The 1947 Suburban Outdoor was “one of the tightest point scrambles in conference cinder history”. At Hart Park in Wauwatosa, the Bay finished third in the meet’s final event – the 880 Relay – and those six points (the relay counted double in that era) were enough to move the Bay past Wauwatosa to win the title by a single point. The Bay scored 40 1/2 to Wauwatosa’s 39 1/2 and Waukesha’s 38.
Well, not so fast.
By all indications, Chet Wangerin reacted badly to this garbage, as he should have. So he filed a counter-protest claiming that Bay junior Allen Butler had been robbed in the 200 yard dash. The Bay felt that Butler had placed third, but instead wasn’t given a place. Even worse, third was given to a Wauwatosa guy who was nowhere close to third or even finishing in the money. Butler had finished second in the 100 earlier in the meet, so it’s not like he was some stiff that Wangerin pulled out of the stands and threw into the 200.
All’s well that ends well.
The stench on this one is still there over 70 years later. Some questions:
– How did the omission of Wilson’s name from the eligibility list come to light?
– Was there a formal protest by Wauwatosa? Or did some meet official somehow “discover” the omission of Wilson from the list after the meet was over?
– Nobody realized that having the Wauwatosa principal announce Wilson’s disqualification was a terrible look?
– Did Chet Wangerin talk to any officials about the 200 results prior to leaving Hart Park?
– Would Wangerin have protested the 200 results at the meet if Whitefish Bay hadn’t won?
– Are we supposed to believe that there were no rumblings among the Wauwatosa team and officials about the 200 results screw-up prior to the decision on Wilson’s disqualification?
Whitefish Bay Track and Field History 