by Larry Eder
Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected])
This Day in Track & Field/X-Country–March 18
1939—Bob Peoples set an American Record of 234-1 7/8 (71.37) in the Javelin in Long Beach,CA. Peoples, 18 at the time, finished 4th at the 1936 U.S. Olympic Trials shortly after completing his junior year at Classen H.S. in Oklahoma City,OK
Peoples, who set a U.S. High School Record of 220-1 (67.08?) in 1937 (that stood for 20 years), was inducted into the National H.S. T&F Hall of Fame in 2020.
http://tinyurl.com/Bob-PeoplesJav
https://nationalscholastic.org/article/2472
1955-Wearing a new pair of shoes sent to him by George Eastment, his former coach at Manhattan College, Lou Jones set a World Record of 45.4 (45.68) to win the gold medal in the 400-meters at the Pan-American Games in Mexico City. U.S. teammate Jim Lea, 2nd in 45.6, was also under the previous mark of 45.8, which was set by Jamaica’s George Rhoden in 1950.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_400_metres_world_record_progression
NY Times Obituary: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/sports/othersports/lou-jones-74-sprinting-star-dies.html
1962–New Zealand’s Peter Snell ran 1:49.9 in Tokyo to break his own World Indoor Record for 880-yards.
1967–American Doris Brown (Heritage) won the first of her five consecutive “World” X-Country titles on a “shoe-sucking” muddy course in Barry, Wales. (Prior to the IAAF’s involvement in 1973, the meet was known as the “International
X-Country Championships”). Brown-Heritage served as the head coach at Seattle Pacific before announcing her retirement prior to the 2008 x-country season.
Accompanying Brown on what seemed like a never-ending journey from Seattle to Barry was her coach, Ken Foreman, who had guided her in her ascension to running royalty and who would remain her coach throughout her career. Both are members of the National Hall of Fame.
https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/doris-brown-heritage
(Subscription required?): http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/a-commitment-to-excellence
https://spufalcons.com/honors/hall-of-fame/doris-brown-heritage/20
https://spu.edu/depts/uc/response/autumn2k7/athletics/athletics-exclusive.asp
Foreman: https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/ken-foreman
http://www.ustfccca.org/awards/ken-foreman-ustfccca-class-of-2011
2000–Despite suffering a bee-sting at the back of her mouth early in the race, Deena Drossin (Kastor) recovered enough to finish 12th in the Women’s “Long” race (8,080m) at the World X-Country Championships in Vilamoura, Portugal, and led the U.S. team to the bronze medals. The rest of the American squad: Jen Rhines(13), Rachel Sauder (36), Kim Fitchen (37), Donna Garcia (55).
Derartu Tulu, the 1992 Olympic Champion at 10,000 meters, and the winner of this event in 1997, waged a thrilling battle with fellow Ethiopian Gete Wami, the defending champion, before pulling away for her 2nd victory (25:42-25:48).
Great Britain’s Paula Radcliffe had finished 2nd, 2nd, and 3rd in the three previous years, but had to settle for 5th place this time. Said Radcliffe of the torrid pace, “It was easily the hardest World Cross I’ve run in.” Finishing 7th was Ireland’s Sonia O’Sullivan, who had given birth to daughter Ciara just 8 months earlier.
Radcliffe would finish 4th the next day in the “Short” race, which was won by Ethiopia’s Dulecha Kutre, as only one second separated the top 4 finishers.
Also on the 2nd day (3-19), Paul Tergat’s 5-year reign as the Men’s Long course champion came to an end as the great Kenyan finished 3rd (35:02) behind Belgium’s Mohammed Mourhit (35:00) and Ethiopia’s Assefa Mezgebu (35:01). Meb Keflezighi (26th) was the top American finisher.
Winner of the Junior Women’s race on the first day of competition was Kenya’s Vivian Cheruiyot, who would become one of the best female distance runners in the world. The top two finishers for the U.S. were Lauren Fleshman (26) and Shalane Flanagan (27).
Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-GUgEcz6sA
(Subscription Required?): http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/vivian-cheruiyot?page=single
2016—Canada’s Brianne Theisen-Eaton, the silver medalist in 2014, won gold in the Pentathlon on the 2nd day of competition at the World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon (March 17-20), with a score of 4881 points. Ukraine’s Alina Fodorova was 2nd (4770) and American Barbara Nwaba was 3rd (4661).
Oregon-grad Theisen-Eaton, the crowd favorite, was 150 points out of first place entering the final event, but came through with an indoor best of 2:09.99 in the 800-meters, uncertain that was enough. “As public address announcer Garry Hill read the numbers the crowd roared. (Husband Ashton), competing in the heptathlon high jump, pushed onto the track and locked his wife in an embrace.” Hubby would win his 3rd straight World Indoor title in the Heptathlon the following day!
Brittney Reese won her 3rd World Indoor title (2010,2012) in the Women’s Long Jump with her final-round leap of 23-8 ¼ (7.22). She overtook Serbia’s Ivana Španović (23-2 ½ [7.07]), who wound up in 2nd place.
New Zealand’s Tom Walsh (71-5 ½ [21.78]) won the first of his two titles in the Men’s Shot Put (would win again in 2018).
American Trayvon Bromell (6.47) beat Jamaica’s Asafa Powell (6.50) to win the Men’s 60, and Nia Ali (7.81) edged U.S. teammate Brianna McNeal (7.82) to win the Women’s 60-meter hurdles.
https://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/2016/03/brianne_theisen-eaton_wins_a_c.html
