Golden attitude

The Indiana High School Athletic Association has a version of the mental attitude award for every sport.

Since opening 49 years ago, Jay County High School has taken home a version of that award four times.

Glenn Glogas was the first to take home the award for wrestling back in 1982. Three years later, Bob Morrison claimed the award for boys swimming and diving. 

JCHS claimed the award two more times after the turn of the century — first from Tyler Rigby in boys basketball in 2006 and most recently Alex Bader for girls swimming and diving 2018. 

Among other sports, the Patriots have never brought home the award in track and field. While JCHS can’t claim to have any history with the track and field award, the same can’t be said for Jay County.

Saturday marked the 50th anniversary of Jeff Brown of Dunkirk High School winning the Robert S. Hinshaw Mental Attitude Award in Boys Track and Field. 

Brown was a part of the second-to-last class to go through Dunkirk High School before it consolidated with Portland, Redkey, Pennville and Bryant into Jay County High School. Winning the award brought the Speedcats their only mental attitude award before consolidating.

“The aspect of being a part of a small town atmosphere and small town sports team was totally cool for me,” Brown said. “I’m a kid from a small school going to compete first against the Muncie kids in sectional and the like. Then heading down to Indianapolis and before obviously the whole state was there. Definitely, I knew that was a pretty cool thing to do at that time.”

The award is named after Robert S. Hinshaw, who was the IHSAA’s first assistant commissioner from 1945 to ’61. To win the award, an athlete needed to make the state tournament and be nominated by their coach and principal for excelling in mental attitude, leadership and scholarship.

Brown competed in both the high and low hurdles at the 1974 state meet to complete the physical aspect of the requirements. (He finished as the runner-up in the low hurdles that year, while managing to take fifth in the high hurdles.) But he wasn’t expecting to be a contender for the mental attitude award.

“At that time, I didn’t know that my principal (Virgil Kessler) and coach (Roy Sneed) had actually nominated me for that award,” Brown said. “So, it was obviously a complete surprise when that was announced.”

Winning the award has left a lasting impact for Brown.

Following state finals, Brown remembers being honored at the Dunkirk Glass Days festival. 

The principles behind the award have followed him to this day.

In the long term, Brown’s mental attitude went on to help him both athletically and in his career. Brown went on to run track at Purdue University and be named a captain his senior year. He utilized the same principles in his career in which he started as an engineer before working his way up to run paper mills.

“It certainly set the stage for me,” Brown said. “I was very competitive at that time and wanted to be successful. … It is part of the mental attitude award, wanting to be successful.

“I certainly look back at it as a nice reflective cap to my high school career.”