LINDEN — Some say if you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life. That phrase lives well with Ed Stuffle who was honored by North Montgomery at the 50th annual Charger Relays Friday evening. Stuffle has been a fixture in every single Charger Relay in almost every aspect.
“If there is a track meet in the area I’m going to go find it,” Stuffle said. “50 years isn’t something that you really set as a goal for your career, but as long as you keep enjoying it then keep at it and that’s what I’ve been able to do. They (North Montgomery) surprised me with that honor this evening. I simply just came to officiate but then Matt Merica pulled me aside and said there’s something we have to talk about. It really meant a lot to me.”
North Montgomery coach Josh Thompson joined Merica in presenting Stuffle with a plaque for his dedication and service for all of these years.
“50 years is a long time to be involved in anything and it was a great thing to honor him tonight,” Thompson said. “I’m extremely happy for Ed and glad that we were able to honor him. I’m hoping that he can stay involved with this as long as possible and continue to show up for quite some time.”
Some may ask what keeps Stuffle coming back year after year after year. That answer is pretty simple as Stuffle explains.
“The athletes,” he said. “Them putting forth the effort in practice to improve then showing what they’ve learned in competition and also working on the mental aspect of track. Whether they’re jumping or throwing there’s a lot of physics out here on display and I just enjoy watching them improve.”
While Stuffle enjoys watching the athletes improve at every meet, most athletes can see his passion and desire for the sport and use it as a life lesson. His influence has been felt by many who routinely see him at almost every meet and it will continue to be felt especially here in Montgomery County and at North Montgomery.
“One of things I’d say about him is that he’s always still to this day trying to make himself better,” Thompson said. “He truly loves the sport and defines success as just being a part of the track scene and staying with it for as long as he has. He’s an outstanding example of just trying to control what you can control and his own self improvement.”
On the track the cold an wet conditions didn’t stop many athletes from having success as Southmont, Crawfordsville, North Montgomery, and Fountain Central all had strong showings.
Southmont on the boys side took home first place in the long jump and 4x400 meter relay, second in shot put, discus, 4x800 meter relay and 4x200 meter relay. The girls took home a second place finish in the pole vault, three third place finished in the 4x100 relay, distance medley relay, and shuttle hurdle relay.
The Crawfordsville boys continued to have a good start to their season as they placed first in the discus, high jump and distance medley relay. The girls also placed first in the high jump for CHS.
North Montgomery boys earned a first place finish in the shuttle hurdle relay and second place finishes in the sprint medley relay, and 4x400 relay and also placed third in the 4x800 relay. The girls for the Chargers placed third in the 4x800, and 4x200, and also fourth in the 4x400 and distance medley relay.
“Our kids competed hard and competed well tonight,” Thompson said of the Chargers performance. “We can’t control the weather or anything like that so we just focused on controlling how hard we would compete and how would we improve. We looked better tonight than we did Tuesday in our first meet. We just want to continue to get better as prepare for county, conference and sectional.”
If anyone is wondering if Stuffle has any plans of stepping away anytime soon, he quickly put that notion to rest.
“I’m good for awhile, as long as I keep enjoying it,” he said with a big smile on his face.
It was a special night for a special person in the track community and one that many including Stuffle, will remember for quite sometime.
