by RBR Admin
Walt Murphy is one of the finest track statisticians that I know. Walt does #ThisDayinTrack&FieldHistory, an excellent daily service that provides true geek stories about our sport. You can check out the service for FREE with a free one-month trial subscription! (email: WaltMurphy44@gmail.com ) for the entire daily service. We will post a few historic moments each day, beginning February 1, 2024.
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This Day in Track & Field–May 2
by Walt Murphy News and Result Service (WMurphy25@gmail.com), used with permission.
1914-Fred “King” Kelly ran 15-flat at the Pacific Coast Conference Championships in Berkeley, California, to equal the American Record in the 120-yard hurdles (but not ratified as a World Record by the IAAF).
Kelly won the 110-meter hurdles at the 1912 Olympics to become USC’s first gold medalist. He later became a pioneer in the early days of aviation.
When asked years later who his best performer was, Dean Cromwell, a National Hall of Fame charter member, didn’t hesitate in naming Kelly. “I’m speaking from the competitive standpoint. There never was a better competitor than Kelly.”
In a special High Jump, Ed Beeson cleared 6-7 5/16 (2.01) to break the 2-year-old World Record of 6-7 (2.007), which was set by George Horine, who was second here (6-1/2 [1.84]).
Kelly
USC’s Olympic Heritage
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78643
1925—Glenn “Tiny” Hartranft, who had won the silver medal in the Shot Put at the 1924 Olympics, set a World Record of 157-1 5/8 (47.89) in the Discus at the Pacific AAU meet in San Francisco. He went on to become the head football and baseball coach at San José State.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Hartranft
1953–Roger Bannister, with a previous best of 4:07.8, gave an inkling of what was to come a year later when he ran 4:03.6 for the mile in London. Just as he would do in Bannister’s historic 3:59.4, fellow Brit Chris Chataway helped set the pace, leading through the 1/2-mile split in 2:04 before dropping out. “This race made me realize that the four-minute mile was not out of reach,” said Bannister then.
Bannister’s time broke the British Record of 4:04.2, set by former World Record holder Sydney Wooderson in 1945.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Bannister
1959–East Texas State freshman Sid Garton rode a strong tailwind to run 19.6, the fastest clocking in history at the time, for 220 yards on a straightaway at a dual meet against Northeast Louisiana. Garton would win the NAIA 220y title later in the season and was ranked #10 worldwide in the 200/220y by Track & Field News.
Now named Texas A&M-Commerce, his alma mater inducted Garton into its Hall of Fame in 2016.
T&FN Rankings: https://trackandfieldnews.com/rankings/
1959—USC freshman Dallas Long bettered his own World Record of 63-2 (19.25) twice at the L.A. Coliseum, but neither mark was ratified by the AAU or forwarded to the IAAF, which would have accepted both marks.
Long opened with a throw of 63-2 ¼ (19.26) and improved to 63-7 (19.38) in the 7th round, which the IAAF would have recognized based on marks achieved within 2 competitions (qualifying and final) (from the Progression of IAAF World Records).
2009—Emerging stars put on a show at the Payton Jordan/Cardinal Inv. at Stanford.
Colorado senior Jenny Barringer (Simpson) won the Women’s 5000 in 15:07.64, breaking the Collegiate Record of 15:09.72 that was set by Providence’s Kim Smith in 2004,
Finishing behind Hassan Mead (13:28.45) and Evan Jager (13:29.65) in the Men’s “B” 5000, Stanford freshman Chris Derrick (13:29.98) outdueled another frosh, Oklahoma State’s German Fernandez (13:31.78) for the 3rd spot as both were well under the American Junior Record of 13:37.91, which was set by prep Galen Rupp in 2004.
Barringer-Simpson’s Colorado teammate Emma Coburn set another American Junior Record, finishing 11th in the Women’s Steeplechase with a time of 10:06.54. Stanford’s Katie Trotter set the previous AJR of 10:07.55 in 2004.
Barringer-Simpson, a 2008 Olympic finalist in the Steeplechase, is the most decorated American middle distance runner, having won 4 medals in the 1500-meters in global competition at the 2011 World Championships, silvers at the 2013 and 2017 Worlds, and bronze at the 2016 Olympics.
Derrick never won an NCAA title but had one of the most distinguished collegiate careers ever, earning 14 All-
American honors:
2008—XC(7)
2009—3ki(5), 5ki(4), 5k(3), XC(3)
2010—5k(4), XC(5)
2011—5ki(8), 5k(4), 10k(4), XC2)
2012—3ki(2), 5ki(2), 10k(3)
Jager and Coburn became America’s top steeplechasers, setting American Records and winning medals on the World stage—Coburn winning gold at the 2017 Worlds, bronze at the 2016 Olympics, and silver at the 2019 Worlds, with Jager winning bronze and silver, respectively, at the 2017 Worlds and 2016 Olympics
Mead was a finalist in the 5000 at the 2016 Olympics (11th) and won the 10,000 at the 2018 U.S. Championships. He was 15th in the 10,000 at the 2015 and 2017 World Championships.
Fernandez, who set a U.S. High School Record of 8:34.40 for 2-miles in 2008, had some success at Oklahoma State, running 3:55.02 for the Mile and winning the NCAA 1500 title as a freshman in 2009, but was held back by injuries throughout most of his career.
