November 14

1956 Lois Testa, Pawtucket’s and Rhode Island’s only entry

in the Melbourne Summer Olympic Games, qualified for the shot put finals and finished in 14th position. Testa qualified for the finals by putting the four-kilo (8.8-pound) shot 44 feet, 3 inches. The 15 finalists were cut once again after the first round, this time to seven, and that’s when Lois was eliminated tossing the shot no better than 42 feet, 10 inches. For a time during the U. S. Olympic Trials meet she held the American shot-put record of 45 feet, 6.75 inches, but Earlene Brown of Los Angeles, who finished sixth in Melbourne, wrested the title back with a heave of 45 feet, 9.5 inches.

1966 The reinstatement of Phillip Marchese of Pawtucket as a

jockey with riding privileges at Rhode Island tracks was announced by the R. I. Athletics Hearing Board in a 2-1 decision. “Marchese had been punished sufficiently in the 16 years since he was charged with fraud in Canada, where he and 14 other jockeys were alleged to have fixed a race. Since that time Marchese has led an exemplary life and, in our opinion, deserves a chance to engage in the only occupation he knows,” said Maxwell W. Waldman of Pawtucket, chairman of the board. The charge of fraud was dropped by Canadian authorities.

1996 Robert Howard, former Shea High standout, is featured

prominently in the December issue of Track & Field News, the largest magazine in the world that covers the sport on all levels. Howard is ranked 10th in the world and third in the U.S. in his specialty, the triple jump. A junior at the University of Arkansas, Robert produced a personal-best triple jump of 56-feet, 4.75 inches last June at the U. S. Olympic Trials. Howard then qualified for the medal round at the Atlanta Summer Olympics, eventually finishing eighth.