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Hall of Fame
Athletic Director Tom Saia and former instructor
Archie San Romani have secured spots into Halls of Fame this year.
Saia, who coached four Jayhawk Conference Champions and led teams to
six community college bowl games, was selected for induction into the
National Junior College Athletic Association Football Hall of Fame.
San Romani, a part-time instrumental music instructor at Arkansas City
Junior College from 1934 to 1941, was inducted posthumously into the
Kansas Sports Hall of Fame on May 22.
Saia served eight years as a head coach in the Jayhawk Conference and spent another
four years as an assistant. His teams played in six bowl games, winning four,
and he had an undefeated season with Coffeyville Community College in 1980, capped
with a victory in the Beef Empire Bowl in Garden City and finishing second in
the nation. He received Jayhawk Conference Coach of the Year awards in 1986 and
1994. He has been Cowley’s AD since 1994. A date and time of the induction
ceremony has yet to be determined.
San Romani was one of the most prominent milers in history. He set NCAA records,
world records, and qualified for the 1936 U.S. Olympic team. Glenn Cunningham,
another great Kansas miler, competed against San Romani in nearly every race.
Cunningham edged San Romani in the 1,500-meter run for a victory in the 1936
Olympic trials. Cunning-ham went on to finish second in the Olympics, while San
Romani finished fourth with a time of 3:50.0. San Romani was a standout athlete
at Frontenac High School before heading to Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia.
In college, he set an NCAA record with a 4:19.1 mile in 1935. In 1936, he set
the NCAA record in the 1,500 with a time of 3:53. San Romani’s best mile
time of 4:09 came in 1936. After a successful career as a business owner and
instructor at ACJC, San Romani died on Nov. 7, 1994, in Fresno, Calif., at age
82.
