by Larry Eder
Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com)
This Day in Track & Field–June 10
1944—Freshman Buddy Young won the 100y (9.7) and 220y (21.6) at the NCAA Championships in Milwaukee, helping Illinois (79) win the team title by a large margin over Notre Dame (43). Young also finished 2nd in the Long Jump (23-1/4 [7.015]).
Only 5’-4” (1.625), Young had already excelled as a standout running back/receiver for Illinois during the 1943 football season. Before the season concluded, he scored 10 touchdowns, equaling the Big Ten Conference record established by the immortal Red Grange in 1924.
Drafted by the Navy in 1945, Young played on a service football team before returning to Illinois, where he helped the team beat UCLA in the 1947 Rose Bowl. He then played professional football for 10 years, closing out his career with the Baltimore Colts. He died tragically in an auto accident in 1983 at the age of 57. He was the NFL’s Director of Player Relations at the time of his death.
Michigan juniors Ross and Robert Hume, “The Dead-Heat Twins”, continued their custom of crossing the finish line hand-in-hand, to become co-champions in the Mile (4:16.6). Robert also finished 2nd in the 880y.
Morgan State senior Elmore Harris (47.9) won the 440y easily over Boston College’s Herb McKenley, a sophomore from Jamaica, and also won the 220y-Hurdles (23.9). After transferring to Illinois, McKenley won the NCAA 440y in 1946 and 1947. He was a 3-time U.S. Champion at 400-meters (1945,1947,1948), set World Records in the 400 (45.9) and 440y (46.3, 46.0), and was the silver medalist in the 400 at the 1952 Olympics.
Marquette sophomore Ken Wiesner won the 1st of his 3 titles in the High Jump (6-7[2.01]). He continued competing after college, setting two World Indoor Records in 1953 (6-9 7/8[2.08], 6-10 ¾[2.10], and ranking #1 in the U.S. in 1952 & 1953.
Travel restrictions during World War II prevented some schools from participating.
https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1944.pdf
Young
https://www.thesportscol.com/2018/10/buddy-young-stood-out-without-standing-tall/
TD Run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZA0g_sQcqY
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Young
NFL Stats: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/Y/YounBu00.htm
McKenley
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/72305
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_McKenley
1960—Kansas senior Charlie Tidwell ran 10.1 at the Meet of Champions in Houston to equal the U.S. and World Records for 100-meters (although never ratified as a WR). Tidwell, who would win his 2nd straight NCAA sprint double the following week, soundly beat a field that included Stone Johnson (10.3), Dave Sime (10.3), and Bill Woodhouse (10.3), all of whom would make the U.S. Olympic team later in the year. Unfortunately, Tidwell pulled up in the final of the 100 at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Sime would win a silver medal in the 100 at the Rome Olympics, with Johnson finishing 5th in the 200. Woodhouse would serve as an alternate on the 4×100 relay.
In addition to his four sprint titles, Tidwell also won the 220y-Hurdles at the 1958 NCAA Championships.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Tidwell
1961–The Santa Clara Youth Village set an American Record of 16:26.5 for the 4-Mile Relay at the Pacific Association AAU meet at Stanford. Running the first three legs were Max Truex (4:10.8), László Tábori (4:08.9), and Ernie Cunliffe (4:03.0). Hungary’s World Record of 16:25.2 seemed to be in reach, but 3:58-miler Jim Beatty wasn’t sharp on this day (“I don’t feel right”, he said before the race) and his 4:03.8 anchor left the team just short of a new global best. (From T&F News).
1962–-The Soviet Union’s Igor Ter-Ovanesyan jumped 27-3 ¼ (8.31) in Yerevan, Armenia, to break Ralph Boston’s year-old World Record of 27-2 (8.28). It was the first time in 27 years, since Jesse Owens jumped 26-8 ¼ (8.13) in 1935, that the record fell out of U.S. hands (and feet).
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_long_jump_world_record_progression
Interview: http://www.pbs.org/redfiles/sports/deep/interv/s_int_igor_ter-ovanesyan.htm
1966—Kansas freshman Jim Ryun ran 1:44.9 for 880-Yards in Terre Haute, Indiana, to break Peter Snell’s 4-year old World Record of 1:45.1. The 1:44.9 stood as the American Junior Record for the shorter 800-Meters for 50 years until Donavan Brazier ran 1:43.55 on this same date in 2016! (see below)
1967—USC’s Bob Seagren regained the World Record in the Pole Vault with his clearance of 17-7 (5.36) in San Diego. John Pennel set the previous mark of 17-6 ¼ (5.34) in 1966.
Seagren wasn’t the only Trojan to set a World Record here, as teammates Earl McCullouch, Fred Kuller, O.J. Simpson, and Lennox Miller lowered the best in the 440y-Relay to 39.0.
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_pole_vault_world_record_progression
1967–3 future Olympic gold medalists were winners at the NAIA Championships in Sioux Falls,SD. Johnson C. Smith’s Vince Matthews, a product of the legendary NY City prep scene of the 1960s (at Andrew Jackson), won the 440y in 45.4. He went on to win the 400 in Munich in 1972.
Texas Southern’s Jim Hines, the winner of the 100y (9.6) and 220y (20.3), would win gold in the 100 and 4×100 in Mexico City in 1968, and Southern University’s Willie Davenport won the 120y-Hurdles in 13.5 as a prelude to winning the gold medal in the metric version in 1968. He would also win the bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics (4th in 1972).
All three are members of the National Hall of Fame. (From T&F News)
1967—East Tennessee State’s Bob Rovere won the 100y and 220y with wind-aided times of 9.2 and 20.6 at the NCAA College Division Championships in Ogden, Utah.
1979–Marita Koch smashed her own week-old World Record in the 200-Meters (22.02), running 21.71 in Karl-Marx-Stadt. Koch would equal the record 5 years later, and it was tied twice by fellow East German Heike Drechsler in 1986. Koch still holds the World Record in the 400 (47.60).
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women’s_200_metres_world_record_progression
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marita_Koch
1981—Great Britain’s Sebastian Coe broke the 1:42 barrier in the 800-Meters with his time of 1:41.73 in Florence, Italy. Coe set the previous World Record of 1:42.33 in 1979. Coe’s record would last for 16 years until Denmark’s Wilson Kipketer first tied it, then broke it with a time of 1:41.24 in 1997
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/800_metres_world_record_progression
1984–China’s Zhu Jianhua set his 3rd (and final) World Record in the High Jump, clearing 7-10 (2.39) in Eberstadt, Germany. He would later win the bronze medal at the L.A. Olympics.
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_high_jump_world_record_progression
Tribute Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nReN9Lc9Ixk
2006–The X-Man, Xavier Carter, was the star of the show at the NCAA Div.I Championships in Sacramento, becoming the first man since Jesse Owens in 1936 to win 4 titles (100, 400, 4×100, 4×400).
First up was the 4×100 Relay on Friday (6-9) , with Carter running the 2nd leg on LSU’s winning team (38.44).
On Saturday, Carter won the 100 (10.09) 38 minutes before winning the 400 (44.53, 1st man to win that double)! He finished off his amazing weekend by anchoring LSU to victory in the 4×400 Relay (3:01.58).
Walter Dix, 2nd to Carter in the 100 (10.18), came back to win the 200 (20.30) and helped lead Florida State to the team title. Dix went on to win bronze medals in the 100 and 200 at the 2008 Olympics.
Other winners who went on to future success included Jackson State’s Michael Tinsley in the 400-meter hurdles (48.25, silver medalist at the 2012 Olympics and 2013 Worlds), Tennessee’s Aries Merritt in the 110-hurdles (13.21, World Record and Olympic gold in 2012), Colorado’s Jenny Barringer (Simpson) in the Steeplechase (9:53.04, 2011 World Champion in the 1500, silver at the 2013 and 2017 Worlds, bronze at the 2016 Olympics), and Wisconsin’s Chris Solinsky in the 5000 (14:11.71, American Record in the 10k in 2010, since broken).
Carter’s Schedule
Wednesday
3:25pm 4×100 heat (38.87)
6:15pm 400 heat (45.51)
Thursday
3:55pm 100 heat (10.25)
5:40pm 100 semi (2nd, 10.15)
Friday
4:10pm 4×100 Final (38.44)
5:35pm 400 semi (44.96)
Saturday
12:42pm 100 Final (10.09)
1:20pm 400 Final (44.53)
2:45pm 4×400 Final (3:01.58, 45.5 split)
Complete Results: http://www.flashresults.com/2006_Meets/outdoor/ncaa1/
ESPN.com: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2478458&src=mobile
2007—Australia’s Craig Mottram won the 2-Mile at the Prefontaine Classic in 8:03.50, while Matt Tegenkamp set an American Record of 8:07.07 in 3rd place. Alan Webb set the previous record of 8:11.48 in 2005.
Results
2011—A day after winning the Men’s Long Jump (27-6 ¾ [8.40]) at the NCAA Championships (June 8-11) in Des Moines, Iowa, Florida State’s Ngoni Makusha won the 100 in 9.89, breaking the Collegiate Record of 9.92 that was set by UCLA’s Ato Boldon in 1996. The Junior from Zimbabwe joined Michigan’s DeHart Hubbard (1925), Ohio State’s Jesse Owens (1935,1936), and Houston’s Carl Lewis (1981) as the only men to win the NCAA 100-LJ double. He came back on the final day (6-11) to run the 2nd leg on the winning 4×100.
Makusha went on to win the bronze medal in the Long Jump at the World Championships in Daegu, Korea, and was named the male winner of The Bowerman, T&F’s version of the Heisman Trophy.
Full recap on June 11
Results: https://www.flashresults.com/2011_Meets/outdoor/06-08-NCAAChamps/Day3.htm
Videos
100(subscription required):
https://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=150&do=videos&video_id=74487
Interviews
https://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?video_id=74494
https://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?video_id=48563
The Bowerman
Intro(includes videos): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXHyxPv2NZ4
Acceptance Speech: www.flotrack.org/video/5321572-ngoni-makusha-acceptance-speech-after-bowerman-award-2011
2016—Arkansas senior Jarrion Lawson was the top point-scorer at the Men’s NCAA Championships in Eugene. After winning the Long Jump on Wednesday (6-8/26-9 [8.15], he came back on Friday (6-10), the final day of the men’s competition, to win the 100 (10.22) and 200 (20.19). (He also ran the 2nd leg on the Razorbacks’ 4×100 team that finished 3rd). The last man to win those three events at the NCAA Championships? The one and only Jesse Owens of Ohio State, who also won the 220y-Hurdles in 1936 (he was also a 4-time winner in 1935). Lawson would finish 4th in the Long Jump at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
Finishing 2nd to Lawson in both sprints was Tennessee sophomore Christian Coleman, who would win the sprint double in 2017.
The single best performance of the meet was turned in by Texas A&M freshman Donavan Brazier, who won the 800-meters in 1:43.55, breaking Julius Achon’s 20-year old Collegiate Record of 1:44.55 and Jim Ryun’s 50-year old American Junior Record of 1:44.9 (which was run at 880-yards). Brazier turned pro soon after the meet and was surprisingly eliminated in the first round of the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Akron’s Clayton Murphy won the 1500-meters in 3:36.38, the fastest winning time since George Mason’s Abdi Bile ran 3:35.78 30 years ago in 1987. He went on to win the bronze medal in the 800-meters at the Rio Olympics.
Oregon junior Edward Cheserek won the 5000 (13:25.59) and 10,000 (6-8/29:09.57), bringing his total of NCAA titles to 15, tying him with UTEP’s Suleiman Nyambui for the most ever. King Ches would add two more titles at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships (3000,5000), but a back injury forced him to miss the NCAA West Regional that year, bringing a premature end to his collegiate career.
Oregon red-shirt sophomore Devon Allen won his 2nd title in the 110-hurdles (13.50), two years after winning his first—a football injury kept him out of action during the 2015 season. He would finish 5th at the Rio Olympics.
USC junior Randall Cunningham,Jr. won the High Jump with a clearance of 7-4 ½ (2.25). His dad is former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham, Sr. and his sister is Vashti Cunningham, the 2016 World Indoor Champion in the Women’s High Jump.
In one of the best NCAA decathlons ever, Texas A&M junior Lindon Victor beat Wisconsin senior Zach Ziemek, 8379-8300, the 2nd and 5th best performances, respectively, ever at the NCAA Championships (at the time). Both competed at the Rio Olympics later in the yeat, Victor finishing 16th, while Ziemek placed 7th. Victor won his 2nd title in 2017 with a score of 8390 and would go on to win the bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships and 2024 Olympics!
Florida, which had finished a disappointing 7th indoors, edged Arkansas, 62-56, to win the team title. (The women would finish up on Saturday (6-11).
Results:
http://flashresults.com/2016_Meets/Outdoor/06-08_NCAA/
https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2016.pdf
Video(Brazier):
2017—Running in front of her home-crowd in Eugene, junior Raeyvn Rogers(2:00.02) won the 800-Meters at the NCAA Women’s Championships for the 3rd year in a row and anchored (49.8) Oregon (3:23.13/Collegiate Record) to a thrilling win over USC’s Kendall Ellis (49.6/3:23.35/also under CR) in the final event, the 4×400 Relay, to clinch the team title for the Ducks (64) over Georgia (62-1/5), which scored all of its points in the field events! Oregon became the first women’s team to win the NCAA Triple Crown in the same school year, having won in X-Country the previous November, and Indoors in March.
Arizona State junior Maggie Ewen had quite a weekend, setting a Collegiate Record of 240-7 (73.32) in the Hammer Throw, finishing 2nd in the Discus (197-2 [60.11]), and 6th in the Shot Put (57-1 [17.40]). Mississippi’s Raven Saunders (57-3 ¾ [17.47]), the 2-time defending champion, finished 4th in the Shot Put, which was won by Kent State senior Danniel Thomas (62-10 [19.15]).
Florida senior Kyra Jefferson set a Collegiate Record of 22.02 in the 200-Meters. Her dad, Thomas Jefferson, was the bronze medalist in the 200-meters at the 1984 Olympics. The previous record of 22.04 was set by LSU’s Dawn Sowell in 1989. Oregon’s Deajah Stevens was even with Jefferson when she stumbled and fell to the track, costing the Ducks valuable points and forcing them into a must-win situation in the concluding 4×400 relay. (Stevens contributed a 50.8 2nd leg on the winning team).
Georgia’s Keturah Orji won her 3rd straight title in the Triple Jump (46-10 3/4w[14.29]) and finished 2nd to freshman teammate Kate Hall in the Long Jump (22-1 [6.73] to 22-1/4w [6.71]). Kendell Williams closed out her brilliant collegiate career at Georgia by winning her 3rd title in the Heptathlon (6564/also won in 2014 & 2016). She won her 4th straight NCAA Pentathlon title Indoors in March.
Missouri junior Karissa Schweizer won the 5000-Meters (15:38.93) to go along with the titles she won in X-Country (2016) and the Indoor 5000. She would win 3 more NCAA titles in 2018 (Indoor-3000,5000, Outdoor-5000).
Reversing their order from 2016, UTEP’s Tobi Amusan (12.57) edged Kentucky’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (12.58) in the 100-Meter Hurdles. Camacho-Quinn would win Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021, while Amusan was the winner at the 2022 World Championships, setting a World Record of 12.12 in her semi-final race.
Boise State freshman Allie Ostrander (9:41.31) won the 1st of her 3 titles in the Steeplechase. She also finished 4th in the 5000.
Kentucky sophomore Olivia Gruver won the Pole Vault (6-8) with a clearance of 14-9 (4.50), while Arkansas’ Lexi Weeks (now Jacobus) finished 2nd (14-7 ¼[4.45]).
LetsRun Coverage: https://www.letsrun.com/events/2017-ncaa-outdoor-track-field-championships/
Results: https://www.flashresults.com/2017_Meets/Outdoor/06-07_NCAA/
Finalists: https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2017w.pdf
4×400: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qLtWrL8FkY
2022—Sophomore Joe Fahnbulleh won the 100 (10.00) and 200 (19.83) and ran on the 2nd leg on the 4×100 relay that finished 2nd to lead Florida to the team title at the NCAA Div.I Championships in Eugene, Oregon. Competing for Liberia, he was a finalist in the 200 at the 2021 Olympics (5th), and the 2022 (4th) and 2023 (9th) World Championships.
Wayne Pinnock, the Texas freshman from Jamaica who was the Indoor Long Jump champion, added the Outdoor title with a winning leap of 26-3 (8.00). He would win a 2nd Indoor title in 2024 and was the silver medalist at the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 Olympics.
Arkansas junior Ayden Owens-Delerme (8457) won the Decathlon (6-8,9) over Texas soph Leo Neugebauer (8362), who would win the title the next 2 years (2023, 2024), as well as winning the silver medal at the 2024 Olympics.
Florida State senior Trey Cunningham, the Indoor champion in the 60m-hurdles, won the 110m-hurdles with a personal best time of 13.00. He would return to Eugene the following month for the World Championships, where he won the silver medal.
Wisconsin’s Olin Hacker won the 5000-meters in 13:27.73. His dad Tim, who also competed for the Badgers, was the 1985 NCAA X-Country Champion.
Penn soph Mark Minichello won the Javelin (6-8/266-3 [81.17]) and would win a 2nd title in 2024 while competing for Georgia. Another 2022/2024 champion was Washington’s Joe Waskum, who won the slow-paced 1500-meters in 3:45.58.
Results: https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2022.pdf
Videos: 100 200 110h Other Events
NCAA History
Past Team Champions
Men: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_I_Men%27s_Outdoor_Track_and_Field_Championships
Women: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_I_Women%27s_Outdoor_Track_and_Field_Championships
USTFCCCA: http://www.ustfccca.org/meets-results/meet-history?series=3369
T&F News
https://trackandfieldnews.com/historical-results/a-history-of-the-ncaa-championships-1921-2018/
Born On This Day
Julien Alfred-St.Lucia 24 (2001) 2024 Olympic gold medalist—100m, silver medalist-200m (St.Lucia’s first Olympic medals)
2024 World Indoor Champion—60m
5th in the 100, 4th in the 200, at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest
Closed out her collegiate career at Texas at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships by winning the 100 and 200 and running on the
winning 4×100 relay, bringing her total of NCAA titles to 7
2022 NCAA champion-100, 4×100 (Texas)
2023 NCAA Indoor Champion-60, 200…set Collegiate Indoor Records of 6.94 and 22.01 in the respective finals.
Ran the lead-off leg on the Texas team that set a CR of 41.55 in the 2023 NCAA semi-final round of the 4×100
Has 9 of the 12 fastest times at 60-meters in NCAA history…improved her Collegiate record 5-times during the 2023 indoor season
Winner of the 2023 Bowerman Award
PBs: 6.94i (2023/CR, =#2 All-Time), 10.72 (2024/=#8 All-Time), 21.86 (2024), 22.01i (2022), 36.05 (2025)
…
