Peter Scott, a 1962 graduate of Scituate High School. In high school Pete was a self proclaimed “nervous type” even in dual meets he got all worked up. The last three weeks leading up to the All State meet, this nervousness, was really beginning to bother him. He had to come up with something to get himself out of this situation. Based on the results of the meet he must have found something. It seems that he literally talked himself out of this nervous feeling. The following is a quote from the Globe article reporting on the all state meet, “I talked myself out of it. In the first 600 yards, I just said to myself—over and over Stay loose, keep the pace, stay loose, keep the pace”. According to that report on the meet, “Evidently Pete did a good job at psyching himself up. In the last 100 yards he came from 4th to first to hit the finish line tape with a time of 1:55.4. This bettered the state record set by Steve Paranya of Lexington in 1957 by one tenth of a second. Pete went on to say in the article, “You see my build (he was short and muscular) doesn't help me stay loose either. And in the races I've been running before this, I'd get out in front and I'd start to tighten.” So he and his Coach, Wee Willy Smith, himself a MSTCA athlete Hall of Famer and here with us today, decided on a new strategy. He was going to stay in the middle of the pack, stay loose, and power past the group which included Chris Perry of St. John's, Jon Kirkland of Needham and Tucker Lillis of Newton. He was supposed to go at 660, but decided to wait, and may I add in a dramatic fashion, until the final corner and turn it on. The paper said, “Then out of nowhere came Scott of Scituate, to run the pack into the ground and win by three strides. Coach Smith's strategy had worked. Speaking of Coach Smith, just yesterday, Pete told me that if it wasn't for his coach, Pete would not have done any of the things he accomplished in his athletic career. Pete was not just a track runner. His freshman year at Scituate he finished 2nd in the New England cross country championship. In 1961 as a junior on the indoor circuit, he won the class D 600 yard race setting a new class record of 1:15.7. As a senior in 1962 Peter won and set the Class D record in the 1000 yard run with a time of 2:19.1 Also in 1961 as a junior Peter finished 5th in the nation and as a senior he was 4th in the 1000 yard run. On the spring circuit, Pete would win the New England 880 championship as a junior. In his senior year, he was 2nd at the New Englands but with an impressive time of 1:53.4 which equaled the Massachusetts all time best at the time. As a result of all these accomplishments, Peter won a scholarship to become a corn husker at the University of Nebraska. While at the University of Nebraska, Peter would go on to become an NCAA Division I All American a few times. In 1966 he was the runner up in the indoor NCAA Championship in the 1000 yard run and would go on in the spring to win the NCAA championship in the 880 yard run. In that race in front of 8000 spectators at the University of Indiana's Billy Hayes Track, the fans were treated to a high-class and high-speed race. The eight finalist were all timed under 1:49.8 but it was corn husker Peter Scott who came barreling down the middle of the track to take home the NCAA championship in a time of 1:47.9 just in front of Rich Herrman from the U. of San Diego and Ricardo Urbina of Georgetown. Later that summer Scott went on to finish 4th at the United State National Championship with a time of 1:48.8. Another of Pete's highlights was when he was chosen to be a member of the World University Games taking place in Zurich Germany. Pete recalls some very fine memories with a couple of his teammates that included the great pole vaulter Bob Seagram and the great 110 high hurdler Willie Davenport. After Pete's athletic career, he came back to the east and became a teacher at Canton H.S. And coached for 12 years at Norwell H.S. He is now retired and lives in his home town of Scituate.
Class: 1962 Inducted: 2011