The Legendary John Carlos Coming to Alamogordo August 26th His Legacy's Impact on Alamogordo High School Sports History

The legendary, John Carlos is coming to Alamogordo, New Mexico August 26th, 2023, for a very special meet and greet. He will be meeting, and engaging with the public, at Desert Lakes Golf Course as a special guest of the Alamogordo Center of Commerce. He is the star athlete and the event headliner for the 3rd Annual Tularosa Basin Golf Tournament. John Carlos is a former American and Canadian Football player, and an Olympic Medalist. He was a bronze medalist at the 1968 Olympic games, and he also held the world record at the time for the 200 Meter Dash.

He is a world recognized athlete who was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2003.

At the 1968 Olympic Trials, John Carlos stunned the track world when he beat Tommie Smith in the 200-meter finals and surpassed Smith's world record by 0.3 second. The race reinforced his status as a world-class sprinter. At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, Carlos earned bronze in the 200-meter. During the award ceremony he courageously stood up for racial equality on the world’s largest stage during the civil rights movement, with his black-gloved fist raised in the air and removing shoes, alongside teammate Tommie Smith. This act established a legacy of championing equal rights, that continues to inspire activists today.

Carlos had his greatest year in 1969, equaling the world 100-yard record of 9.1, winning the AAU 220-yard run, and leading San Jose State to its first NCAA championship with victories in the 100 and 220 and as a member of the 4x110-yard relay. Carlos was also gold medalist at 200 meters at the 1967 Pan-American Games and set indoor world bests in the 60-yard dash (5.9) and 220-yard dash (20.2). Prior to his successful collegiate career at San Jose State University under Hall of Fame coach Bud Winter, Carlos attended East Texas State University, where he single-handedly won the school's first Lone Star Conference Championship.

Following his track career, Carlos played professional football, where a knee injury curtailed his stint with the Philadelphia Eagles. He then went on to the Canadian Football League where he played for the Montreal Alouettes and the Toronto Argonauts. In 1985, he became a counselor and in-school suspension supervisor at Palm Springs California High School.

In 2008, he accepted the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage for his salute, at the 2008 ESPY Awards and was recognized at the White House by President Obama in 2016. Carlos continues to work for human rights and is a founding member of the Olympic Project for Human Rights.

John Carlos, though coming to Alamogordo for his first time, has ties and a legacy of inspiration to the many Alamogordo High School Athletes.

Two Olympians on that 1968 Olympic Team, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, had an indirect impact on Alamogordo High School Sports that is written into the memories of local sports fans.

Both played a role of inspiration via their actions and appearance in the 1968 Olympics, and indirectly, in the success of the Alamogordo High School athletics programs of the late 60s and 70s.

John Carlos’s closest connection to Alamogordo is via his friendship with the husband of Alamogordo City Commissioner Sharon McDonald; Ed McDonald. Most people know Ed McDonald for his countless hours of dedication and support as a board member of the Alamogordo Center of Commerce. Many community members see him at Sharon’s side, assisting in many community events; such as the district 5 cleanup, at the Dudley School and supporting Alamogordo Main Streets entertainment via KALHradio.org and DJ Majik 1. What many people don’t realize is Ed McDonald is a local Alamogordo High School graduate that made it to the big leagues of the NFL. and thus, his friendship with John Carlos carries forward today.

Ed McDonald, while at Alamogordo High School under the direction of Coach Bob Sepulveda set the 1967 New Mexico State record for Long Jump, with a jump of 22 feet and 03.75 inches. Ed competed at the state level in Long Jump, Broad Jump and High Jump, winning medals in each. As a state finalist and star athlete he garnered the attention of college recruiters. He attended junior college at New Mexico Military Institute where he was named Jr College All American. As such he was recruited to North Texas State University. At North Texas State he broke many records and was well regarded, garnering the attention of NFL recruiters. He was ultimately assigned to the 1971 NFL Philadelphia Eagles Squad. While competing professionally with the Philadelphia Eagles Ed McDonald was a defensive back. As a defensive back he bonded with a teammate, that being John Carlos. 

Carlos after the Olympics went on to play professional football also with the Philadelphia Eagles. John Carlos played the position of wide receiver for the Eagles. The two, Ed McDonald and John Carlos, played together and garnered a friendship that has carried forward over the decades.

John Carlos also has another very significant, but indirect connection to Alamogordo and that is via competition for the Olympics via the Olympic Trails. That connection is with retired Alamogordo High School Coach, Dan Columbus.

Coach Dan Columbus is credited with making the Alamogordo Cross Country program a legitimate and competitive program. He was made Cross Country Coach for the 1969 school year without compensation for the role and was asked to manage a program without a budget. Coach Bob Sepulveda helped Coach Columbus with the Cross-Country program by supplying Football Seat Cushions for his runners to sell. Proceeds from his guy's sales were set aside for the Cross Country Team to help pay for travel to the meets and entry fees. Coach Mondt and Packnett created the first team. Coach Columbus, in partnership with Coach Bob Sepulveda’s aid in getting it funded and legitimized Cross Country as a long-term permanent sport for Alamogordo High School.

Coach Columbus ended up at Alamogordo High School after just missing a top spot in the Olympic Trials for the 1968 Olympics of which John Carlos qualified.

Dan Columbus prior to being a Coach for Alamogordo High was a great collegiate level athlete. He was selected as a Track & Field All American in 1968 from Colorado State University. He held the record as an All-American sprinter from Colorado State University from 1968 until 2004. Dan’s record of 21.0 in the 200 held at Colorado State for 36 years,

Columbus qualified for the Olympic Trials at the NCAA Track and Field Championships June 15th, 1968, in front of a crowd of 17,500 onlookers with a 3rd place finish in the first heat with a time of 21.2. First place went to Bill Hurd of Notre Dame with a 20.8, Second Place went to Ben Vaugh of Georgia Tech with a 21.1 time. In the finals Columbus scored a time of 21.0, qualifying him for the Olympic Trials.

Athletes who qualified went to Lake Tahoe for high altitude training and competition as alternates for each event. Dan competed in the 1968 Olympic trials with Olympic legends Tommie Smith who won with a time of 19.83, a new world record, and bronze medalist John Carlos. Thus, another Alamogordo connection.

Coach Columbus remembers of the Olympic Trials that he was “just outside the inner circle of these fine athletes.” The race itself was on a cinder track and an extremely competitive field of athletes. The Olympic Trials were one of the proudest days of Dan’s life.

During competitions he also ran against OJ Simpson and beat him. OJ didn’t like a lot of the small talk on the track and “was also just outside the inside group of the leaders; Tommie Smith and John Carlos. OJ made the comment that Dan will always remember; “I’ll be making money when you guys are sitting around talking about changing the world.” OJ was not well regarded at relays where he competed nor at the trials and did not qualify for the Olympics.

As history would play out, Tommie Smith and John Carlos did change the world. Their actions at the 1968 Olympics are one of the most memorable moments of Olympic History and they are now world renown Icons! OJ, well, he is remembered for the slow police chase scene and as a fallen hero.

At the Olympic Trials of 1968 Tommie Smith and John Carlos won the slots to compete at the Olympics and Dan Columbus won from the great experience, and for friendships that carried forward years later.

Thus, the indirect influence of Tommie Smith and John Carlos is what helped shape the Alamogordo High School Cross-Country Program. Had Dan Columbus qualified for the Olympics, Alamogordo would have lost out on having a great coach that carried the Cross-Country program of Alamogordo High School to great heights.

Dan Columbus remained friends with Carlos and Smith for many years. Because of those friendships there is one other connection to the 1968 Olympians and a tie to Alamogordo High School.

Dan Columbus coached a student, Arthur Keller who was a great athlete also with Olympic Dreams

Art Keller after graduating from Alamogordo High School went on for his higher education and then went into the US Navy. While in the Navy he was stationed in Hawaii for a while. As a Petty Officer he would get up early and go run against cars in the morning, to work his speed. As such he would get faster in the 100 and 200 and wanted to enter the Olympic trials. In the Navy he was entered into the AAU contest, and he ran a 10.028.

He was invited to the military Chisholm Games in San Diego. He ran the 100 meter and 4X100 Relays. He set records there.

When he returned, his commanding officer threw a newspaper at him and asked why he did not know he was a capable athlete. The commanding officer then told Keller he wanted him to prepare for the Olympics. Keller was transferred to Moffett Field found between San Francisco and San Jose.

While practicing on the field one day a guy came up to him with a stopwatch and said, “yes you are as fast as Dan Columbus said you were.”

Keller at first did not recognize the guy but then it hit him, it was Olympic Gold Medalist from the 1968 Olympics Tommie Smith, part of the Smith Carlos medaling duo from the 1968 Olympics. Coach Dan Columbus from Alamogordo’s Cross-Country program had run the Olympic Trials with Tomi Smith and John Carlos and they remained friends.

“It felt amazing to be trained by Tommie Smith, whom I had seen at the 68 Olympics and who was best known for the Black Power Fist he made during the awards ceremony in Mexico,” said Keller. Keller went on that his dad had “protected him from the civil rights struggle” and he was raised to be color blind by his parents.

“Tomi Smith, thanks to Coach Columbus taught me about weight training and the mind and self-esteem”, Keller went on. “With his training I competed in the Fresno Relays.” Keller placed 4th. Keller was disappointed but Tomi Smith told him he was proud of him, to weight train and he would be ready for the Olympic Trials.

Art Keller said he also remembered what Coach Sepulveda had told him, “Adjust and adapt, put the past behind you and just do your best.”

With that he went to the Olympic Trials. He got off the airplane and was met with a host of reporters. A reporter asked him what he thought of President Jimmy Carter canceling the US participation in the Olympics. Art Keller responded, “no single man should have the power to keep me and other athletes from competing.”

That statement sadly ended his Olympic dreams and his military career. Art Keller’s orders for the Olympic Trials Training were rescinded, and he was discharged for speaking out against the president.

It turned out the military viewed him, as their property, as he was representing them in the Olympic Trials. As such he was considered insubordinate for speaking out against the office of the president and President Carter.

Art Keller today laughs about the experience. He most fondly remembers the inspiration he felt in high school of seeing two black men on the stage of the Olympics, as winners, but also as men standing up for equality and a just society for the world to see.

The passion of those two athletes, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, touched the minds and souls of young athletes in high schools and colleges around the world. Their actions inspired Art Keller (Olympic Trials 1976), Dan Columbus (Olympic Trials 1968), Rene Sepulveda (Olympic Trails 1996 and 2000), Ed McDonald (NFL) and countless others, locally, and around the world! They are and continue to be inspirational leaders and icons in sports.

The weekend of August 25th and 26th, 2023, Alamogordo can again be inspired by  the stories, and meeting with the legendary, John Carlos hosted by the Alamogordo Center of Commerce.

To learn more or to help in sponsorship of the Golf Tournament, visit the Alamogordo Center of Commerce Website, or contact Ed McDonald, or the AlamogordoTownNews.com site community calendar information page.

Join us for 3rd Annual Tularosa Basin Open Golf Tournament and this opportunity to meet a living sports legend, August 26th, 2023.

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