by Larry Eder
Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected])
This Day in Track & Field/X-Country–November 28
1956–Cordner Nelson wrote in Track & Field News, “This was the greatest high hurdle race ever run–perhaps the greatest footrace of all time”. He was referring to the 110-meter Hurdles final at the Melbourne Olympics, where Lee Calhoun just nipped fellow American Jack Davis to win the gold medal by a scant .03s (13.70-13.73/13.5 hand-time for both). The times were impressive, since they ran on a soft track into a strong headwind (-1.9). Joel Shankle (14.1) finished 3rd to complete a U.S. sweep.
There was no clear-cut favorite heading into the Games. Davis, who also finished a close 2nd to Harrison Dillard at the 1952 Olympics, had set the World Record of 13.4 in his heat at the AAU Championships, but was only 3rd in the final, which was won by newcomer Calhoun, the NCAA Champion from North Carolina Central. The two, both masters of the finish lean, ran to a dead-heat at the U.S. Olympic Trials, while Davis had run a non-ratified “world record” of 13.3 to beat Calhoun (13.5) in a pre-Olympic race in Australia.
After serving a suspension in 1958 for receiving gifts on the TV game show “Bride and Groom”(!), Calhoun, using another super lean, went on to win his 2nd Olympic gold medal at the 1960 Games in Rome. Both Calhoun and Davis were destined to become Hall-of-Famers.
Since he had set the last nine official World Records in the event, it was no surprise when Parry O’Brien, who had perfected the relatively new “glide” technique that bore his name, won his 2nd straight Olympic gold medal in the Men’s Shot Put. All of O’Brien’s six marks (a best of 60-11 ¼ [18.57]) were better than silver medalist Bill Nieder’s best put of 59-7 ¾ (18.18). A hoped-for U.S. sweep was not to be after Czech Jiří Skobla edged NCAA Champion Ken Bantum (Manhattan) in the final round to take the bronze medal (57-11 [17.65]-57-4 ¼ [17.48]). Nieder would spoil O’Brien’s quest for a three-peat 4 years later by beating him for the gold medal at the Rome Olympics. Nieder joined O’Brien in 2006 as a member of the Hall-of-Fame.
Australian fans got another thrill when their own Shirley Strickland won her 2nd straight Olympic gold medal in the 80-Meter Hurdles, setting an Olympic Record of 10.7 in the process. Teammate Norma Thrower (11.0) won the bronze behind Germany’s Gisela Köhler (10.9). Including the gold medal she would later win in the 4×100 relay, Strickland won a total of 7 medals in her 3 Olympic appearances (1948-1956). A statue of her in full sprint mode stands outside the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, the site of the 1956 Games. She also participated in the Torch relay at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
Five days after demoralizing the field while winning the 10,000-meters, the Soviet Union’s (and Ukraine’s) Vladimir Kuts did the same in the 5,000, winning by 11 seconds over Great Britain’s Gordon Pirie (13:39.6/OR-13:50.6). Pirie had beaten Kuts in June when he set the World Record of 13:36.8. Winning the bronze medal was Pirie’s teammate, Derek Ibbotson (13:54.4).
Bill Dellinger, the NCAA Champion from Oregon, had high hopes coming into the Games after setting his 3rd American Record of the year (14:16.2) in L.A. on November 1, but dropped out with less than 3 laps to go in the final. He would come back to the Olympics 8 years later to win a bronze medal in the 5000 in Tokyo.
The Soviet trio of Leonid Spirin (Russia), Antanas Mikėnas (Lithuania), and Bruno Junk (Estonia) swept the medals in the first 20-kilometer Walk, which replaced the 10k event. The top American was future Hall-of-Famer Henry Laskau, who finished 12th, while teammates Bruce MacDonald and James Hewson placed 16th and 17th, respectively.
Soviet Ineze Jaunzeme (Latvia) set an Olympic Record of 176-8 (53.86) to win the gold medal in the Women’s Javelin and teammate Nadezhda Konyayeva (Russia) won the bronze with a toss of 164-11 (50.28). Silver medalist Marlene Ahrens 165-3 (50.38) remains the only athlete from Chile to win an Olympic medal in track and field.
Olympedia Reports: https://www.olympedia.org/editions/14/sports/ATH
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1956_Summer_Olympics
Trials dead-heat(110h): www.sportsartifacts.com/othtf22.JPG;
Strickland: https://www.athletics.com.au/hall-of-fame-directory/shirley-strickland/
Wikipedia(statue)–http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Strickland
Hall-of-Fame Bios: Davis Laskau Dellinger Nieder Calhoun O’Brien
X-Country
1937—Don Lash (32:57.4) won the 4th of his 7 consecutive U.S. titles on a muddy course in Branch Brook Park in Newark, New Jersey.
Other Notable Finishers(10k): 2.Tom Deckard, 3.Lou Gregory…30.George Sheehan
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/11/29/94467697.html?pageNumber=28
Deckard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Deckard
1940— Lash won his record 7th straight U.S. XC title in Detroit. Fellow Hall-of-Famer Greg Rice was a distant 2nd. Lash’s record would last until Pat Porter won his 8th straight title in 1989. Rice won the first NCAA title in 1938 while at Notre Dame.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1940/11/29/94017206.html?pageNumber=32
1949–Rhode Island senior Robert Black won the NCAA title for the 2nd year in a row. 2nd was Wisconsin’s Don Gehrmann, who had finished 7th in the 1500-meters at the previous year’s Olympics in London. Gehrmann, a 4-time winner of the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games, would win his 3rd NCAA 1500/mile title in 1950. Black had earlier won his 4th consecutive New England Championship (still the only man to do so). Host Michigan State (59) won its 2nd straight team title (3rd overall) over Syracuse (81) and Manhattan (86).
Finishing 23rd was Syracuse junior Jack Warner, who would become one of the most successful college coaches in the U.S. He began his coaching career at Kansas, then moved on to Colgate and eventually Cornell, where he coached for 23 years before “retiring” in 1990. He returned to the coaching ranks in 1995 when he took over the program at Div.III’s William Smith College in upstate New York. He retired for the 2nd time after the 2012 XC season. He was inducted into the USTFCCCAA Coaches Hall of Fame in 2005.
Results:
https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/1949-men.pdf
(18 teams, 131 finishers)
Other Notable Finishers-20.Herb Semper (Kansas-1950 and 1951 champion, 35.Jack “The Saint” St.Clair (Penn State–coached at Temple from 1967-1983/designed the Belmont Plateau course in Philadelphia)
Gary Cohen’s Interview (March-2011): http://www.garycohenrunning.com/Interviews/Gehrmann.aspx
Warner: http://www.hwsathletics.com/coaches.aspx?rc=373&path=wcross
USTFCCCA HOF:
St.Clair Honored(2017):
1955–Iowa’s Charles “Deacon” Jones edged fellow sophomore Henry Kennedy of Michigan State by one-tenth of a second to win the NCAA title (19:57.4-19:57.5 [4-miles]). Jones was a 2-time Olympic finalist (9th-1956, 7th-1960) and 2-time U.S. Champion in the Steeplechase. Kennedy, who led the Spartans to the team title, was also a steepler, winning the 1956 NCAA title.
Two future coaching legends were among the other finishers. 12th was Notre Dame’s Bill Squires, who includes Bill Rodgers, a young Alberto Salazar, and Dick Beardsley among his former pupils. Rodgers was among his many friends who helped Squires, who was inducted into the National Hall of Fame in 2017, celebrate his 85th birthday.
Arthur Lydiard had this to say in his intro in Squires’ book, “Speed With Endurance”, “Once Americans ruled the world of marathoning. That’s when Bill Squires was coaching a group of runners in the Boston area. His group was what the Kenyans are today – totally dominating races around the country. Coach Squires is undoubtedly one of the greatest marathon coaches the US has ever seen and indeed one of the best in the world. I am glad to see that he has made his know-how available now in this book. I fully endorse his work and hope this would help revive the American distance running for many years to come.”
Ed Mather finished 28th for St.Joseph’s and went on to a highly successful coaching career at Bernards H.S. in New Jersey. One of his assistants was Mark Wetmore, who became a pretty good coach of his own at Colorado.
Results
https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/1955-men.pdf
(9 teams, 81 finishers)
Other Notable Finishers–9.Max Truex (USC)
Squires
HOF Bio: https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/bill-squires
(Runner’s World-April, 2011):
http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/squires-boston-and-zoopy-zoopy
Carrie Tollefson Interviews Squires: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjrILEaY6Fw
Happy 80th:
www.runnersworld.com/races-places/a20837490/coaching-legend-squires-honored-on-80th-birthday/
http://tonireavis.com/2012/11/21/celebrating-coach-squires-at-80/
And Happy 85th(slideshow/2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVmWq0Mc4RQ
Speed With Endurance
http://www.amazon.com/Speed-With-Endurance-Bill-Squires/dp/0977250504
Review: http://www.runnersworld.com/books/book-review-speed-endurance
1964–Canadian Dave Ellis was a runaway winner at the U.S. X-Country Championships in Chicago. Finishing 8th was Irish immigrant John McDonnell, who had just arrived in the U.S. a year earlier.
After serving some time as the centerfield TV cameraman for the NY Mets (thanks to fellow NYAC member Roone Arledge), McDonnell competed collegiately for Southwestern Louisiana before embarking on a Hall-of-Fame coaching career at the University of Arkansas.
Winner at the first U.S. Women’s Championships in Seattle was 14-year old Marie Mulder.
McDonnell Bio: http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=3085
Hall of Fame Bio(2005): https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/john-mcdonnell
Sports Illustrated Vault(Mulder)
https://vault.si.com/vault/1965/05/10/this-is-the-way-the-girls-go
1970-Three days after winning the U.S. T&F Federation (USTFF) title at Penn State, long-haired and mustachioed Frank Shorter, not yet the legend he would become, won the first of his four straight U.S. National XC titles on a muddy course in Chicago’s Washington Park. A distant 2nd was his Florida Track Club teammate, 6′-7” Jack Bacheler (defending champion), but the team title went to the Pacific Coast Club (37-40).
Other Notable Finishers:3.Don Kardong, 4.Steve Stageberg,, 5.John Mason, 6.Sam Bair, 7.Keith Colburn, 12.Tom Donnelly, 13.Mark Conover.
The Women’s championship (2-miles) was held on the same day in St.Louis, with Doris Brown winning the 4th of her 5 U.S. titles.
Sports Illustrated Cover(Shorter’s Emergence):
https://vault.si.com/vault/1970/12/07/its-only-a-transitory-analogy
1981–Few people knew the name Adrian Royle before the start of the race, but fans quickly became familiar with the native of Manchester, England, after he upset Alberto Salazar to win the U.S.
X-Country title over a muddy course in Burbank, CA. Julie Brown won her 2nd Women’s title (5k).
Sports Illustrated Vault: The Battle Went to Royle
Pat Butcher caught up with Royle, now an active photographer in the sport, in December, 2017:
https://thepatbutcher.wordpress.com/2017/12/17/shooting-star/
1982-There were surprise winners in both races at the U.S. X-Country Championships at the Meadowlands in New Jersey.
The Pat Porter era began in the Men’s race, as the 2-time NAIA Champion (1980,1981) while at Adams State won the first of his record 8-straight U.S. titles.
Running on a custom-made 10k course (that included man-made hills and hay bales) on the grounds of the Meadowlands’ thoroughbred racing track, Porter (28:50) ran away from Great Britain’s Mark Scrutton (29:07), the recent NCAA Champion from the University of Colorado. Trailing Scrutton were Jim Hill, Larry Cuzzort, and Nick Rose, the 1977 champion.
Finishing back in the pack was Eamonn Coghlan (108th), who had better luck on the Meadowlands 10-lap indoor track when he returned three months later and set a World Record of 3:49.78 for the mile!
19-year old sophomore Lesley Welch (Lehane), the NCAA champion who had led Virginia to its 2nd straight team title just six days earlier, won the women’s 5k race in 15:52 over a field that included previous champions Jan Merrill (2nd-16:10, 1976-1977), Julie Brown (3rd, 1978,1981), and Margaret Groos (5th,1979), as well as future Olympic marathon champion Joan Benoit (4th). Topping the day for Virginia coach Martin Smith was seeing his team beat Athletics West to win its 2nd National team title in less than a week.
Said Welch after beating many of the sport’s elite runners, “Funny, I always knew that someday I’d be running up with them, but I never knew when.”
AW won the Men’s team title, but the outcome might have been different if the powerful collegiate team from UTEP had been paying better attention to the time schedule!
The Miners were on hand for the race, but thought there were going to be two sections, with the slower one going first. Some of the runners on the team tried to catch the field when they realized their mistake (some 40 seconds into the race), but only Zakarie Barie, who had finished 2nd to Scrutton at the NCAA Championships (and would win in 1983), made any progress, finishing 20th.
The event was considered a dress rehearsal for the 1984 World Cross Country Championships, which had been awarded to the U.S. after a successful bid by the New York Road Runners and its visionary leader, Fred Lebow.
http://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/29/sports/porter-is-surprise-cross-country-victor.html
Sports Illustrated Vault: http://www.si.com/vault/1982/12/06/625721/it-was-over-hill-over-bale
Building the Hills: http://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/11/sports/scouting-the-jersey-hills.html
1987-X-Country legends Pat Porter and Lynn Jennings were at different stages of their record-setting careers after their wins at the U.S. Championships at NY’s Van Cortlandt Park.
For Porter, who held off a brief challenge from North Carolina senior James Farmer (30:01), it was the 6th of his 8 straight U.S. titles. He became the first man to break 30-minutes on the challenging 10k-course with his winning time of 29:58.
By comparison, this was “only” the 2nd title for Jennings, who would go on to win a total of 9 U.S. Championships. After running with Athletics West teammate Nan (Doak) Davis (19:47) for much of the race, Jennings (19:35/6k) pulled away comfortably to win by more than 50-meters. She would win 3 straight World X-Country titles during her reign as “Queen of the Hills”. (From T&F News)
Other notable finishers
Men: 8.Bob Kempainen, 10.Marcus O’Sullivan, 12.Reuben Reina, 14.Chris Fox
Women:3.Kathy Hayes, 4.Sabrina Dornhoefer, 5.Sylvia Mosqueda, 11.Margaret Groos
NY Times Coverage Jennings: https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/lynn-jennings
Porter(Wiki Bio): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Porter
1992-Running in wintry conditions on a muddy course at the U.S. Championships in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Lynn Jennings raised her win total to 7 and Bob Kennedy added a U.S. title to the 2nd NCAA crown he had won earlier in the week.
While Jennings had little trouble winning for the 6th year in a row, Kennedy had to come from behind in the last 30 meters to pass Todd Williams for the win in the Men’s race. Williams, the defending champion, thought he had the race in hand after his late pass of the front-running Pat Porter, who in turn thought he was on his way to his 9th U.S. title! (From T&F News)
Other notable finishers
Men:4.Mark Coogan (29:51), 5.Aaron Ramirez, 6.Bob Kempainen, 7.Tim Hacker, 8.Matt Giusto, 16.Joe Falcon.
Women:2.Gwyn Coogan (20:43), 3.Gina Procaccio (20:46), 6.Lesley Lehane, 10.Laurie Gomez-Henes, 11.Anne Marie Letko, 19.Fran ten Bensel, 20.Kathy Franey, 21.Alisa Hill
Kennedy and Williams were at the forefront of a resurgence in American distance running in the 1990s.
A Look Back
http://www.runnersworld.com/running-times-info/bob-kennedy-and-todd-williams-look-back
Born On This Day*
Yuliya Levchenko—Ukraine 28 (1997) Silver medalist in the High Jump at the 2017 World Championships
Other Global Placings:
OG: 2016 (qual. round), 2021 (8th), 2024 (qual.-NH)
WC: 2015 (qual.), 2019 (4th), 2023 (qual.), 2025 (=5th)
WIC:2018 (5th), 2024 (9th)
2-time European Under-23 Champion–2017, 2019
PB: 6-7 ½ (2.02/2019)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuliya_Levchenko
https://worldathletics.org/athletes/ukraine/yuliya-levchenko-14594836
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nUVxTq4b9C0
Sonia O’Sullivan-Ireland 56 (1969) 1995 World Champion-5000m—set a Championship Record
of 14:46.47
2000 Olympic silver medalist-5000m (1992-4th/3000, 2000-6th/10,000)
3-time European Champion—1994 (3000), 1998 (5000, 10,000)
2-time World X-Country Champion (1998/Short-Long)
Current(*) or Former Irish Record holder-1500-3:58.85 (’95), Mile-4:17.25 (’94), 2000*-5:25.36
(’94/also World Record at the time), 3000*-8:21.64 (’93), 2-miles*-9:19.56 (’98), 5000*-
14:41.02 (’00), 10,000*-30:47.59 (’02)
5-time NCAA Champion while at Villanova1990 (3000,XC), 1991-3000,5000i,XC)
Winner of six Penn Relays watches-1989 (DMR), 1990 (4×800,4×1500,DMR),
1991 (4×800,DMR).
Life-size statue was placed in her hometown of Cobh, Ireland
Currently a coach with the Union A.C. in Portland, Oregon
Husband is agent Nic Bideau. Daughter Sophie was the 2025 NCAA Champion at 1500 meters (U.Wash.)
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonia_O’Sullivan
https://www.ussportscamps.com/track-field/nike/union-athletics-club-nike-running-camp
Life in the U.S.: https://www.corkbeo.ie/sport/inside-sonia-osullivans-family-life-29702393
1995 WC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC__KsZDiZk
http://www.the42.ie/sonia-osullivan-statue-2342445-Sep2015/
On Transgender Athletes (2022)
Kriss Akabusi-Great Britain 67 (1958) Bronze medalist in the 400m-Hurdles at the 1991 World
Championships and 1992 Olympics….Worlds: 1987-7th, OG: 1988-6th
1991 World Champion-4×400…ran down Antonio Pettigrew on the anchor leg to give Great
Britain the upset win over the U.S.
1984 Olympic silver medalist-4×400 (bronze-1992)
PBs: 44.93 (1988), 47.82 (1992/British Record)
1991 WC-4×400: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkLSnPkqIrs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriss_Akabusi
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/68833
https://www.olympic.org/news/kriss-akabusi-on-the-olympic-medal-that-changed-his-life
Paul Warfield 83 (1942) All-American at Ohio State (Long Jump)-NCAA-1962(2nd), 1963(3rd)
Member of the NFL Hall of Fame
Wide receiver played on 3 Super Bowl Champion teams with the Miami Dolphins
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Warfield
http://www.profootballhof.com/players/paul-warfield/biography/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nM_kd8T-98
Deceased
Nadezhda Olizarenko-Ukraine 63 (1953-Feb.17, 2017) 1980 Olympic gold medalist-800m (bronze-1500)
Set two World Records in 1980-1:54.85, 1:53.43(#2 All-Time)
Olympic Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNrSmLjQdBE
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/77266
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadezhda_Olizarenko
https://worldathletics.org/athletes/russia/nadezhda-olizarenko-14352102
