Drake 1975
Find the green hat and you find the announcer for the Drake Relays. He sat next to the track announcing the record paces and told the east side to bring those runners around. Jim Duncan was most famous as the Voice of the Drake Relays, Duncan influenced many sports, many participants, many coaches, many students. Born in Clearfield and didn’t go to school until he was 10 years old. He was taught by his mother. He graduated from high school when he was 14. Jim attended Drake, earning a track scholarship. At an age when he should have been running against high school boys, Duncan was the Missouri Valley Conference 440-yard champion. On March 27, 1989, Duncan suffered a heart attack. He died 10 days later at age 77. Jim’s philosophy may have been that memory beats the devil, but in truth it has been the voice. Imitators good and bad keep the Voice of the Relays alive. Tom Kroeschell said it best, “Think about that: The guy’s been gone for years and his impression is still very deep in everyone, people still do it all the time. Will be doing those for as long as we live.”