East St. Louis track stars get tough lessons in sportsmanship

East St. Louis School Board Superintendent Arthur Culver may be the least popular person in the "City of Champions" after ensuring that there will be at least one less state champ this year.

But he did the right thing, underscoring the fact that safety and sportsmanship should always outpace the glory of winning. He's being the head coach, educating athletes in the harshest terms that "there's no 'i' in 'team.'"

The brawl during a track meet May 8 was an embarrassment to our region. It got worse when track athletes joined in, some as combatants and some trying to break it up. Then there were taunts after one person was being led away.

Officers quickly jumped into the situation. Athletes never should have entered the stands, even with good intentions, because they escalated the confusion and danger.

Culver cannot guarantee the conflict is not still simmering. He cannot accurately say who was good, bad or neutral in the situation.

Student safety must be the No. 1 concern. No. 2 is teaching sportsmanship. Worrying about scholarships is a distant third.

Raymond Miggs III may lose scholarship money to Southern Illinois University Carbondale as a result of not delivering a state championship in the triple jump. He's definitely got our sympathy, and his grandfather deserves credit for fighting for him.

But the teen will recover from this setback, and we doubt his extra scholarship money at this point is worth more than the cost of litigating this.

The judge who gets this should back Culver and quickly end this matter, or better yet, the elder Miggs drops this matter for the greater good.

This story was originally published May 15, 2018 at 12:31 PM with the headline "East St. Louis track stars get tough lessons in sportsmanship."