Three years after Ron Whittaker’s death, he is still having an impact on Jeff Anderson’s life.

The former Mexico activities director from 2010-19, Anderson, was named the Girls Track Official of the Year by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) on May 23 during the MSHSAA Track and Field Championships opening ceremony. Anderson finished his seventh year as a MSHSAA track official and has been around track and field for 41 years as a coach, athletic director and official.

“I have always believed that track and field teaches more than competition — it builds character, discipline, and respect,” according to Anderson’s response that he wrote for the PA announcer at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City during his award presentation. “I’m grateful to have played even a small role in that journey for so many young people over the years.”

During his time as Mexico AD, Anderson said he met the Hall of Fame Mexico track coach Whittaker when he was serving as a meet referee, which Whittaker was for every track meet hosted at Mexico during Anderson’s tenure. After that fateful meeting, Anderson said Whittaker became his mentor and said his “guidance and example helped shape not only the official I became, but the person I strive to be,” according to Anderson’s PA message.

“Ron Whittaker trained me,” Anderson said. “He’s been gone for three years, so that was the first thing I thought of (when I heard about receiving the award) was ‘I wish he was here’ because he poured a lot of time and energy into me.”

Whittaker’s memory lives on through the Ron Whittaker Bulldog Classic every year, which takes place on the Ron Whittaker track that was renamed while Anderson was AD. However, Whittaker remains indelible on many people’s minds, including Anderson’s, for reasons beyond that.

“The thing that set Ron apart was he knew every rule, he knew every application of the rule, and he knew every page number and the article number in the rule book,” Anderson said. “There wasn’t really anything that he hadn’t seen. Jason Pyrah (six-time Missouri state champion and Class 3 1600 record holder), Ron mentored him as the meet referee. Jason and I were having several conversations back and forth about, ‘I wish Ron was here. What would he have done in this situation?’”

Anderson said he wanted to coach the sports he coached over 22 years at Cherryvale, Kansas, and Harrisonville and Aurora in Missouri. He became an official in football, basketball, track and cross country because he wanted to still be part of those sports. 

Even though Anderson played basketball in college, he said track and field has been “a lifelong passion, and it has given me the opportunity to work with incredible athletes, coaches, and fellow officials,” according to his PA message. He said he was at the track and field and cross country meets while he was managing several sports as Mexico AD because he wanted to support the kids and also try to connect with every kid and coach like Whittaker did. 

“I love the fact that kids encourage others,” Anderson said. “It’s just an encouraging sport. I’ve always enjoyed it. I love to see kids excel and the student-athletes grow and see the success on their faces when they finish a race or win a championship.”

Anderson has delved deeper into track officiating. He has been on the MSHSAA Leadership Committee as a rules interpreter in track and field for the northeast and south central Missouri area, and he is a USA Track and Field certified collegiate official who has worked indoor meets for Mizzou and indoor conference meets in the Big Ten, Missouri Valley Conference and Great Lakes Valley Conference.

He said he has followed in Whittaker’s footsteps as the meet referee at about every track meet he has worked. Anderson has been the one to field all the protests and questions, and he tries to be a mentor for the younger officials. Over the last three years, he said he has run officiating clinics and has encouraged coaches to attend to go over rules in a “low-stress environment.”

“What I try to do is pour into younger officials and even some I’ve been working closely with and just continue to mentor them and continue to train them,” Anderson said. “I like to run scenarios and situations by them, so when we get into a situation that they’re not familiar with, they have some application they can take with them. It’s similar things that Ron did with us.”