By leaps and bounds: Scholarship program created by Norristown track great continues to grow
Livers.
If you grew up in Norristown, or competed against Norristown in track and field, or drove by Roosevelt Field with someone who knew Norristown sports, you heard that name.
Livers.
The name is basically interchangeable with greatness, at least when it comes to jumping — that is, triple and high.
Ron Livers was a world-class triple jumper and high jumper — and a humble graduate of Norristown High School. Olympian would have also been attached to his name, had the United States competed in, instead of boycotting, the 1980 Olympic summer games.
He was world ranked three times and notched a record-setting 57’7 1/4” triple jump and a 7’4 1/4” effort in the high jump.
Sadly, a diving accident in 1981 left him with a broken neck — and while he fully recovered, he never regained the ability to compete at his own level of excellence.
So he turned his talents elsewhere – to helping others achieve greatness in whatever form that would take.
According to his wife Adriane, Livers spent the better part of his life outside of sports as a paraprofessional, assisting residents in group homes dealing with behavioral issues.
“He loved it,” she said. “He got such gratification working with those (residents). He had a way to connect with people like I’ve never seen before.”
As for track and field? He no longer could compete, but he certainly could help others reach their potential on the track. And that he did.
At Perkiomen Valley High School, Livers took Christine Warren under his wing, and helped her to three PIAA Class AAA state titles as well as two indoor state titles in the triple jump. Warren’s personal best in the triple jump was 42-3.75, which earned her a New Balance Nationals Outdoor title in 2019.
But years before that Livers made an impact on an athlete that’s still felt today. After Livers died, George Hadrick (another notable Norristown track family) shared his thoughts about his hero.
An injury during football practice in November of 1980 threatened to end Hadrick’s high school career for football and track for Norristown High. But Livers intervened, in a record-setting way.
“Ron Livers came to me and asked me if I trusted him. He told me that he could help heal my injury in 3 months,” Hadrick wrote after Livers death. “He took time out of his busy schedule every day to help me recover faster than any doctor told me that I could recover in — in record time. Ron (was) a master in the body’s physical anatomy and coached me back to excellent health through a series of exercises and strengthening my mental vision. Doctors were surprised that I was able to play again so soon, and asked how I was able to accomplish this, so I told them Mr. Ron Livers!
“If it were not for a ‘meta superstar’ (Mr. Ronald Livers) caring for another person, I would not have become the 1981 Pennsylvania State Champion in the 800-meter run (Ron’s first-ever coaching state track champion), I probably would not have attended college, nor would I have become a United States Colonel in the Army…I would not have become a United States Foreign Diplomat to United States Mission to NATO.
“I have been asked by numerous people on the key event that lead to my success in life, I often explained at the lowest point of my life there was a man named Ronald Livers, who brought me out of my darkest moment of my life. I owe everything that I have accomplished in my life to Mr. Ronald Livers. He is a greatest man who I will always respect and love as true hero, my hero.”
Quite a remarkable testament, but not a surprising one. His nature, Livers’ wife Adriane said, was to help others. Always. She said that not long before he died in 2020 of brain cancer (he was 65), Livers, a three-time NCAA champion, said he wanted to create a scholarship fund for kids to help offset expenses. And he asked her if she would help him do that.
“This was Ronnie’s idea,” Livers said. “After he got sick, we were talking about what he’ll do after retirement. He asked if I would help him with this scholarship, and I said of course I will.
“After he passed away, it was impossible for me not to.”
And so the nonprofit Ronald Wm. Livers Made for Greatness Scholarship Fund was formed. Students throughout Montgomery County are eligible to apply, as long as the following criteria is met: The student (does not have to be an athlete) must be a resident of Montgomery County; have a minimum 3.0 GPA; have been accepted to a post-secondary program; currently be a senior in high school.
“Applications are closed for the 2022 year, but it will open against in January 2024,” Adrianne Livers said.
“Last year we had about 14 or 15 kids apply, 10 who were actually eligible,” Livers said. “So we spread our budget across those 10. This year we had 47 applications and we are currently reviewing 31 of those.”
Adrianne Livers said the scholarship program is growing by leaps and bounds, so to offset the financing, fundraisers are held. The next event is June 24 – a beef and beer at Spring Mill Ballroom, 1210 E. Hector Street, Conshohocken. Tickets are $30, and doors open at 6 p.m. For more information and to learn more about the foundation visit https://www.rwlmadeforgreatness.org/
“He told kids over and over again – if it’s at all possible for you to go to college, go,” Livers said of her husband. “For him to have a scholarship (four-year deal to San Jose State for track) that was a big deal for him. And he did not take it for granted. He worked hard, and he was a good student and a good athlete.
“He would say, ‘get on that yard and enjoy it.’”
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