Every track coach knows that peak performance requires meticulous preparation: peaking mileage, dial-in nutrition, and—above all else—a good night’s sleep.
But on the morning of Saturday, May 30, 1992, Norwood High School boys track coach Tim Drummey was dealing with a completely different kind of preparation. His Mustangs pulled back into the high school parking lot at 6:00 AM, straight from a grueling, joyous marathon of senior prom and post-prom festivities.
A few hours later, running on nothing but adrenaline, school pride, and presumably a fair amount of caffeine, the Mustangs stepped onto the track at Reading High School for the Class B Championship meet. What followed was one of the grittiest, most memorable near-misses in Norwood sports history.
Tearing Up the Track on Two Hours of Sleep
“In the long run we were a bit disappointed,” Coach Drummey told The Patriot Ledger at the time. “I was really happy for the seniors and the rest of the kids, though. With the prom and post-prom the night before and the kids getting in at 6 a.m., I just enjoyed sitting back and watching them perform.”
Despite the heavy eyelids, Norwood didn’t just compete—they dominated the individual leaderboards. The Mustangs captured three major individual Class B State Titles:
- Matt McGhee (Senior): Left the rest of the field in his dust in the Discus, uncorking a massive throw of 148 feet, 2 inches to secure a state championship.
- Mike Whittier (Senior): Put on a masterclass in the 800 Meters, out-sprinting the competition to win the state title with a blistering time of 1:58.3.
- Aaron Walkins (Junior): Completely owned the pit in the Triple Jump, flying to a distance of 43 feet, 2.5 inches to claim the gold.
The points kept piling up for Norwood. Senior Dan Burton finished an eye-blink behind Whittier in the 800 Meters, taking second place at 1:58.8 to complete a legendary 1-2 Mustang sweep. Distance runner Joe McCann gutted out a fourth-place finish in a fast Mile (4:32.7), while Steve McCann picked up a crucial point in the Two-Mile (10:01).
In the field events, Brian Chisholm leaped 20 feet, 8.5 inches for fourth in the Long Jump, and Brian Haley cleared 10 feet, 6 inches in the Pole Vault for fifth.
The Heartbreaking Final Stand
As the meet drew to a close, the under-slept Mustangs found themselves in the driver’s seat for an improbable team championship, matching strides with a powerhouse Andover squad.
Norwood’s 4×400-meter relay team left everything on the track, flying to a spectacular second-place finish with a time of 3:29.3. But Andover mounted a furious, late-meet charge, roaring back to capture first-place finishes in three of the final four events on the schedule.
When the final team scores flashed on the board, the margin was as agonizingly slim as it gets:
| Team | Total Points |
| Andover (Champions) | 57 |
| Norwood (Runner-Up) | 56 |
Andover: [■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■] 57Norwood: [■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■] 56
One solitary point separated the Mustangs from a state championship banner.
Legacy of a Class Act
While missing out on a state title by one point is the stuff of athletic heartbreak, the 1992 team earned something much larger that Saturday afternoon. Coach Drummey had entered the season hoping his squad would finally earn the same parity and respect routinely showered on the “bigger schools” inside the state track circuit.
By pushing a powerhouse like Andover to the absolute brink—while running on empty after the biggest social night of their high school lives—the 1992 Mustangs proved they were a world-class act.
Were you on the 1992 track team or do you remember this legendary prom weekend? Help us keep Norwood’s sports history alive! Share your memories, photos, or old clipping scans by reaching out to us at norwoodhistoricalsociety.org.
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