by RBR Admin
Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected])
This Day in Track & Field–September 13
1964— Rex Cawley set a World Record of 49.1 in the 400-Meter Hurdles to highlight the 2nd and final day of the U.S. Olympic Trials (Men) at the L.A. Coliseum.
As reported yesterday, a World Record was set on the first day by Ralph Boston in the Long Jump (27-4 ¼ (8.34m) and one was tied by Mike Larrabee in the 400–44.9.
Making the team (along with their eventual Olympic medals in Tokyo):
100 (9-12)—Bob Hayes 10.1 (gold), Trenton Jackson 10.2, Mel Pender 10.3
200—Paul Drayton (20.4/silver) and Dick Stebbins (20.6) finished 1-2, but Henry Carr (20.8), the winner of the “Semi”
Trials in NY in July, finished 4th behind Bob Hayes (20.7). Selectors determined that Carr had shown sufficient
fitness to warrant him replacing Hayes on the team. A wise move, since Carr would win gold in Tokyo and would
anchor the winning 4×400.
400 (9-12)—Larrabee 44.9/=WR(gold), Ulis Williams 45.0, Ollan Cassell 45.6
800—Morgan Groth 1:47.1, Tom Farrell 1:48.0, Jerry Siebert 1:48.3
1500—Dyrol Burleson 3:41.2, Tom O’Hara 3:41.5, 17-year old Jim Ryun passed veteran Jim Grelle 5 yards before the finish
to grab the 3rd spot on the team (3:41.9 for both)
Steeplechase—George Young 8:44.2, Vic Zwolak 8:46.2, Jeff Fishback 8:55.8
5000—Far ahead of the rest of the field, Bob Schul 13:55.6 (gold) and Bill Dellinger 13:55.6 (bronze) chatted during the
final lap and finished in a tie. 3rd was Oscar Moore 13:58.8.
10,000 (9-12)—Gerry Lindgren 29:02.0, Billy Mills 29:10.4 (gold), Ron Larrieu (29:20.4)
Marathon—Buddy Edelen made the team with his win at the U.S. Championships (Yonkers) in May, and the other slots were
filled by Pete McArdle and Mills, who finished 1-2 in the Trials race in Culver City in July.
20k-Walk (7-5/Pittsburgh)—Ron Laird 1:34:45, Ron Zinn 1:36:37, Jack Mortland 1:37:05
50k-Walk (9-5/Seattle)—Chris McCarthy 4:45:31, Bruce MacDonald 4:49.22, Mike Brodie 4:55:21
110 Hurdles (9-12)—Willie Davenport 13.6, Hayes Jones 13.6 (gold), Blaine Lindgren 13.8 (silver)…4.Russ Rogers 13.8
400 Hurdles—Cawley 49.1/WR (gold), Billy Hardin 49.8, Jay Luck 50.4…Hardin’s dad Glenn won gold in the 400-hurdles at
the 1936 Olympics…Cliff Cushman, the silver medalist in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1960 Olympics, appeared
to be on his way to making his 2nd U.S. team when he fell after clipping the 5th hurdle.
High Jump—Ed Caruthers 6-10 (2.08), John Thomas 6-10 (2.08/silver), John Rambo 6-8 (2.03/bronze)
Pole Vault—Fred Hansen 16-6 (5.03/gold), John Pennel 16-6 (5.03), Billy Pemelton 16-0 (4.87) (only 6 competitors!)
Long Jump (9-12)—Boston 27-10 1/4w (8.49)/legal 27-4 ¼ (8.34/WR/silver, won gold in ’60, bronze in ’68), Gayle
Hopkins 26-4 ¾ (8.04), Phil Shinnick 26-3 ½ (8.01)…4.Charlie Mays 26-2 ¾ (7.99)
Triple Jump—Ira Davis 53-1/52-11 (16.18/16.13), Bill Sharpe 53-1/51-10 (16.18/15.80), Kent Floerke 51-1/4
(15.55)…3rd team for Davis and Sharpe…Art Walker had two barely-foul jumps that would have put him on the
team and then fouled a 3rd time.
Shot Put (9-12)—Dallas Long 64-9 (19.74/gold), Randy Matson 63-10 (19.45/silver), Parry O’Brien 63-2 (19.25)/4th
team—gold in ’52 & ’56, silver in ‘60
Discus—Jay Silvester 198-7 ½ (60.55), Al Oerter 193-4 (58.95/3rd gold), Dave Weill 191-2 ½ (58.28/bronze)…4.Rink
Babka 190-10 (58.17)
Hammer—Hal Connolly 223-5 ½ (68.11), Al Hall 208-9 (63.63), Ed Burke 208-6 (63.55)…3rd team for Connolly, the
1956 gold medalist, and Hall.
Javelin—Frank Covelli 252-9 ½ (77.05), Les Tipton 243-1/2 (74.08), Ed Red 242-11 ½ (74.05)…Jim Stevenson was the
winner at the “Semi”-Trials in NY in July, but finished last in L.A. (215-9 ½ [65.77]) and was dropped from the
team!
Decathlon—Dick Emberger 7728, Russ Hodge 7728, Paul Herman 7701…4.Bill Toomey 7615 (1968 gold
medalist)…Herman and Don Jeisy were originally named to the team based on their 2-3 placing (behind Taiwan’s
C.K. Yang) at the U.S. Championships in June (Hodge was 4th). However, that meet was scored using the 1952
tables, instead of the newly accepted 1962 tables. If the latter tables had been used at the U.S. Champs, Hodge
would have finished ahead of Jeisy, who finished 5th in L.A. after falling in the hurdles. Officials made the right decision by naming Hodge to the team, replacing Jeisy.
Results: https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1964.pdf
Video(Men’s 100, 200, 400h, LJ): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHi4gr32eUc
Sports Illustrated: To Tokyo by Inches Ryun’s Task
1968—Willie Davenport (13.4/13.65) won the 110-meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Trials at Echo Summit to make the 2nd of his 4 Olympic teams. 2nd was Leon Coleman (13.5/13.72) and 3rd was Villanova’s Erv Hall (13.5/13.77). Davenport and Hall would go on to win Olympic gold and silver in Mexico City (Coleman was 4th). Davenport would win the bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics.
Such was the strength of U.S. hurdling this year that the next three finishers, Pat Pomphrey (13.6/13.84), Richmond Flowers (13.7/13.94) and Tommy Lee White (13.7/13.96) would wind up world-ranked #7, #6, and #8, respectively, by Track & Field News.
Co-World Record holder Earl McCullouch, who had beaten Hall for the NCAA title in June, decided to pursue a career in the NFL. Drafted in the first round by the Detroit Lions, he was the NFL Rookie of the Year in 1968!
When only one preliminary round would have been sufficient to select the 8 finalists from the 10 entries, hurdlers were forced to run three to emulate the Olympic schedule!
Battling not only the altitude, but winds up to 30mph, Bob Day and 6’-6” (1.98) Jack Bacheler coasted in together in a slowish 14:37.4 to secure the first two Olympic berths in the 5000-meters. Lou Scott (14:53.2) held off the fast-finishing Gerry Lindgren (14:53.6) to capture the 3rd spot on the team. Bob Schul, the gold medalist at the 1964 Olympics, finished 6th (15:44.6).
There were only 9 men entered in this event, but they still had to run a heat two days earlier. Billy Mills, who had finished a disappointing 4th in the 10,000, was denied permission to run since he hadn’t competed at the Semi-Trials and didn’t have a qualifying time!
With spectators allowed to sit near the runway, Art Walker, who had set an American Record of 55-1 ¾ (16.81) at the Semi-Trials in Los Angeles in June, won the Triple Jump (54-6 ½ [16.62]} over Dave Smith (53-0/16.15) and Norm Tate (52-6 ¼ [16.01).
It was déjà-vu all over again in the Hammer Throw as the three men who were on the 1964 team took the top three places at Echo Summit. American Record holder Ed Burke won with a throw of 226-3 (68.96), followed by Al Hall (220-5/ 67.18) and Hal Connolly (213-8/65.13), the 1956 Olympic Champion. It was the 4th Olympic team for both Connolly and Hall.
Wayne Collett set a World Junior Record of 45.04 in the 400-meters while winning his ¼-final race, but dropped out of his semi-final later in the day. With the top 3 advancing, Vince Matthews, finishing behind Ron Freeman (45.6) and Jim Kemp (45.6), only needed to run 48.7 to advance to the final.
A Look Back (June, 2014): http://tahoequarterly.com/2014/06/all-eyes-on-tahoes-echo-summit/
Sports Illustrated Vault: https://vault.si.com/vault/1968/09/23/triumph-and-tragedy-at-tahoe
The Track in the Forest:
https://www.amazon.com/Track-Forest-Creation-Legendary-Olympic/dp/0897339371
1970–Contested in warm weather over a 6-mile loop, the first NY City Marathon was held in Central Park. Only 55 of the 127 starters were able to finish the race, which was won by NY City fireman Gary Muhrcke in 2:31:38.
Muhrcke, who sold running shoes out of his van before opening up the first of the popular Super Runner Shops in NY, was tired after helping battle a few blazes the previous night, and only decided to run at the last minute (at the suggestion of his wife Jane!). Finishing 2nd was 19-year old college student Tom Fleming (2:35.44), who went on to win the race in 1973 and 1975, and 5th was the legendary Ted Corbitt (2:44:15), “The Father of American Distance Running”.
The co-directors of the race, Vince Chiappetta (3:01:48) and Fred Lebow (4:12:09), finished 18th and 45th, respectively.
Muhrcke, 80 at the time, ran one of the original loops in Central Park on this date in 2020 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his win!
The race, which is now one of the great sporting spectacles in the world, was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
From the NY Times:
The lone woman in the race — unofficially — was Mrs. Nina Kuscsik (one of the pioneers of women’s marathoning). She went home, empty‐handed, having dropped out after the third circuit, covering 14.2 miles in 1:39. Her husband, Richard, did not finish either.
“I wanted to finish very badly,” said Mrs. Kuscsik, who completed the Boston Marathon in 3:11 unoffically earlier this year (1970). “But I had a virus earlier this week and just couldn’t. I can’t accept any awards and, by dropping out, I avoided any problems with the A.A.U. [Amateur Athletic Union].”
(WM-I was the Head Timer at the race)
Q&A w/Muhrcke(2009):
Results: https://results.nyrr.org/event/700913/finishers
Past Winners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_of_the_New_York_City_Marathon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Marathon
50th Anniversary
https://www.worldathletics.org/news/feature/new-york-city-marathon-50th-anniversary
https://twitter.com/NYDailyNews/status/1304984666542350336/photo/1
https://www.nyrr.org/tcsnycmarathon/GetInspired/Photos-and-Stories/2020/First-New-York-City-Marathon
(For Subscribers): https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/13/sports/new-york-city-marathon.html
Huntington’s Favorite Son:
https://huntingtonnow.com/super-runners-store-owner-first-nyc-marathon-winner-heads-for-retirement/
1981—Competing in front of an overflow crowd of 9,000, Henry Rono set the final World Record of his career, running 13:06.20 for 5000-meters in the remote town of Knarvik, Norway. Brits James Espir, Ian Stewart, and a young Steve Cram helped set the pace for the first 4 laps and again later in the race after they had lagged behind, waiting for Rono to lap them!
It was Rono’s 3rd high-quality 5000 in five days, having run 13:12.47 on Sep.9 and 13:12.34 on Sep.11! It was a remarkable “comeback” for Rono, who had put running aside earlier in the season to concentrate on academics in his final year at Washington State.
From the IAAF Progression of IAAF World Records
The latest edition(2020) is available online:
https://www.worldathletics.org/news/news/progression-of-world-athletics-records-on-sal
Article(2007): http://tinyurl.com/RWExcerpt-Rono
1986—Romania’s Maricica Puica set a course record of 4:19.48 while winning the Women’s race at the Mercedes 5th Avenue Mile on NY’s iconic thoroughfare. Next across the line were Canada’s Lynn Williamns (4:22.31), the defending champion, and Scotland’s Yvonne Murray (4:22.70). 6th was American Mary Decker Slaney (4:32.01). Great Britain’s Wendy Sly, the previous CR holder (4:22.66), tripped and fell in the first ¼-mile.
”I knew, when I pulled next to (Williams) that I could win,” Puica said through an interpreter. ”I didn’t think of breaking the record before the race, but at the 800-meter mark, I knew the record would be broken.” As a reward for her effort, Puica, the 1984 Olympic gold medalist at 3000-meters, earned a brand new car from Mercedes, the event’s sponsor.
Spain’s José Luis González (3:53.52) won the Men’s race over New Zealand’s John Walker (3:54.13), who led for most of the race, fellow Spaniard José Abascal (3:54.49), American Ross Donoghue (3:55.70), and Americans Sydney Maree, who set the Course Record (at the time) of 3:47.52 while winning the first edition of the race in 1981, and Jim Spivey (3:56.77).
Other notable finishers
Women: 4.Ellie Van Hulst (NED) 4:30.08, 5.Brit McRoberts (CAN) 4:31.74…7.Sue Addison (USA) 4:37.39. 8.Claudette Groenendaal (USA) 4:38.65. 9, Regina Jacobs (USA) 4:38.84…12.Ruth Wysocki (USA) 4:33.93
Men: 10.Ray Flynn (IRL) 4:00.37…13.Frank O’Mara (IRL-defending champion) 4:05.81, 14. Rod Dixon (NZL) 4:06.21
Pre-Race: https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/12/sports/fifth-avenue-mile-has-strong-field.html
1988—East Germany’s Ilke Wyludda, 19 at the time, set the current World Junior Record of 244-1 (74.40) in the Discus at a pre-Olympic meet in East Berlin. She also had throws of 240-0 (73.16), 238-8 (72.74), and 236-3 (72.00) within her series. Those are still 2-3-6 on the All-Time World Junior list (she has the top-10 marks!).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilke_Wyludda
https://trackandfieldnews.com/tfn-lists/world-junior-all-time-list-women/
1993–Chinese women had put on quite a show at the previous month’s World Championships in Stuttgart, winning gold in the 1500, all 3 medals in the 3000, and gold and silver in the 10,000. But that impressive display still didn’t prepare the track world for what would transpire at the National Games in Beijing.
The first round of this Chinese “Revolution” had taken place five days earlier (9-8) when Wang Zunxia, the winner of the 10k in Stuttgart, ran 29:31.78 to obliterate Ingrid Kristiansen’s 7-year old World Record of 30:13.74 for 10,000-meters.
It continued 3 days later (9-11) when Qu Yunxia, the 3k World Champion, took 2.1-seconds off the WR in the 1500 with her winning time of 3:50.46. Wang Junxia (3:51.92), who came back nicely from her 10k record, was also under the old mark of 3:52.47, which had been set 13 years earlier by the Soviet Union’s Tatyana Kazankina.
Fans were still reeling from this unexpected barrage of record-breaking when things really got strange the following day (9-12), when the existing World Record for 3000-meters (Kazankina’s 8:22.62 from 1984) was broken by two runners in the first heat (Zhang Linli-8:22.06 and Zhang Lirong-8:22.44). But that was nothing compared to the 2nd heat, when the new record was destroyed by Wang Junxia (8:12.19) and Qu Yunxia (8:12.27), with 3rd-placer May Liyan (8:19.78) also getting under the 15-minute old “record”.
Wang Junxia lowered the record yet again on the final day (9-13) when she won the final of the 3000 in 8:06.11, followed by Qu Yunxia (8:12.18), Zhang Linli (8:16.50), Ma Liyan (8:21.26), and Zhang Lirong (8:21.84). Marks from this meet accounted for the five fastest times in history until Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon ran 8:07.04 in 2025.
All were member’s of “Ma’s Army”, named for their controversial coach, Ma Junren, and suspicions of drug-use were widespread throughout the running community. Most of the group never again performed on the world stage (Wang Junxia did win gold in the 5000 and silver in the 10k at the 1996 Olympics, leading to frustration and, in some cases, bitterness, on the part of other runners.
Fom Phil Hersh’s 1995 article(link below):
“It’s a pity they came for one year, crashing all the records, and then we don’t see them again,” said Elana Meyer of South Africa, silver medalist at 10,000 meters in the 1992 Olympics. “Athletes were training to compete against them more frequently.”
“They destroyed any chance of any female human breaking those records in the next 100 years”, said 2-time U.S. Olympian PattiSue Plumer. That was certainly the prevailing wisdom at the time, but the only record still on the books is Wang Junxia’s 8:06.11 for 3000-meters.
Lynn Jennings, the top U.S. woman at 10,000 meters at the time, broke into tears when told that Wang had lowered the 10,000 record by 42 seconds to 29 minutes, 31.78 seconds. “Something is wrong, and it seems tragic for the sport,” Jennings said at the time. “It all seems polluted to me now. It is sordid and awful.”
The Rise and Fall of Ma’s Army
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/sep/07/sydney.sport1
Admission?: telegraph.co.uk/athletics/2016/02/25/athletics-world-records-blow-as-wang-junxia-admits-being-part-of/
1998—Marion Jones was the star of the show at the 3-day World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa. Taking advantage of Jo’burg’s 5’700’ elevation, Jones ran two of the fastest times in history while winning the 200 on the first day of competition (9-11) in 21.62 (At the time: #2 Performer, #3 Performance All-Time, now #5/#11), and then the 100 the following day (9-12) in 10.65 (At the time: #3 Performer, #5 Performance A-T, now =#5/=#11).
Her quest for a 3rd win on the final day (9-13) was thwarted by East Germany’s Heike Drechsler, who beat her in the Long Jump (23-2 ½ [7.07] to 22-11 ¾ [7.00]).
Charles Austin (7-7 [2.31]) won the Men’s High Jump over Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor (7-5 ¾ [2.28])
Medalists: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_IAAF_World_Cup
Results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_IAAF_World_Cup_%E2%80%93_Results
(For Subscribers):
2008—The Czech Republic’s Barbora Špotáková set the current World Record of 237-2 (72.28) in the Javelin in Stuttgart.
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_javelin_throw_world_record_progression
2015—The Women’s race at the 5th Avenue Mile featured a rematch between the two best American milers. Less than 48 hours earlier, Shannon Rowbury and Jenny Simpson had finished 3rd and 4th, respectively, in the 1500-meters at the Diamond League Final in Brussels. Simpson got the upper hand here, edging her longtime rival, the winner here in 2009 and 2010 (4:29.1-4:29.4). It was the 3rd consecutive win in NY for Simpson (4th overall), who would eventually bring her win total to 8!
New Zealand’s Nick Willis (3:54.9), the winner in 2013, broke away from the pack in the final 200-meters, encouraging cheers from the crowd as he went on to win for the 3rd time on NYC’s famed thoroughfare. (He would win again in 2017 & 2019). He was followed across the line by Great Britain’s Chris O’Hare (3:55.9), Norway’s Henrik Ingebrigtsen (3:56.1), and Matthew Centrowitz (3:56.1), the 2012 winner.
Other Notable Finishers:
Men: 6.David Torrence (3:57)…9.Kyle Merber (3:58)…12.Bernard Lagat (4:00)
Women: 3.Susan Kuijken (NED) 4:30.0, 4.Heather Kampf 4:30.3…6.Trenier Moser 4:32…10.Aisha Praught (JAM) 4:35, 11.Alysia Montano 4:36
https://results.nyrr.org/event/FAV-27/finishers
Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6obgSQmbE18
Past Winners: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Avenue_Mile
Born On This Day*
Christine Arron—France 52 (1973) 2003 World Champion—4×100 (silver-1999, bronze-1997)
2004 Olympic bronze medalist—4×100
Bronze medalist in the 100 and 200 at the 2005 World Championships
Set the current European Record of 10.73 for 100-meters at the 1998 European Championships
Made T&F News’ Top-10 World Rankings 8 times in the 100 (#2 in 1998 and 2005)
PBs: 7.06i (2006), 10.73 (1998/#11 All-Time), 22.26 (1999)
10.73: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArMrPomguKk
IAAF: https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/france/christine-
…
