51st Annual Talley-Zimmerman Invitational

TSR Featured Event
Tri State Runnur.com
April 17, 2011
Jaime Wright
Freelance Reporter
240-409-0394

51st Annual Talley-Zimmerman Invitational
2010 Results
Walkersville High School Track & Field hosts the 51st Annual Talley-Zimmerman Invitational and Mid-Maryland Championships
Saturday, April 23, 2011. Field events will begin at 9:30 a.m. Track events will begin at 10:00 a.m.

The Talley-Zimmerman Invitational is named after two successful high school athletic contributors and continues today as the longest consecutively running track meet in the state of Maryland.

William “Bill” Talley became the first full-time physical education teacher at Walkersville Junior-Senior High School in 1953 who was a highly successful boys’ soccer, basketball and track coach for all three boys’ teams. Talley’s boys track team claimed State runner-up honors in 1957 and 1958.

Coach Talley served at Walkersville High School for more than 25 years as coach and retired in 1978. Talley also served as Frederick County’s Recreational Director and was later inducted into the Frederick County Sports Hall of Fame. The track invitational’s Team Championship Award is named after Coach Bill Talley.

Ralph Zimmerman was a lifelong member of the Woodsboro Walkersville Lions Club and an influential liaison between the Lions Club and Walkersville High School’s athletic boosters club. Zimmerman donated $50 to the Walkersville athletic programs in 1958, and, as a result, with the generous monetary support given to the high school, Walkersville’s new school mascot became “The Lion.”

Coach Talley began the “Zimmerman Memorial Invitational Track Meet” in honor of Wayne Zimmerman, Ralph Zimmerman’s son, who died in a truck-car accident during the summer of 1956 in Washington, D.C. Wayne would have been a graduate member of the Walkersville Senior High School Class of 1957. Wayne exemplified the meaning of sportsmanship as an athlete and is remembered as an excellent athletic contributor in the Walkersville community.

“The Talley Award,” named after Coach Bill Talley, is given to the championship team of the invitational.
Coach Talley once said, “It has been, and still is, an honor for me to claim a very close relationship that I have had over many years with all my respected and loved athletes.”

Unique events in track and field at the Talley-Zimmerman Invitational are held in honor of supportive coaches, athletes and supporters since the inception of the invitational meet.

Jim Fraser 800 Meter Run Award

Jim Fraser supported track and field for more than 30 years in Frederick County track and field. Fraser represented Frederick County at the Maryland State Track and Field Committee. Fraser was also one of the first people inducted into the Frederick County Sports Hall of Fame.

James “Humpty” Gilbert 1500 Meter Run Award

The 1500 meter run award is named after James “Humpty” Gilbert. Gilbert was the top track official for Frederick County and helped to promote Frederick County high school track and field for more than 20 years.

Guy Whidden 3,000 Meter Run Award

The 3,000 meter run is named after Guy Whidden who coached sports, including wrestling and track, at Walkersville High School for more than 30 years.

Jim Boyer Pole Vault Award

Current Middletown High School Head Boys’ Track and Field Coach Jim Boyer is named after this pole vault award. Coach Boyer has coached for more than 43 years and has won more than 18 State Championships, with an additional 16 State Runner-Up Championships. Coach Boyer has coached more than 20 pole vault State champions.
Coach Boyer also played an instrumental part in keeping the sport of pole vault alive in the state of Maryland when the State almost decided to ban the event years ago.