Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected])
This Day in Track & Field–May 28
1927–M.I.T.’s Henry Steinbrenner, whose son George would become the owner of the NY Yankees, won the 220-yard low hurdles at the IC4A Championships in 23.9.
Yale’s Sabin Carr won the 2nd of his three titles in the Pole Vault and became the first man to clear 14-feet (4.27). 15,000 fans attended the meet in Sesquicentennial Stadium (later known as JFK Stadium) in Philadelphia. Stanford (yes, Stanford) won the team title.
(For Subscribers): https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/05/29/106926755.html?pageNumber=102
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_pole_vault_world_record_progression
1955–Hungary’s László Tábori ran 3:59.0 in London, becoming the 3rd member of the sub-4 minute mile club (along with Roger Bannister and John Landy). Also joining the still exclusive (at the time) club were Brits Brian Hewson and Chris Chataway, both of whom were timed in 3:59.8. Chataway was one of the pace-setters a year earlier when Bannister first broke the magical barrier.
Tábori, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 86, was the distance coach at USC for many years and remained active in the sport as an online coach.
His Biography, “Laszlo Tábori – The Legendary Story of the Great Hungarian Runner”, was released in 2012.
https://www.theacorn.com/articles/former-olympic-runner-still-going-strong-at-80/
http://www.amazon.com/Laszlo-Tabori-Legendary-Hungarian-Runner/dp/0985823003
1960–Jim Beatty dealt Dyrol Burleson a double-blow, beating him to win the Mile at the California Relays in Modesto, and taking away his American Record with his winning time of 3:58.0. Burleson, who finished 2nd in 3:59.2, set the previous AR of 3:58.6 just a month earlier.
1960–Villanova edged Penn State, 38 to 37-1/2, to win the IC4A team title on its home track. The top individual winner was Boston University’s John Thomas, who won the High Jump with a clearance of 7-1 ½ (2.17m). Thomas had set a WR of 7-1 3/4 just a week earlier at the New England Collegiate Championships. Tom Murphy (NYAC) won a special AAU 880y in 1:49.7.
Across the country in Seattle, Cal’s Jerry Seibert won the 880y over Stanford’s Ernie Cunliffe (1:49.0 for both) at the Big-5 Championships. Murphy, Seibert, and Cunliffe would comprise the U.S. 800-meter team at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. (From T&F News)
1964—16-year old junior Paul Wilson (Warren,CA) became the first U.S. prep to jump his age in the Pole Vault when he cleared 16’ in Compton, CA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Wilson_(pole_vaulter)
1975–Competing in the professional ITA meet before a sparse crowd at Madison Square Garden, Steve Smith bettered the indoor World Record in the Pole Vault with his clearance of 18’-5”(5.615?). John Smith held off Larry James to win the 440y (47.5-47.7).
http://tinyurl.com/SteveSmithITA75
1977–Competing at one of New Jersey’s Group Championships, Renaldo Nehemiah, a senior at Scotch Plains-Fanwood H.S., won the 120y-hurdles in 13.3 after equaling the National Record of 13.2 in his semi-final race. He also won the 330y-hurdles in 35.8, a National Record for hand-timing (Texas’ Bill Blessing ran an auto-35.87 in 1974). Nehemiah’s performance was just an appetizer for what he would accomplish 2 days later, when he lowered the 120y-hurdles record to 12.9!
1988–Jackie Joyner-Kersee ran 12.61 at the Bruce Jenner/Bud Light Classic in San Jose to equal training partner Gail Devers’ American Record in the 100-meter hurdles.
2016—Meet Records were set at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene by Keni Harrison in the 100-meter Hurdles (12.24/also an American Record), Ruth Jebet in the Women’s Steeplechase (8:59.97), and Faith Kipyegon in the Women’s 1500 (3:56.41). All 3 also set U.S. All-Comers Records. 3rd in the Steeple was Emma Coburn, who ran 9:10.76 to break Jenny Simpson’s American Record of 9:12.50 (2009).
In other highlights, Kirani James (44.22) beat LaShawn Merritt (44.39) in the Men’s 400-Meters, Shaunae Miller won the Women’s 400 in 50.15, and Omar McLeod won the 110-Meter Hurdles in 13.06.
Jebet, Kipyegon, Miller and McLeod all went on to win Olympic gold in Rio later in the season. Not so Harrison, who shockingly didn’t make the U.S. team, but did set a World Record of 12.20 in London in July. In Harrison’s absence, Brianna Rollins (12.53), 2nd here at Pre, did win the gold medal in Rio.
Videos available to subscribers: https://preclassic.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=120&do=videos&year=2016
2016—Georgia sophomore Keturah Orji set a Collegiate Record of 46-10 ¾(14.29) in the Triple Jump at the NCAA East Regional in Jacksonville, Florida. The previous mark of 46-9 (14.25) had been shared by LSU’s Suzette Lee (1997) and Florida’s Kim Williams (2008).
2017—Belgium’s Nafissatou “Nafi” Thiam became the 4th woman to join the 7,000-points club in the Heptathlon with her winning score of 7.013 at the Hypo Meeting in Götzis, Austria.
13.34/-0.7, 6-6(1.98), 47-7 ¼(14.51), 24.40/-1.6, 21-6 ½(6.56/0.8), 194-7(59.32), 2:15.24
“I am really pleased with this weekend,” said Thiam. I enjoyed the amazing conditions. The crowd was very supportive and it was very warm. I was congratulated by my mother Danièle Denisty, who was a combined events athlete when she was younger.”
https://www.iaaf.org/news/report/hypo-meeting-gotzis-2017-warner-thiam
2023—Anna Hall just missed joining the 7000 point club with her winning score of 6988 points in the Heptathlon in Götzis, Austria.
She moves to the #5 and #2 positions, respectively, on the all-time world and US lists. She achieved personal bests in 4 individual events over the 2 days of competition (100-hurdles, High Jump, 200, 800).
5 days later, she ran a personal best of 54.42 while finishing 3rd in the 400-meter hurdles at the Diamond League meeting in Florence, Italy (behind Femke Bol-52.43 and Shamier Little-53.38).
Street Meet in Piedmont Park
May 18, 2024, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, photo by Kevin Morris
“I’m very happy with the score,” said a delighted Hall, who made a big breakthrough in 2022 to earn the bronze medal at the World Championships in Eugene. “It’s incredible. The crowd carried me through. It’s a dream. I am just 22 and I have time for a score over 7000 points. I am now focused on progressing”.
(12.75, 6-3 1⁄2/1.92, 45-7 1⁄4/13.90, 22.88 [4172–1], 21-5 1⁄2/6.54, 141-4/43.08, 2:02.97 [2816]);
Results: https://www.watchathletics.com/page/4089/results-hypomeeting-gotzis-2023
All-Time List
7291 Jackie Joyner-Kersee (US) 9/24/88
7032 Carolina Klüft (Sweden) 8/26/07
7013 Nafi Thiam (Belgium) 5/28/17
7007 Larisa Nikitina (Soviet Union) 6/11/89
6988 Anna Hall (US) 5/28/23
Born On This Day
Kyle Garland 25 (2000) Georgia Bulldog set a Collegiate Record of 8720 points while finishing 2nd at the 2022 U.S. Combined Events
Championship. Qualified for the World Championships in Eugene, where he finished 11th. That’s still his personal best.
Marks:10.63, 25-9 ½(7.86), 53-11 ¼(16.44), 7-1(2.16), 49.04, 13.71, 151-5(46.16), 15-11(4.85), 195-7(59.63), 4:43.21
2025 U.S. Indoor Champion-Heptathlon
2023: 2nd at the NCAA Championships, 4th at the U.S. Championships…DNF at the World Championships
2023 NCAA Indoor Champion-Heptathlon (2nd in 2021 & 2022)
6th at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials…an ankle injury forced him to withdraw from the 2024 Trials after 7 events
2018 U.S. Junior Champion-Decathlon
PBs: 6639i (2023), 8720 (2022); 2024 SB: 8261; 2025 SB: 6139i
https://georgiadogs.com/sports/track-and-field/roster/kyle-garland/5856
Wendy Koenig-Knudson 70 (1955) became the first woman to break 60-seconds for the 400-meter hurdles, running 59.08
in Phoenix in 1973. She was a 2-time U.S. Olympian at 800-meters (1972,1976);
1973 U.S. Champion—880y; 1979 U.S. Indoor Champion—880y; PB-1:59.91m (1976)
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/77891
https://csurams.com/honors/colorado-state-athletics-hall-of-fame/wendy-koenig/142
Deceased
Jim Thorpe 65 (1887-March 28, 1953) 1912 Olympic Champion—Pentathlon, Decathlon
At the awards ceremony for the Decathlon, Sweden’s King Gustav is reported to have told Thorpe, “You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world”. To which Thorpe reportedly replied, “Thanks, King”. Thorpe was later stripped of his titles and medals after being declared a “professional” for accepting money for playing baseball, but he was reinstated by the International Olympic Committee in 1983.
After his reinstatement, Thorpe was listed by the IOC as the “co-champion” in both events, but he is now listed as the sole champion.
Native American (Sac and Fox Nation) attended the Carlisle School in Pennsylvania and also excelled in football, baseball, and basketball.
Feature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11YlrnUE-9I
LINKS: http://home.epix.net/~landis/thorpe.html
http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00016499.html
HOF Bio: https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/jim-thorpe
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/79125
Decathlon Report: https://www.olympedia.org/results/56970
Pentathlon Report: https://www.olympedia.org/results/57014
(you can find many more sites by Googling “Jim Thorpe”.
Yvonne Chabot-Cortet-France 104 (1920-February 21, 2025) 2-time Olympian—Long Jump (1948-8th, 1952-23rd)
104 at the time of her death, it was believed that she had been the oldest living Olympian in any sport.
The story linked below explains how difficult it is to track the fate of those Olympians born before 1920!)
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/67921
https://olympstats.com/2023/04/11/older-than-yvonne-chabot-curtet/
