Hilbe always had Hawaii ahead of the competition

Hawaii has never been considered a track and field hotbed.

But, in the 1970s and early ’80s, the shot put world record was set here, and the University of Hawaii produced an NCAA champion in the long jump.

Joe Hilbe, who was a UH track and field coach when both of those milestones were achieved, died March 12 of natural causes at his home in Arizona. He was 72.

Hilbe was an assistant men’s coach when UH’s Terry Albritton put the shot 71 feet, 81⁄3 inches at an all-comers meet at Cooke Field (now Ching Field) on Feb. 21, 1976. But Hilbe was much more instrumental in Gwen Loud (now Loud-Johnson) winning the national championship in the long jump at Eugene, Ore., in 1984, with a leap of 22-53⁄4.

Loud-Johnson, now a corporate fitness trainer in Atlanta, still also holds school records in the 100 meters and 200. She also anchored the record-holding 4×400 relay team.

In a phone interview Thursday, Loud-Johnson said Hilbe was “definitely a game-changer in my life.”

A prize recruit out of high school, she started college at UCLA. But she didn’t do well academically, left school and went to work at a health club. That’s where she had a chance meeting with Anthony Edgar, a running back who transferred from UCLA and became a star at UH. He was also about to help facilitate the same path for Loud-Johnson.

“He said, ‘What are you doing here?’ When he got back to Hawaii, Anthony called me and put Joe on the line. Joe said, ‘I’m coming to California to see my mom. Mind if I stop by and say hello?’ ”

Loud-Johnson said she was impressed with Hilbe because he was the first college recruiter to say, “You will not leave my university without a degree.”

And he lived up to it.

“He stayed on me. He made sure I had my books on trips, studying on the plane,” said Loud-Johnson, who earned a degree in merchandising and marketing.

Hilbe was ahead of his time in coaching techniques, Loud-Johnson said.

“With weight machines, we used them in a different way than intended,” she said. “He had vision in what muscles needed to be developed. He had me doing yoga back then, and getting into the pool.”

Rick Nakashima was his assistant coach. They didn’t always agree on things, but Nakashima said Hilbe “knew his stuff.”

“He was very trusting in Terry Albritton’s philosophies, and that stuff is still around,” Nakashima said. “Terry brought plyometrics, box drills for explosiveness and our girls were doing that. I hadn’t heard of it until then, and we got great results. They were definitely ahead of their time, as that stuff isn’t even questioned now — it’s what you do. I give the guy a lot of credit and I learned a lot from him.”

An incident in 1983 caused a rift between Hilbe and Nakashima. After a tri-meet on the mainland in which UH and UCLA competed, Nakashima noted that if points were awarded for up to fifth place, UH would have outscored UCLA. Unaware to Nakashima, Hilbe told media in Hawaii that UH had beaten UCLA, and it was reported that way. But the meet was not scored, and UCLA had rested some of its top athletes.

“This was 1983, and communication wasn’t so great,” said Nakashima, who added that he eventually “buried the hatchet” with Hilbe. “But UCLA was defending (national) champions. So eventually, it turns into this big ‘What the heck,’ and Joe says I scored it that way and turned it in.”

I asked Hilbe about it when I last saw him.

“We did very well in the meet. Gwen Loud beat Flo-Jo (the late Florence Griffith-Joyner) in the 200,” he said, in 2004. “It was unfortunate how it came out. What I meant was that in the events that we went against UCLA, if the meet was being scored, we would have won. I was just trying to give credit to our team for having a great meet.”

Hilbe also didn’t always get along with UH athletic director Stan Sheriff. After the 1985 season, UH disbanded track and field (the women’s program was later revived) and Hilbe went to Arizona.

Hilbe, who already had a Ph.D., went on to become a leader in the field of astrostatistics.

“That guy was a real egghead,” Nakashima said. “He was constantly reading books that I’d look at the title, and not even think of touching that book.”

Loud-Johnson described him as a “thinker, an intellect,” and “a great coach.”

“I came to Hawaii a girl, and left as a woman, a wahine,” Loud-Johnson said. “I would lay on the track and see the clouds above me move and think, ‘I’m in the Garden of Eden, the best place to train. I had my biggest accomplishments when I was in Hawaii. And Joe was like a conductor. He orchestrated it.”

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.