I'm sure you're going to enjoy this read thanks to our friend Roy Mason of Ukiah, CA.
The pictures I've inserted into this article were purloined from the official program of that meet. I'm interspersing a few other pages from the program to add to the background. I've included an ad from Jantzen swimming suits just to show the way companies were involved but also how they kept a separation between the money and the athlete. Even the two models in the ad are presented as 'member', the male, and 'non member' , the female, just a female to gawk at of the Jantzen International Sports Club. The sexism in the copy is almost hilarious. Pictures of the USOC officials are thrown in to remind you of who were the kingpins and powerbrokers of the day. I've also included some commentary from Ernie Cunliffe regarding his experience during and after the 800 meters.
GB
July 1 & 2 find us among 108,000 spectators who witness the two day Olympic Trials in mid-70 degree weather at Stanford Stadium. Four world records are broken and so are several dozen hearts. The top three finishers are on the team. Place fourth and you are watching the games on TV.
Friday evening there are 46,000 in attendance. The record breaking starts in high jump. Nineteen year old John Thomas establishes himself as an overwhelming favorite in Rome, adding an inch and three quarters to the world record he established last week. Though he passed at 6-11, by the time the other jumpers have finished at that height, he is on the team. So are Olympic champ Charlie Dumas (6-11) and 18 year old Oxy freshman Joe Faust who clears 7-0 for the first time. Thomas jumps 7-0 and 7-1 routinely. Now all eyes are on him because he is attempting 7-2½, an outdoor WR. He clears easily. The bar is now at a heretofore never contemplated 7-3¾. The stadium rocks as he clears on his first attempt. He takes three jumps at 7-4½, coming close enough on his last attempt to make this height a possibility in the near future. Our team for Rome is the defending Olympic champion and two remarkably talented teenagers.
As is so often the case, the hammer throwers are the bastard children of US track and field, being relegated to a field outside the stadium where only 2500 view the event. The US hammer throwers in Rome assuredly will be Olympic champion and WR holder Hal Connolly and his veteran rival, Al Hall. The question is who will join them. Connolly's back is bothering him, but not enough to keep him off the team. He throws 212-3½, but has to settle for second behind Hall's 214-7. Bill McWilliams throws 201-8, but trails Ed Bagdonas' 205-11 with three throws left. No rags to riches upset story here. No one improves in the last three rounds and Bagdonas is on the team. “Hall, a chicken disease inspector, said, 'I'm far from my best. I think I can exceed 225, maybe 230. Now that I know I'm in, I can concentrate on the big one. After that, back to the chickens.'”
The 5000 appeared to be a lock for Jim Beatty and Bill Dellinger and they run like they know it. Time is not a factor as they both have made the qualifying mark of 14:10. Last week Dellinger was given the win when they tried to tie. This time Beatty is having none of that. He pulls away in the last 50 yards to win by two tenths in 14:13.6. Max Truex, already on the team after last week's 10,000, drops back after two miles. Bob Soth closes on the leaders, but at the three mile mark they have a gear he lacks. He finishes in 14:18.6. If he meets the qualifying standard by August, he is on the team. If not, Truex who has the standard, could be added at this distance.
As with the hammer and the 5000, there are two heavy favorites in the javelin, Al Cantello and Bill Alley. The 5-7½, 165 Cantello is dwarfed by Alley who is 6-3 and 223. Fortunately for the Marine lieutenant they are throwing spears, not wrestling. Alley, troubled by fouls last week, says he can throw 250-255 with five steps. And so he does and indeed he can and then some. The point lands 269-7½ down the field. Cantello, a more controlled thrower, has no fear of fouling. He answers with 277-7. The first two spots on the team are nailed down.
“Now it was Bill's turn to let loose with all he had and he roared down the runway. But he was too fast. Unable to control his speed as he went into his cross step, he hooked the heel spikes into his calf and tumbled to the ground. With three deep spike wounds and a wrenched back to boot, Alley was through for the day. Or so the doctors said. Bill averred that, 'I won't be beaten', had a trainer pop his back into place, had his leg bandaged, changed to football cleats and returned to the wars.”
With his spot on the team assured, Cantello throws 266-10 and a lackluster 216 and calls it a day. Alley throws 266-4, then a slip of 223-10 and 262-9½. All eyes are on him as he comes down the runway for his final attempt. The crowd gasps as the spear rises, rises, rises and begins its downward decent. Indeed this is the best throw of the competition, well past the 280 mark. Unfortunately in surpassing 280, Alley has also surpassed the foul line. Foul or not, the officials measure the throw at 282-3.
Bill can't be too unhappy with the day's results. He is on the team and so is his surprising Kansas teammate, Terry Beucher, who throws 255-11 to keep John From and his 249-5 from taking a seat on the plane to Rome. Rafer Johnson, already on the team in the decathlon, keeps his hand in by throwing 240-0 to finish seventh.
It is a changing of the guard in the broad jump. Ralph Boston dominates and Olympic champion Greg Bell misses the team by an inch and a half. The king is dead. Long live the king! And it is a performance fitting of royalty that Boston puts on. He has three jumps over 26 feet, albeit one wind aided, the first time this has been done. His 26-6½w wins it, but his legal 26-4¼ gives indication that Jesse Owen's 25 year old record of 26-8 may be coming to an end.
The surprise of the meet is 19 year old Oklahoma freshman Anthony Watson who explodes a 25-9¼ leap to place second. He was virtually unknown on the national scene until last week's AAU meet where he placed third at 24- ¾. The third spot on the team goes to Bo Roberson who jumps 25-5¼ in the third round. He injures himself on his next jump and has to sweat out challenges from Bell (25-4) and Darrell Horn (25-3). Cordner Nelson, once again unable to avoid a reference to race, writes, “The US will be more than ably represent by an all-Negro trio that bears the unmistakable stamp of greatness.”
On the track, we have heats and finals in the 100 and 400H. Ray Norton wins the first heat in 10.4 with Bill Woodhouse, Frank Budd and Dave Sime qualifying. Charlie Tidwell equals Norton's time in the second heat. Willie White, Paul Winder and Tom Fuller make the final. Forty-five minutes later the Norton – Tidwell dual is to be settled. Frank Budd is the first out of the blocks, but Winder powers to the lead halfway through. Here come Norton and Tidwell. No, Tidwell pulls! Just that quickly he is out of the 100, the 200 and the Olympics. Norton takes the lead at 70 meters and pulls away for a narrow win. The surprising Budd gets second. The all important third is less clear. After a terrible start, Sime has rallied. He and Winder are given a tie for third. How this will be decided is not mentioned. The 400 relay is solace for whomever doesn't run the 100. The first four are clocked in 10.4.
The 400 intermediates have five of the six fastest hurdlers in history. Cordner Nelson calls it “the classiest field in the meet”. Indeed it is. Some very good hurdlers will be left at home. The heats are run at 6:00 and the final at 7:30. There will be seven qualifiers, the first three and the fastest fourth. The first heat is loaded: Olympic champion Glenn Davis (49.6), Don Styron (49.8), Josh Culbreath (50.2) and Cliff Cushman (50.8). Davis wins in 50.5. Cushman is second in 50.7, the same time as Styron, who catches Culbreath (50.8) in the last ten meters. Now Culbreath has to sweat out the second heat to see if he is the fastest fourth.
The second heat isn't nearly as tough. Only Dickie Howard (49.8) has broken 51 this year. After a year of struggles, Eddie Southern appears to be back. He wins in 50.6. Rex Cawley and Howard qualify at 51.1. Fran Washington's 51.6 assures Culbreath's place in the final.
Lane assignments for the final are from the inside out, Davis, Cawley, Southern, Styron, Culbreath, Howard and Cushman. Why is lane one being used? Why have only seven qualifiers if eight lanes are available? The 100 and 110HH have eight in a race, but the 200, 400 and 400IH and 800 (run in lanes for the first turn) have only seven. It is my guess that the Stanford track has an eight lane straight, but only seven lanes on the curve.
Southern leads over the first hurdle. He is matched by Cushman on the second. Culbreath catches them by the third. Midway Howard appears to have step problems and Davis is moving up. By the seventh hurdle, the field is bunched, save for Cawley “who appears out of it”. Southern holds a slight lead over the eighth hurdle, but Davis is cranking up the finishing power no one else has. Gradually he pulls away in the straight. The last two spots on the team are up for grabs over the last hurdle. Southern “runs into grief” as Howard and Cushman go by on his right side. They are given a tie for second, which is later reversed, giving Howard second and Cushman third. Davis' winning time is 49.5. Though the judges originally couldn't separate them, the timers can. Howard is given 49.8 and Cushman 49.9. Southern's 49.9 fourth only serves to make him the fastest hurdler in the world who will be watching the Olympics. Culbreath (50.2), Styron (50.3) and Cawley (50.6) complete the field in the fastest intermediate hurdle race in history. Only Gert Potgeiter of South Africa and the five men that beat him today have run faster than Styron. A measure of how good this race was is reflected by the fact that these are the fastest 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th place times ever.
Never has there been more interest in a shot put competition than there is for today's. The four best shot putters in history will compete for three spots on the Olympic team. Although they have competed extensively this year, all four have not been in the same meet. Actually, the showdown among the four almost doesn't happen. As the competition starts Dave Davis is missing. Cordner Nelson writes, “Finding himself 45 miles north of the stadium with the meet about to begin, big Dave hired a seaplane for $18, was flown to the Palo Alto yacht harbor and conned a city employee into driving him to the stadium while he changed into his working clothes. Arriving with the first two rounds almost over, Davis was permitted to put last. Without warmup, he qualified for the final three puts.” Finding himself?....Like it was an accident? We only have to go back a couple issues to the Coliseum Relays he missed because he had “quit school and disappeared” or another meet in which he didn't throw well because “he was weak from eating milk and cookies for four days”. This guy is a train wreck going somewhere to happen.
Twenty year old Dallas Long pretty much can be fitted for his USA uniform after his first put, a prodigious 63-3¾. Two time Olympic champion Parry O'Brien opens with an effort exactly one foot less. Big Bill Nieder is injured. He is “taped on his hurt right leg from below the knee to the groin”. He opens at 59-11¾, but improves to 61-9¾ on his second effort and sits in third place. One can only imagine that he isn't too happy to see Davis show up at this point. The best Davis can do, sans warm up, is 58-11½ , but it is more than enough to make the finals.
On his first throw in the finals Davis goes 62-3½ and now the pressure is on Nieder. He responds with his best effort of the day, over 63', but he has fouled and the official's red flag is waving.
None of the Big Four improve in the last two rounds. Indeed Nieder doesn't surpass 60'. The US shot put team for Rome is has a USC tinge. O'Brien is a graduate, Long, a student and Davis, well, he used to go there. It should be noted that while not realistically in the running for the Olympic team, Stanford's Jerry Winters comes within ¾ inch of the magic 60 foot mark. Davis, Nieder and Winters are the authors of the best ever 3rd, 4th and 5th place finishes, a fact that probably provides little consolation for Nieder.
Two 800 heats are held on Friday evening. First three and the fastest fourth qualify for tomorrow's final. In the first, Tom Murphy and Jerry Siebert go 1-2 in 1:48.8 and 1:49.1. Bob Tague of Kansas edges Ted Nelson for third, 1:49.3 for both. Now Nelson has to wait out the second heat to see if he will qualify. Among the eliminated are last week's AAU champ Jim Cerveney.
The second heat is a classic. As we have come to expect, hometown favorite Ernie Cunliffe takes the lead, this time with a blistering 51.8 opening go around two yards ahead of Lee Martin. Art Evans, Jim Dupree, Lew Merriman and Jim Stack are running more judiciously. Ernie continues to put the pedal to the metal, opening up 10 yards on the backstretch. “But by the 600 point Cunliffe no longer was going away. Stack of Yale bolted up on the outside to take second place, some eight yards behind the flying leader. Around the final turn the small but eager pack closed in on Ernie and as they headed for the tape all but Martin, now five yards back, were with Cunliffe. Stack had moved onto Cunliffe's shoulder, Evans was third, Dupree was coming up on Evans' side and Merriman was a bunched fifth.
“The finish was a dilly. Cunliffe and Stack battled it out for about 30 yards before the local boy regained a slight lead. Then Dupree, New Mexico's 24 year old freshman, powered up on the outside. And Merriman came with him. Stack refused to quit, while Evans, a 142 pound Manhattanite, challenged bravely. Truly a blanket could have covered the quintet.” Dupree wins in 1:47.7 with Cunliffe and Merriman tied for second at 1:47.8. Stack clocks the same time and takes the spot in the finals reserved for the fastest fourth. Evans' 1:47.9, a time that would have won the first heat easily, only earns him the distinction of being the fastest 800 meter runner watching tomorrow's final.
A crowd of 62,000 is in attendance on a beautiful Northern California Saturday afternoon. There are no surprises in the two 110HH heats. Lee Calhoun and Hayes Jones win routinely in 13.8 and 13.9. The final is held an hour later. As is his want, Jones is out of the blocks first, but Calhoun is on fire, catching the Eastern Michigan flyer at the second hurdle and slowly pulling away....one foot...two feet.....three feet.....four feet at the tape. Moving up on Jones is Willie May who catches the Eastern Michigan whiz on the tenth hurdle and leans to take second. Calhoun clocks 13.4 with May and Jones at 13.5, a PR for May. There is no agony of defeat for fourth placer Chuck Cobb. He runs 14.2 and can say he was beaten by the fastest three finishers in one race.
The HSJ competition begins at 2:00. National record holder Ira Davis sends a message when he leaps 53-1 on his first jump and adds a quarter inch to that on his second. Bill Sharpe, the fourth place finisher in Melbourne, and more recently, a Philadelphia motorcycle cop, pops a 51-9¾w to move into second after two rounds. The battle for third is dramatic. Al Andrews and Kent Floerke have jumps of 51-1½, but Andrews' second best mark has him ready for a plane flight to Rome. But, wait a minute, Herman Stokes is coming down the runway on his last attempt......and, boom, he nails it. His clutch 51-11w gives him second place and keeps Andrews at home. Davis, Stokes and Sharpe are on the plane. Davis is the third and last winner from the '56 trials to repeat, joining Glenn Davis and Hal Connolly.
Also starting at 2:00 is the discus. Through two rounds Olympic champ Al Oerter leads at 186-11 with long time rival Rink Babka second at 184-4. Jay Silvester is sitting in third at 181-2. In the third round and facing elimination from the finals, NCAA champ Dick Cochran throws 179-8 to eliminate three time Olympian Fortune Gordien and earn three more throws. He is the only one to improve. The fourth round passes and again Cochran is the only thrower to improve, this time to 180-6, now eight inches behind Sylvester. The fifth round reverses that. Cochran moves into third at 181-11 and Sylvester fouls. This round provides another reversal as well. Babka explodes for a 192-3½ to take the lead. Oerter answers with a 188-3, but now is in second. No one improves on the sixth round and when Sylvester fouls on his final throw, Cochran is on the team. Babka and Oerter will battle again in Italy. Babka's victory is a popular one. The big guy (267 pounds) went to Palo Alto High right across the street and his family walked to the meet from their home a few blocks away.
With Charlie Tidwell injured and Ted Woods and Willie Williams choosing the 400, the 200 heats have only ten men vying for the seven spots in the final. In the first heat Stone Johnson of Grambling brings the crowd to its feet, beating Ray Norton in a time equal to the fastest ever run, 20.5. (Oddly, the IAAF has yet to establish the 200 on a curve as a world record event.) Norton gains a yard in the straight to finish in 20.7. Olympic champion Bobby Morrow and Morgan State's Paul Winder qualify with 20.8. Ed Collymore and Les Carney tie at 20.9 in the second heat. Oklahoma's Dee Givens edges Dave Sime for the last spot in the final, both 21.0.
The final is 45 minutes later. Johnson has been rewarded for his outstanding effort with the pole lane. Going out, his opposition is Givens, Winder, Carney, Morrow, Norton and Collymore. Morrow leads into the straight where he is caught first by Norton and then by Johnson. This time it is Norton's turn to claim a share of the “world record”. His 20.5 gives him a decisive margin over Johnson's 20.8. Morrow is game, but his “undertrained legs” are not up to the task. Carney passes him 50 yards from home and the Olympic champ will be staying home: Carney 20.9, Morrow 21.1. Norton is the only double qualifier on the team.
Last night's 800 heats hold promise for today's final. All seven finalists have run sub 1:48 with Murphy, Cunliffe and Siebert under 1:47. Today there is “much pre-race speculation on the battle plan of Cunliffe. Always a front runner who is caught sometimes, Ernie, so rumor had it, had new tactics for this one.” Dupree is on the pole, flanked by Merriman, Tague, Stack, Murphy, Cunliffe and Siebert. Murphy, the only non-collegiate, is the only one not to use blocks.
Cunliffe is under instructions to run easy for the first 180 yards and hope that someone else sets the pace. He comes off the curve tied for the lead. Ernie has never seen a lead he didn't like. When no one else volunteers, he spurts and cuts to the pole. With his old Bay Area rival, Siebert, on his shoulder, the race is on in earnest. After a slow first 200, Cunliffe burns the next furlong, opening an eight yard lead on the homestretch and hitting the 400 in 52.4.
“Around the curve and into the backstretch Cunliffe flew. It was spectacular running, even though one knew the lead couldn't be maintained. Early on the straightaway Ernie built up a 12 yard lead.” After a 26.0 200, the 600 is reached in 1:18.4, but now Murphy has moved past Siebert and is slowly closing the lead. By the middle of the curve, the lead is rapidly disappearing. Murphy is coming on strong and bringing Siebert, Merriman and Dupree with him. At the top of the long homestretch Murphy pounces and it is over quickly. He passes Cunliffe on the inside and Siebert goes by on the outside. Cunliffe is in trouble. Dupree is coming on the outside and Merriman on the inside.
Murphy holds off Siebert by two feet, 1:46.7 to 1:46.8. Dupree catches Cunliffe, but can't pass him. They cross the line together in 1:47.5 with Merriman at 1:47.9. The judges call it a tie, but it can't be left that way as a spot on the Olympic team lies in the balance. The photo-finish is examined, studied, scrutinized and analyzed over and over. An agonizing hour passes, then two. Finally the announcement is made. Third place goes to Cunliffe by an inch.
Cunliffe says, “ I gave up too soon. After Murphy and Siebert went by me I thought the herd would be on their tail. I kept waiting and waiting. When they didn't charge past I took new heart. I picked up again. I thought I had Dupree by an inch.” And so you did, Ernie.
Ernie's Recollections
Roy has covered the semis and the final well but I want to add a few inside facts about the two races.
First of all I remember that there was a rumor that Bobby Morrow had been DQed in his 200 race for running several steps in the lane
inside of his. This was important to me because right after my final I was warming down when Rev Bob Richards,( who I had known for
several years as we were fraternity brothers, but at different schools and of course during different times ) told me that there was a
question about my cutting in too soon. Bob showed me several spike marks where a bunch of lanes converged and speculated that I
was the owner of the spike marks in violation. It was very hard to understand what all the lines meant coming off the lst turn in lanes
and to this day I do not know if I cut too soon. Fortunately for Bobby and also myself, no disqualifications were made.
Now as to the final. I did go out slightly slower than usual but with all the crowd support including several hundred young Stanford
Youth Campers, I got carried away and the old strategy took over. True I had a huge lead down the 500-600 meter mark and I began
to think ala Fresno, that I was going to hold form and finish strong. Wrong. As Murphy and Siebert passed me, I sort of settled, relaxed,became
disappointed and figured as Roy as mentioned that the entire field was coming by. When this did not happen, I held what form I had and drove
for the finish line. Jim Dupree passed me but when? The 2 hr wait was agonizing. I went to the Stanford Gym and stayed where the
official photo people were going inch by inch to see whether Jim or I had been 3rd. After getting the good news I jogged back toward
the stadium and the lst person I saw to tell the news was Cheryl Jordan, Payton's eldest daughter who gave me a big hug of congratulations.
I have never seen a still picture of the finish or the photos which the officials used to settle who was 3rd. Jim Dupree was most gracious and
directed most of his anger at his New Mexico Coach who did not come to the meet as Jim felt that no one was there to fight for his place and
possible Olympic berth. I have learned from New Mexico track friends of mine that this was pretty much the major factor in Jim transferring
to Southern Illinois where he improved his times, won an AAU national championship & earned a PhD. Tragically he is no longer living but
as Roy gets closer to the New Zealand trip in January 1962, I will have more to say about Jim and some guy named Peter who no one would
have figured on making the 1960 New Zealand team in the 800.
I quickly found my parents and my fiancee Lois (we celebrated our 50th Anniversary last July) and told them the good news and we all
got in the car and drove to Mammoth Lakes and spent the 4th of July at my Aunt and Uncle's cabin enjoying the quiet and beautiful
scenery.
Without collegiate record holder Charlie Clark who has scratched with an injury, the steeplechase figures to be a four man race. Olympic veterans Deacon Jones and Phil Coleman are the old hands. Tom Oakley is in excellent position on the basis of his 8:52.3 at Compton. Even though his best is a non qualifying 9:07.8, neophyte George Young has an outside shot at making the team.
With Coleman leading, the four run together. At 4½ laps Coleman increases the pace. It seems to be just a matter of time before the old guys leave the youngsters behind. But wait, they are still together at the start of the gun lap, reached in 7:44.5, well within reach of the 8:55 qualifying standard. Something has to happen soon. With 200 to go, Oakley fades and Jones surges. Seconds later he goes by Coleman and is first over the last water jump looking full of run. Surprisingly, Young takes chase, passing Coleman as well. With 150 left it is Jones four yards up on Young who has the same advantage over Coleman. As they enter the final straight, Young's sprint takes him by Jones and easily provides the qualifying time as he wins in 8:50.6. Coleman finds new life and catches his long time rival ten yards from the tape, finishing in 8:51.0. Jones jogs across in 8:52.5, a beaten man, but one who will be on the Olympic team nonetheless. Young, an Army lieutenant, had never seen a steeplechase until he placed second in last year's AAU.
The pole vault starts at 14-4 with 15 competitors. An hour later those numbers are 15-0¼ and 11. Five men go out at this height including notables Bob Gutowski who set his 15-8¼ WR in this pit three years earlier and JD Martin who vaulted 15-9¾ this year, but was denied the record on a technicality. At 15-3 the field is down to Henry Wadsworth, Ron Morris, Don Bragg, Jim Graham, Aubrey Dooley and, surprisingly, Dave Clark who previous to today had a best of 14-9. In the first round the amazing Clark is the only one to clear. Bragg, Morris and Wadsworth make second round clearance, leaving the Oklahoma State vaulters, Graham and Dooley with the unenviable task of making their third jumps. They do not.
With the bar raised to 15-5¼, we are down to four vaulters with Clark the leader on misses. The pressure is on Wadsworth who is fourth on misses. He has to outvault someone. Henry has near miss, barely brushing the bar off with his chest, but he is out. So is Clark, but he feels none of the Florida vaulter's dismay. He is on the team. So are Morris and Bragg. The pressure is off. On his first try, Bragg clears “with three to five inches to spare”. Morris is nothing if not game. He clears on his first try “by several inches”. This height is the PR for each of them, placing them in a tie for fourth on the all time list.
The physically dissimilar pair – Bragg 6-3, 197 and Morris 5-10, 155 – decide this is a fine day to try for a world record. “At 4:27 Morris, wearing an elastic bandage on his left thigh from knee to hip had a good try. After another measurement of the replaced crosspiece, it was Bragg's turn. He put his double thickness, eight pound red Gill pole in the box and noted it failed by three inches to reach the bar. Back up the runway, Don spit on his hands, wiped them off, repeated the process nervously, settled is nerves (“First I pray, then I think, then I guts it out.”) and launched his elaborately muscled body down the runway.
Performing all the intricate movements just right, Tarzan was over, again with a margin of safety. Taking no chances, Don finished the vault powerfully, throwing his arms up and back and dropping into the sawdust, a world record breaker. It was exactly 4:37.”
Now Morris has to wait for the bar to be remeasured before making his second attempt. He is oh so close, just brushing the bar off with his chest. His final jump isn't close. Bragg declines to try 16 feet. He says, “I was here mainly to make the team. I've been lucky and this was no time to push my luck. I've got the world record. All I want now is the gold medal and a contract to play Tarzan in the movies.”
No prelims have been required in the 1500 so all 14 runners are fresh. Yet no one is willing to take it out. This works to the advantage of Dyrol Burleson who has been bothered by a head cold all week. Tom Rodda leads a tight pack through a plodding 64.2 first lap. The pace dawdles even more for the next 200 before Burleson sprints up on the outside taking fellow Oregonians Jim Grelle and George Larson with him. At 800, reached in 2:08.2, they are joined by Ed Moran. The field is still bunched, but now they are moving. Burleson's 58.5 has him at 3:06.7 with 300 to go. Burleson, Grelle and Moran were the pre-race favorites and it appears justly so. They open up down the backstretch and by the middle of the curve have ten yards on the field. Burleson pulls away from Grelle to win 3:46.9 to 3:47.4. “Moran, though, is in trouble. Fading rapidly, he was closed upon by a pack of savage pursuers eager to capture that third place team spot.” Marine Peter Close, the former St. John's star, catches Moran in the last couple yards and takes his ticket to Rome. Both are timed in 3:49.0. Burleson's last 800 is 1:55.5.
The final event of the afternoon is the 400. There seems to be no reason for running the heats and final on the same day as the Olympic schedule no longer does this, but indeed that is the schedule. Heats are run at 2:10 with the final at 3:40. Once again it is the first three and the fastest fourth. Princeton psychology major Dick Edmunds is out fast in the first heat, but entering the straight, it is anyone's race. Cal's Jack Yerman, running easily, pulls away to win in a PR of 46.0. Ted Woods, the NCAA champ, and Edmunds tie for second at 46.2. Dave Mills fades and Dave Roberson of the Army passes him to take fourth in 46.6. Now he must wait for the second heat to see if he has qualified for the final.
The second heat is all Willie Williams....to a point. The San Jose State sophomore has a five yard lead at 200. Unfortunately he pulls the plow for the next 200 and finishes last. Oregon's Otis Davis marks himself as a favorite in the finals finishing strongly and matching Yerman's 46.0. Earl Young runs evenly to take second in 46.4, the same time as third placer Vic Hall. Fourth goes to Deloss Doss, but his 46.7 only earns him a seat on the sidelines for the final.
As they line up for the last race of the 1960 Olympic Trials, the field from the inside out is Young on the pole, Yerman, Woods, Hall, Edmunds, Roberson and Davis. For the second time this afternoon Edmunds is leading at the halfway mark. He has made up the stagger on Roberson and two on Davis. Woods, in second, has nearly caught Hall while Young is on Yerman's shoulder. Around the second turn, the race evens out except for the outside runners, Roberson and Davis, who are trailing badly. As the field enters the homestretch, Woods takes a slight lead. Edmunds is paying the price for his early lead and is now out of it. From the inside lane Young is makes his move, challenging Woods.
“Yerman, acting under coach Brutus Hamilton's orders to run easily for 300 meters, was starting to come, and Young was still ahead of him, but nearer.” The 19 year old Young has taken the lead from Woods, but Yerman is challenging and, look out, here comes Davis. Yerman is too strong. He has run wisely and this is his day. He wins in 46.3. Young is second at 46.4. Woods is unable to hold off Davis' charge as they both run 46.7. Fourth in this competition does not provide the abject disappointment of other events. Woods has earned a spot on the 1600 relay team.
“Buoyed by his win and a meaningful hug by his girlfriend, the usually silent Yerman said, 'I'm a sulker. I'm inclined to get depressed. It was Brutus who kept me in a mental state to win after I had placed so badly in the NCAA.'” His time for the two races, 92.3, is the fastest ever for two 400s in one day.
Results from Europe indicate that our sprinters may have serious competition in Rome. Germany's Armin Hary has run 10.0 twice, one was questionable, but the other will be submitted for a world record. Teammate Manfred Germar has a 10.2 to his credit. Two other Germans, Carl Kaufman and Manfred Kinder have 400 times of 45.7 and 46.1. Abdou Seye of France may also be a factor off his 10.2, 20.7 and 46.6 efforts. India's Milkha Singh is training in Europe and has run 46.0.
Competition in the middle distances is coming into focus. The great Roger Moens of Belgium has run 1:47.2 and 3:41.2. The inconsistent Paul Schmidt of Germany is the 800 leader in 1:46.5. France's Michel Jazy could be a major factor at 1500, especially if the pace is slow. He recently finished a 3:42.6 race with a final 300 in 37.6.
Gordon Pirie is looking like the Gordon Pirie of old. On London's White City track he blazed a 57.3 final lap to defeat an excellent field at 3000 meters. His 7:57.2 provided a two tenth margin over Istvan Rozsavlgyi with Zdzislaw Krzyskowiak another 1.4 back. Though he was third in this race, Krzyskowiak is the big news on the European scene. The Olympic schedule prevents him from running the 5000 and the steeplechase. To help him make a decision he runs both in a two day meet with the Soviet Union. He follows Russian Pytor Bolotnnikov in the 5000 before pulling away for a decisive two second win in 13:51.6. The next day in the steeplechase he is even better. This time he collars Nikolay Sokolov on the last lap to win by a second in a world record 8:31.4.
Five weeks until the Olympics.
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