No doubt this month’s summer Olympics will remind Jay Luck where he was 44 years ago.
Luck, a 1958 Watertown High graduate, and a member of the inaugural Raider Hall of Fame class of 1992, was one of those exceptionally rare athletes to be talented enough to participate in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. While competing, Luck just missed a medal, coming in fifth place in the 400 intermediate hurdles.
“Today I still recall what a great experience that was,” said Luck, who remains the only Watertown High athlete ever to participate in the Olympics. “My goal was to win a medal but at that time I had a bout with mononucleosis and I wasn’t as fit as I would have liked to have been. I don’t think I would have won gold, but I might have been able to grab a bronze had I not had mono. Even so, there’s nothing like competing for your country. I met so many outstanding athletes there. I just regret not taking phone numbers and addresses and keeping in touch with them.”
The road to Tokyo began at Watertown High where Luck ran sprints, relays, high hurdles, and low hurdles. Before he graduated he would win the 1958 Massachusetts Class B Indoor and Outdoor high hurdle championships while leading the Raiders to a state championship.
“I was so proud to be a part of the golden era of Watertown track,” Luck recalled. “It was a magical time. I don’t think we lost a dual meet while I was there. Of course we had a great coach in Bob Gleason. He was just outstanding and boy he knew how to get kids to join the track team. He was an eighth grade history teacher and while students were filing into the classroom, he would stop us and say ‘you’re going to try out for track, right’. He was a natural born recruiter.”
On the journey to Tokyo, Luck also made a stop in Connecticut, where he continued to excel in track at Yale University winning the IC4A outdoor championship in the 400 intermediate hurdles in both 1961 and 1962 thus earning him a shot at the Olympic trials which he passed with flying colors.
While all these athletic achievements were happening, his academic accomplishments were just as impressive as he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and earned his PhD in 1967. Today he still works full-time at Verizon (formerly GTE) in Waltham as a senior member of the technical staff.
“I’ve got no plans to retire,” Luck said. “I really enjoy my work. I get to travel to a lot of great European countries like Turkey, where some of the sights are just awe inspiring.”
One thing Luck found out on one of his business trips was that once you are an Olympian, it never leaves you.
“One time when I was in Paris, a guy came into a meeting and popped in a video of some guys on a track. He asked everyone if they recognized one of the young men on the track. The guy, of course, was me in the ‘64 Olympics. It was footage I have never seen before. Even today I am reminded of how special being an Olympian is.”
Luck says that is just one of the reasons he will be forever grateful to Watertown High. He hasn’t missed a class reunion, (50th class reunion will commence later this year) or a Hall of Fame banquet and he still fondly looks back at the night he was inducted.
“It will always be a special memory,” Luck said. “It is an honor to be inducted with so many great athletes and so many great people.”
Each year Luck also shows up at the annual Watertown track banquet thanking the kids for their efforts and encouraging them to continue with athletics.
“I like to joke with the kids and tell them that they are all very special because they can all beat me and I am an Olympian,” he said. “But I also warned them not to brag about it too much in front of me because I just may get in shape again and beat them.”
Today, Luck still enjoys moving around a track. He walks two-three miles a day near his Waltham home with his wife Julie. They now also share the joy of being grandparents as his son James Eric became a father when James Cameron was born in 2006.
Besides being with family, Luck also enjoys water skiing, playing the piano, and every four years watching the summer Olympics.
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Nine questions with Jay Luck Q. What Watertown public school teacher/coach influenced you the most? A. Track coach Bob Gleason. He was himself a WHS Hall of Famer and has to be at the top of the list. With his Jesuit education at Holy Cross, he was well positioned to instill sound philosophy in all of his athletes whether through history class or on the track. Q. Who was your favorite athlete growing up? A. Harrison Dillard. He was the world famous hurdler at the time, and many of us in the hurdles had his name on our track bags, expressing the hope that we could be that good. Q. What is your favorite Watertown non-sports memory? A. My favorite memories include winter camping with the Scouting Explorers Unit, and participating in the Watertown High School singing groups and the WHS “Wonderful Town” school play. Q. What is the last book you read? A. “The Audacity of Hope” by Barack Obama Q. What is your all-time favorite movie? A. I have three favorites. South Pacific, Casablanca, and The Sound of Music. Q. What is your all-time favorite song? A. “Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland. Q. What is your favorite vacation spot? A. Boothbay Harbor, Maine in both summer and winter. Q. What is your favorite food? A. A great Turkey dinner at Thanksgiving. But it’s also hard to beat a good cheeseburger on the grill or a fine dinner in a traditional French Restaurant. Q. Who is the person you would most like to meet? A. Of those living I would love to meet Senator Byrd from West Virginia. Of those not living I would have loved to have met Winston Churchill or Franklin Delano Roosevelt. |
