Postal History: Founded in 1956 by cross country coach Forrest Jamieson the "Postal" idea was presented to Track&FieldNews. Bert & Cordner Nelson seeing the potential of such an event quickly jumped behind the high school coaches idea. The event culminated with a National Championship awarded based upon five man relay teams and published in the Prep Panorama section of Track & Field News. Before the internet era the Bible of Our Sport supported the idea of annual fall national postal competitions. The high school competition featured a five-man two-mile & three-mile total team time run on the track. Each season's top team receiving a special championship award from Track & Field News.
1957 Postal Nationals
(2-MILES) TEAMS
(record: 1957, Morningside, CA, 50:25.5)
1 Palo Alto Palo Alto, CA 50:17.7
2 Culver City Culver City, CA 51:00.8
3 Mira Costa Mira Costa, CA 51:32.8
4 Carlmont Belmont, CA 51:42.3
5 Fresno Fresno, CA 51:46.7
6 Aviation Redondo Beach, CA 51:58.0
7 Wichita Wichita, KS 52:05.5
8 Mt Lebanon Pittsburg, PA 52:05.8
9 Los Altos Los Altos, CA 52:19.9
10 Beaumont St Louis, MO 53:02.1