OMAHA, Neb. – In high school track and field, especially at a school as successful as Edwardsville, holding a program record for 10 or 20 years is an impressive feat.
But Kevin Mosby, a 1982 EHS graduate, has a record that is approaching its 40th anniversary.
With a leap of 48-10.5, Mosby is still atop the Edwardsville record book in the triple jump. He jumped 48-6.25 to win the Class AA state championship in 1982 and finished his career with a combined three medals in the triple jump and long jump.
“My senior year, I qualified in the long jump and the triple jump, but when I was going through my steps for the long jump, I scratched all three times and I was pretty upset with myself,” said the 57-year-old Mosby, who lives in Omaha, Nebraska, and is an executive chef for Union Pacific Railroad.
“I decided it was best that I concentrated on one thing and that helped me focus on everything I needed to do in the triple jump. First, I had to make sure that I didn’t scratch, and I had to focus on my technique.”
Where Are They Now?
Every Wednesday, the Edwardsville Intelligencer will release a "Where are they now?" story about former student-athletes from Edwardsville High School or Metro-East Lutheran. If there is a former student-athlete you would like to know about, please e-mail Scott Marion at smarion@edwpub.net.
For Mosby, winning the state title was even sweeter because it fell on his 18th birthday.
“The qualifying (for the finals) was on Friday and I had to go back to the high school because we had graduation Friday night,” Mosby said. “My first jump on Saturday wasn’t until 1:00 or 2:00, so I had time to get back to Charleston and get prepared.
“Doing all of that in one weekend kind of made it a Triple Crown for me.”
Prior to his state championship in 1982, Mosby had placed fourth in the triple jump and sixth in the long jump as a junior in 1981.
While he was happy to earn two medals, anything less than first place in at least one of the two events as a senior would have been a disappointment.
“I was determined to win state and I was already the favorite (in the triple jump) going into the state meet,” Mosby said. “After my junior year, I worked a lot more on my form.
“I had the speed, and I had the jumping ability, but my form was a little bit off. Within that year, I increased my leap by almost two feet.”
Mosby’s career-best jump of 48-10.75 came at the Keebler International Meet in Chicago, shortly after he graduated from EHS.
“I was so upset that I was only a quarter-inch from 49, which was my goal,” Mosby said. “I placed third and became the highest-placing athlete from Edwardsville that ever went to that meet.”
Mosby did not qualify for state as a freshman in 1979 or as a sophomore in 1980.
But he was gaining the experience that would help him become a state champion.
“My sophomore year I was just starting to realize that I could really excel in the jumping events,” Mosby said. “I broke the varsity record that was held by Alonzo Sherman. He had gone 45 and I went 46-1. He called me to congratulate me and said that records were meant to be broken.”
Offseason training also played a key role in helping Mosby become a state champion.
Being a multi-sport athlete was another factor.
“Playing football and basketball helped me stay in shape for track,” Mosby said. “I have an uncle, Maurice Tolson, that was basically one of my trainers, and he was a star athlete at East St. Louis Senior High School. He was a quarterback on the East Side football team in 1976 and I worked a lot with him.
“I also trained with Mr. (Winston) Brown (who was the track coach at EHS) and we always attended the Junior Olympics during the summer. Mr. and Mrs. Brown were a great influence as well and I was privileged to be a speaker at the dedication of the new track facility in his name.”
Before he arrived at EHS, Mosby already had a background in jumping events.
“I was in the Junior Olympics when I was 10 or 11 years old,” said Mosby, who was also a sprinter. “My mother (Elizabeth Nash) kept us very active, and we always went to a summer sports program.”
While track and field was Mosby’s best sport, he had his share of success in football and basketball as well.
“I loved football and I loved the contact,” said Mosby, who played at EHS for head coach Dick Ford. “I was a wide receiver and running back and I was also the punter, a kick returner and a safety.
“Tom Pile (who would become a Hall of Fame baseball coach at EHS) was an assistant football coach back then. He was pretty intense, and he was a great mentor, as was coach Ford. They wanted us to achieve the things we wanted to achieve.”
Mosby, who was a varsity team captain for the Tigers, was slowed by an injury during his senior season in 1981.
He still wonders what he could have accomplished if he had been healthy.
“I didn’t get a chance to do the things I wanted to do because right before our first game, I sprained my ankle pretty bad in practice and I had to sit out the first two or three games,” Mosby said. “It took me a while to get my bearings back.”
In basketball, Mosby played for coach Bud Vallino, who would later coach the EHS girls team as well. The Tigers were 26-4 during Mosby’s junior season in 1980-81 and 14-15 during his senior season in 1981-82, winning Class AA regional titles both years.
“Basketball was fun because I was a triple jumper, and I could jump. I’m only 6-1, but I can dunk the ball with two hands,” Mosby said.
“Coach Pile was also an assistant coach under Bud Vallino and I learned a lot from them. I played YMCA basketball when I was younger, and I kept playing all the way through high school.”
Mosby credits his older brother, Daryl Mosby, for being a major influence in his life.
“Daryl played football and ran track, and when I was a freshman, he was a senior,” Mosby said. “He was basically my competition and I always tried to beat him. He played football for Western Illinois University as a wide receiver, and he was always a role model for me.”
After graduating from EHS, Mosby spent one semester at Pasadena City College on a track and field scholarship before deciding to return home.
“I stepped into a world that was a little too much for an 18-year-old,” Mosby said. “I was going out to California and my goal was to transfer to USC after two years, but it didn’t work out.
“I came back home and sat on the couch for a week, sulking, and my mother told me I had two choices. I could either get a job or I could join the military, so went out and got a job.”
Mosby found work at a carwash in Louisville, Kentucky, where his mother lived at the time. He then moved back to the St. Louis area with his grandparents and got a job as a dishwasher at Fedora Café in Union Station shortly after it opened.
He has been in the restaurant business ever since.
“I was a good worker and I kept getting promoted to different positions,” Mosby said. “One day I said, ‘I enjoy this’ and I started doing some studying and trying different things on my own.”
Mosby has worked in several country clubs and also worked at Cardwell’s restaurant in Clayton and in Plaza Frontenac.
“I’ve been at the University Club and the Racquet Club (in St. Louis) and I was at Frazer’s Brown Bag (in St. Louis). I’ve pretty much worked my way to where I am today,” Mosby said.
In January, Mosby will mark his 10-year anniversary as an executive chef for Union Pacific Railroad. The job gives him a chance to travel around the nation on various rail excursions.
“I go everywhere west of the Mississippi (River),” Mosby said. “Around the end of August, the Big Boy (a historic steam locomotive that was restored in 2019) came through St. Louis and I was on that train.
“In December 2018, when President (George H.W. Bush) died, I was also on that train. We made lunch for at least 100 people, including his family and the Secret Service agents.”
Mosby has three children, including a daughter, Elizabeth, 34; and two sons, Pierre, 30; and Harrison, 20; as well as an adopted son, James, 39.
About a year ago, Mosby started his own business, Sweet & Savory Catering, which is based out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
“For now, the catering business is a side project, but it might become my future full-time job when I retire from the railroad,” Mosby said.
While it’s rare for Mosby to be able to attend any athletic events at Edwardsville, he is still a Tiger at heart.
“I keep up as much as I can, but I don’t know as many people there anymore,” Mosby said. “One friend I do keep up with is (former EHS wrestler) Eric Brown, and he tells me ‘another year has gone by and your (triple jump) record is still standing.’ ”
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