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.

1959 Postal Nationals

(2-MILES) TEAMS

(record: 1958, Palo Alto, CA, 50:17.7)

​

1   Mira Costa      Mira Costa, CA     49:00.6  *New National Record
2   Midland         Midland, TX        49:59.5 
3   Clayton Valley  Concord, CA        50:03.4 
4   Los Altos       Los Altos, CA      50:08.2 
5   Palo Alto       Palo Alto, CA      50:15.0 
6   Aviation        Redondo Beach, CA  50:32.6 
7   Culver City     Culver City, CA    50:48.7 
8   E Whichita      E Whichita, KS     51:06.8 
9   Bakersfield     Bakersfield, CA    51:08.2 
10  Carlmont        Carlmont, CA       52:36.6