James “Rabbit” Ward (b.1918, d.1994) was a three sport standout athlete at Altoona (PA) Area High School in the 1930’s, participating in football, basketball and track. He then attended West Chester State Teachers College, where he continued his stellar track career and played football and soccer. He earned the nickname “Rabbit” as a young boy because of the speed that enabled him to win neighborhood foot races and carried that moniker all the way through school.

In high school he set school records in the 100-yard dash (9.7 sec), the 220-yard dash (21.5 sec) and the broad jump (21’-11’’). His high school coach called him the best sprinter the school ever had. Ward qualified for the PIAA state tournament in all three events in each of his three seasons in high school. In the PIAA’s he finished second in the 100-yard dash to Barney Ewell, who participated in the 1940 Olympic Games. In 1934, Ward played on Altoona’s co-state champion football squad and the school’s basketball team which lost the state championship title game to Lower Merion High School.

While at West Chester State Teachers College, “Rabbit” ran the 4th fastest 220 in the nation in 1938. He tried out for the 1936 Olympic Team at the Princeton (N.J.) trials but was disqualified for jumping the starting gun. He was a standout halfback on West Chester’s football team under legendary coach Glenn Killinger.

Growing up in the 1930’s Ward experienced the Great Depression and rampant segregation. He felt athletics offered him a chance to better himself and with the help of his family (10 brothers and sisters) and friends, he persevered. He entered the U.S. Army in May 1941, was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in 1943 and eventually attained the rank of Captain in the Army Corps of Engineers.

After the war, Ward returned to West Chester where he and his wife Marian raised two children. He worked in the private sector for 20 years, before being named Executive Director of the Chester County Housing Authority in 1966, a position he held until his retirement in 1978. In retirement he was active in civic affairs in the West Chester area, serving on the Board of Directors of the West Chester Community Center and as a Trustee of Bethel A.M.E. Church.

In 1990 Ward was inducted into the Blair County Sports Hall of Fame.