track meet and the high jump, she didn't expect her to walk off with two divisional metals in the events( as well as the medals in the 400 and numerous relays she usually participated in) and proceed to the state track meet.

Orville with cronies at the state soccer championship- they won

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Orville was not a whit behind his sisters.  He is the only goalie we are aware of who didn't play arsenal soccer (pay and play soccer league for kids) but still made first string goalie for the high school team. If Orville had practiced tennis, I'm guessing he would have been a contender at state since he nearly made it to state without practicing in the off season.  Orville decided to keep school tennis as something he did just for fun. In college, Orville made goalie for the BYU team.

This post is getting too long to mention my nieces and nephews who have been star basketball and volleyball players, some receiving impressive scholarships.

But these aren't the first athletes in the family.  My Dad played on the last Helena High School team that won the state football championship.  Despite being extremely nearsighted and having no glasses, Dad had a heck of a shot in basketball.  How he developed his shot without being able to see the basket clearly still puzzles me.

Sid Robertson - football  and basketball player and sports fan

The first athlete of the tribe that we know about was O.D. Robertson.  Believe it or not, foot races were an athletic competition that often took place in Montana during the early days.  And O.D. was a good sprinter.  Family lore has it that he practiced with weights on his feet.

Early Montanans not only watched sprinting competitions, they bet on them.  According the Dad, a big name sprinter came from out of town for one competition.  The sprinter and his backers were none too pleased when my grandfather walked off with first place honors.

O.D. Robertson, the first sprinter we know of in the family.

When competitors were scarce, my grandfather faced off with horses. They would pit a horse against a sprinter for 200 yards.  According to grandpa, this was kind of silly because a sprinter could always beat a horse for a two hundred yard race.  It took the horse that long to approach a fast speed.  But if people wanted to part with their money so willingly, my grandfather would bet with them.

Since rodeo is a sport, it make sense to mention that O.D. was a top roper.  This was skill he honed punching cows in the Judith Basin.  Dad recalled O.D. once approaching the barn with a fractious horse. The barn door was shut.  Keeping his hand on the bridle  O.A. threw a lariat to the wood door fastener and opened the door, leading the horse inside.

It's fun to see talents passed down through the generations.