Masters Hall of Famer Larry Stuart was the Steve Prefontaine of masters track. Unhappy with how the sport treated him, he raised his voice and quit in 2003 — despite his chances of setting world age-group records to the end. USC officials Monday confirmed his death after an anonymous comment on a Trojan track fan website. A brief bio was posted. Larry “died of cancer at the Sand Canyon Hospital in Irvine, Calif., on June 6. He was 77 years old,” said USC, where he was a team captain. World-ranked many times, he would have been an Olympic medal contender in 1964 and 1968. But injuries and a dental issue dashed his Tokyo and Mexico City dreams. But he kept in the game and set many masters world records, after setting an all-time PR of 281-11 at age 32. He was famed as a coach and mentor who shared his spear knowledge with anyone who asked.

USC reported: “He asked to be cremated so there was no graveside service. Stuart is survived by his wife Jane and two children, James and Carrie.”

Here’s the shorthand bio:

Larry Stuart traveled to USC by way of the U.S. Marines and the California Junior College system. An outstanding javelin thrower, Larry threw 251-5 for the Marines and broke the NJCR for the javelin 4 times while at Santa Ana JC. At USC, Larry holds the school record at 267-3 for the old javelin.

Larry won the National AAU meet in 1963 and was a member on the team for the USA-USSR dual meet. Larry was ranked in the USA top 10 from 1963 to 1973 and continued throwing as a Master athlete setting many national and world age-group Records. Larry was inducted in the USC Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1996.

Santa Ana College inducted Larry into its hall of fame in 2003 — four years after entering the Masters Hall of Fame:

Larry Stuart was the Santa Ana College Co-Athete-of-the-Year in 1962 as a track & field star. Stuart broke the national javelin record four different times and still holds the record at SAC with a toss of 256 feet, 2 inches.

Stuart’s most memorable moment at SAC was in his first meet where he competed in the javelin and 440. He recalls, “I was exhausted as I went back to the javelin after the 440. Coach John Ward was way down the field and yelled to me, ‘just try to throw it over my head.’ I did and set a school record, but I almost killed the coach.”

Stuart was never defeated in two years at SAC and had a national-best throw of 256 feet, 2 inches in 1961. In 1963, Stuart ranked first in the nation and eighth in the world. He competed for 13 years non-stop and won 80 percent of all the meets in which he participated. Stuart also held four world master records, was inducted into the JC Hall of Fame in 1992, and was inducted into the Masters Hall of Fame for the javelin in 1999. He has a personal-best throw of 281 feet, 11 inches and had a best-ever age-graded throw of 352 feet at age 57 during the World Games in Buffalo, New York.

In 1988, Teri Ingram profiled Larry in National Masters News. You gotta read it. Title is “Larry Stuart: Religious About the Javelin.”

He also “took a stab at the pole vault” in his youth, achieving 12-3 with the old steel
pole.

“In 1963, he was again ranked No. 1 (267-3), but a pinched nerve in his lower back kept him out of the 1964 Olympic Trials. Despite recovering from the injury and throwing farther than anyone else before the Tokyo Games, he was not included on the
U.S, team. He went to USC and continued to throw and was again ranked #1 in 1967 with a throw of 274-5. But in 1968, bad luck again intervened. Two weeks before the U.S.
Olympic Trials, he underwent extensive oral surgery. “It completely sapped my strength. I
could barely throw 225 feet.

“He set an M40 AR in 1978 with a throw of 238-0. He set an M45 World Record at the age of 49 with a throw of 239-7. In 1987, he set an M50 World Record of 215-9. He later broke that record with a throw of 228-0.”

Why did he step away in 2003?

Larry wrote: “No metal tape on site … again. . . . USATF Southern California Championship meet Sunday 6-8-03 at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.. I had a throw of 57.72 (189-4). No official USATF personal running the javelin throw. I’ve decided to hang it up for good, as far as competing in meets. I’ll just throw for conditioning on Sundays with our group.”

In the 1960s and early 1970s, Stuart was nationally ranked — as high as second twice. In 1989, he was the M50 WMA world champion. And he is the listed holder of three WMA records:

M50 65.76 (215-9) Larry Stuart (USA) 50 4-30-88
M55 65.74 (215-8) Larry Stuart (USA) 57 4-8-95
M60 64.74 (212-5) Larry Stuart (USA) 60 5-23-98

At the Southern California Striders meet May 10 (2003) at Long Beach State, Larry thought he had broken Bud Held’s M65 world record of 55.02 (180-6). But no steel tape was available to measure the throw.

At the USATF Southern California Association masters championships, Larry says he threw 57.72 — 189-4. The event was held at a field a quarter-mile away from the track at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

Here are the world record progressions in the M45, M55 and M65 javelin:

M45_javelin_throw_world_record_progression
73.02 Larry Stuart United States 19.10.1937 Northridge 14.06.1986

M55_javelin_throw_world_record_progression
65.74 Larry Stuart United States 19.10.1937 08.04.1995

M65_javelin_throw_world_record_progression
57.83 Larry Stuart United States 19.10.1937 Eagle Rock 10.04.2003

The Los Angeles Times did a wonderful story in 2000:

Still Throwing Hard
Larry Stuart of Lake Forest Is Setting Javelin Records at Age 62
March 02, 2000|
DAN ARRITT | TIMES STAFF WRITER

Bill Schmidt was flipping through TV channels in his Irvine home last week when he came across a local sports show previewing the Saddleback Masters Relays track and field meet.

Schmidt hadn’t thrown a javelin competitively in more than 20 years, but the sport has stayed close to his heart since he won a bronze medal at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Schmidt is the only male U.S. Olympian to place among the top eight in the event since 1952.

The TV show included clips of leading masters performers who would be in attendance, including a tall, rugged javelin thrower who displayed the form and determination of a world-class competitor. When the athlete was identified, Schmidt nearly bit through his bottom lip.

“They said it was Larry Stuart and I couldn’t believe he was still throwing,” said Schmidt, who hadn’t seen Stuart since 1970. “But knowing Larry, having competed against him, it doesn’t surprise me at all.”

Schmidt was one of a handful of old friends and competitors who stopped by Saddleback College last Saturday to say hello or even compete alongside Stuart, a 62-year-old Lake Forest resident who has dominated his age groups for more than 20 years.

Stuart did his best to impress those in attendance, adding another age-group world record to the books.

The retired industrial salesman threw his 800-gram javelin 174 feet 2 inches to surpass the previous mark by more than 20 feet. Stuart, who accomplished his latest feat in the 60-64 age group, also holds world records in the 45-49, 50-54 and 55-59 age groups. He also led the 40-44 group, but all records before 1983 were wiped out after the javelin was redesigned.

“He has what you call the elastic touch,” said Dana Point’s Burr Sweeney, who borrowed a javelin from Stuart and accompanied him to the meet. “Even at the college here, they don’t throw as far, they don’t even come close. He could win a junior college meet right now.”

Stuart has learned the test of time cannot be predicted, cheated, delayed or ignored, but it can be challenged. That’s why getting older has become a competition in itself. Every five years means another world record to break.

“Even [Latvian] Janis Lusis, who was one of the greatest throwers ever, I beat him at age 57 with a throw of 200 feet and he threw 171,” Stuart said. “But it took 30 years to finally get him because when he was young, he kicked everybody’s butt.”

Stuart began throwing the javelin during high school in New Jersey. One of the best in the state during that time was the late actor Michael Landon, who at one time held the national high school record of 212 feet.

“His high school was our local rival in all sports,” Stuart said. “He got a scholarship to come to USC and instead got into acting. I got a scholarship to come to USC and I’m still throwing.”

Stuart was conference champion for the Trojans in 1963 and still holds the school record of 274-5. Despite being among the top 10 in the world rankings from 1963 to 1971, Stuart missed out on Olympic opportunities in 1964 and 1968 because of injuries.

That didn’t diminish Stuart’s passion. He continued throwing into the 1980s, setting the 45-49 age-group record in 1986 at age 48 (239-7). Two years later, he established the 50-54 mark (215-9), and in 1995 he set the 55-59 record (215-8), which is considered the best age-graded performance of all time. Competitors 60 and over are allowed to drop down to a 600-gram javelin during competition, and Stuart has that record too (212-5).

“If they took an Olympic champion now, I would beat him because of my age factor,” Stuart said.

Stuart, who gives free lessons at Saddleback on Sundays, chose to throw the 800-gram javelin at Saturday’s competition, “just so I can show these young guys I can do it,” he said beforehand.

The weather was ideal for Saturday’s competition, with blue skies and a favorable head wind greeting the two dozen participants that ranged from their late 30s to early 80s.

The runway, drawn in the middle of the school’s football field, was softened from rain, causing Stuart to slide on his release and come up short on his first two throws. On his third attempt, however, he reached back, curled his upper body and flung his javelin more than 160 feet, breaking Del Pickarts’ age-group record of 153.

Unhappy with that mark, Stuart added 10 feet to it on his next throw.

“My goal when I came out here today was 180, but I’m going backward because of the conditions,” Stuart said. “You’ve got to put it into perspective, for a guy over 60 it’s a long way, but it isn’t going to make anyone in their 30s cringe.”

Paul Sturgis came to watch Stuart while on vacation from Pennsylvania. Sturgis played high school football with Stuart, who later talked him into joining the military. That was the last time he had seen his old buddy throw.

“The javelin was a good way to get some good easy duty and special services,” Sturgis joked. “He didn’t have to work like the rest of us.”

Personally, I always held out hope that Larry would return and shove his spear up the sport’s ass — by setting more world records, demanding proper treatment and modeling how to deal with injury adversity.

We’ll miss you, Larry. One of a kind.

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