Mural honors 1952 Olympian from Bowie High School

EL PASO, Texas (CBS4) — The legacy of Javier Montez, a Korean War veteran and Bowie High School alum who was among the first El Pasoans to represent the United States at the Olympic Games, will be honored with the unveiling of a mural at the field that bears his name.

The unveiling of the Javier Montez Mural by renowned El Paso artist Jesus “Cimi” Alvarado was held Tuesday at the track field of Guillen Middle School.

Montez is a 1948 graduate of Bowie High School who grew up in the historic Segundo Barrio.

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He ran track for Bowie and was named to the El Paso Times All-Star-Team that year.

He won the mile run Texas state championship with a record-setting time and was eventually recruited to run for Texas Western College, now the University of Texas at El Paso.

While at Texas Western he set Border Conference and Texas Relays records in the mile run.

His performance at the 1952 Olympic trials earned him a spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the Helsinki Games, where he ran the 1500-meter race.

After serving in the Korean War and earning the rank of first lieutenant, Montez earned an electric engineering degree from Texas Western and a master’s of science from New Mexico State University.

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