January 1964
This issue is 48 pages, the largest T&FN has published, dwarfing the previous largest, the 1960 Olympic issue, by 50%. The recent indoor news is sandwiched between the world rankings and lists and the US rankings and lists. The cover is graced by the smiling face of C.K. Yang, the magazine's 1963 Athlete of the Year.
As mentioned when he broke his friend, Rafer Johnson's, decathlon record, the deciding factor was the pole vault where the development of the fiberglass pole was the deciding margin. Johnson's marks were better in 7 of the 10 events and take away the pole vault, Johnson holds the edge. On the other hand, Yang has so thoroughly dominated the year's decathlon competition that he has outscored the second best performer, Germany's Willie Holdorf, by 1036 points.
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Apparently this issue was published in February because there are results from as recently as January 25. The indoor season is in full bloom and the unlikely dominant performer is a 5'6”, 117 pound 17 year old high school kid from Spokane who has the full attention of the track and field world. If the name Jerry Lindgren pops to mind, you would be right.
Dick Drake, writing on the First Annual (San Francisco) Examiner Holiday Invitational held Dec. 27, calls Lindgren's performance in the high school two mile, “the most exciting race this writer has witnessed indoors”. Competing against three of the four fastest high school two milers in what Drake calls “the greatest high school two mile field ever assembled”, Lindgren laps all but one to run exactly nine minutes. Second in 9:22.2, after a disastrous fall at the start, is Jim Ryun, a junior from Wichita. Lindgren's coach, Tracy Walters says, “He is ready to run 8:50 right now”, an assessment that proves to be correct.
Three weeks pass and now we are in Los Angeles for the LA Indoor Invitational and Dick Drake is forced to find stronger adjectives, specifically “sensational”, “fantastic” and “unbelievable”. This time the kid who looks like your paperboy is up against the big boys, George Young, Julio Marin and the biggest boy of all, Belgium's Gaston Roelants, the world record holder in the steeplechase who was undefeated at any distance last year. The pack goes through the mile in 4:21 before Roelants takes over. With the other three in close contention entering the final quarter, Roelants' powerful finish comes to the fore as he pulls away for a decisive win in 8:41.4.
The crowd doesn't care. All eyes are on the high school kid who passes Marin and Young to take second in an amazing 8:46.0, bettering Bruce Kidd's year old age 17 world best. Marin is third at 8:46.6 with Young fourth in 8:50.2.
A profile on the same page gives Lindgren's brief running history. He has been running only three years. As a sophomore he ran 10:14 in cross country and 9:17 the next year. His 10th grade times on the track aren't mentioned and a broken foot kept him from competing as an 11th grader until the summer when, with little training, he ran a 4:12.9 mile to beat Tracy Smith.
Actually there were other athletes competing in the San Francisco and Los Angeles meets whose achievements bear reporting. In San Francisco Washington's Phil Shinnick, who leaped a wind-aided 27-4 last year, gets off only one fair jump, 25-6½, but it is enough to edge Olympic champ Ralph Boston by half an inch. Canadian Bill Crothers sets an American all comers record in the 880. His 1:50.2 betters Arnie Sowell's 1957 record by a tenth for an 11 lap to the mile track. John Thomas jumps 7-1 to best Paul Stuber (6-10) and Joe Faust (6-8). And who is that standing at the top of the awards stand at the conclusion of the shot put? Parry O'Brien, that's who. His 60-1 tops Jay Silvester by 2½ feet.
The Examiner meet director shows his fun side with a one mile steeplechase and a devil-take-the-hindmost mile. One is to assume the steeplechase was waterless. Emphasizing that track and field was a much simpler sport in 1964 is the appearance of Canadian steeplechase champion Hylke van der Wal who hitchhikes from London, Ontario in order to place second to George Young. No mention is made of his return agenda. And no PR guy thought of calling him "The Incredible Hylke" at the time. Want to know more about Hylke, see article below. ed.
The LA meet is confined to more traditional events, among them the triple jump and the pole vault where Mahoney Samuels and John Pennel establish US records of 52-7 and 16-4½. Bob Hayes finds 6.0 seconds in his busy day to equal the WR at 60 yards. With Parry O'Brien home in bed with a virus, Dallas Long gets off only one throw of 60 feet, but it is 62-7 ½, enough to leave Jay Silvester nearly four feet back.
A lanky freshman from Texas A&M, Randy Matson, finishes fifth at 57-1.
A lanky freshman from Texas A&M, Randy Matson, finishes fifth at 57-1.
Two other indoor meets are showcases for runners from down under. On Jan 24 in Toronto's Maple Leaf Games Australian Albie Thomas does exactly what he said he would do in the three mile, specifically “run Bruce Kidd into the ground in the first two miles”. He breaks away from Kidd and Bob Schul at the mile and a half, reaching two miles in 8:49.3. Although he slows a bit in the last mile, there is no doubt of the outcome. His tenacity is rewarded with a WR 13:26.3. Schul and Kidd battle for second with the American getting the nod as they cross the finish together in 13:39.6.
The Maple Leaf Games will be remembered for Hayes Jones' 5.9 50 yard hurdle victory, not so much for the race itself, but for the fact that this is his 50th consecutive indoor hurdle victory.
The next night, on the other side of the country, New Zealand's Bill Baillie sets out after Jim Beatty's indoor two mile record of 8:30.7. Although he misses, he gives it a good scare with a 8:31.9 clocking, a time all the more impressive as it is Baillie's first competition on the boards. Julio Marin and Keith Forman prove their excellent condition placing 2nd and 3rd in 8:37.2.
Gaston Roelants, billed as Baillie's main competition, drops out in the first mile with a groin pull and a torn Achilles tendon. His status as the favorite in the Olympic steeplechase is now in doubt.
Gaston Roelants, billed as Baillie's main competition, drops out in the first mile with a groin pull and a torn Achilles tendon. His status as the favorite in the Olympic steeplechase is now in doubt.
On the first day of the year Bob Hayes shows that he is ready to skip the indoor season and just get after it outdoors. In the Orange Bowl meet, run on a soggy track after two days of heavy rain, he runs 9.1 and 20.1. There are no wind readings, but estimates are in the 6-7 mph range. There is no mention of whether the 220 was on a curve or a straightaway, but your reporter guesses the latter as “Hayes slowed at the end to avoid the crowd”. Adding to the significance of these efforts, especially the 220, is the fact that Hayes just finished football Dec. 14 and has had only ten track workouts.
Remember that pole that John Pennel borrowed from Fred Hansen's coach at Rice, the one he used to set the world record? Well, Fred won't be getting it back. John broke it and had to use another in this meet in which he had three close misses at a WR 17-1½ before settling for the win at 16-1. Wonder if he sent a note of apology? “Dear Fred, I thank you for the use of your pole, however I am sad to say I broke it. Can I buy you a new one?”
But enough about track in the US, the more significant news is from Australia, where on Dec. 18 twenty-six year old Ron Clarke, long regarded the greatest junior distance runner, is about to take a shot at removing the word “junior” from that title. We are in Melbourne where Clark and 22 others are on the starting line for the Emil Zatopek 10,000 meter Cup Competition. This is only Clarke's fourth attempt at the distance and his PR is 29:10.4, but he has his sights set on Sandor Iharos' 6 mile WR of 27:43.8 and the much tougher 28:18.8 10,000 record that belongs to Pyotr Bolotnikov.
Though this is a serious record attempt, there will be no pacesetter. The only advantage he will have is the understanding that lapped runners will cede the inside lane to him. It is 6:15 on a brisk but calm evening. The crowd matches the competitors in number. The plan is to go through the first three miles in 4:28, 9:02 and 13:40 then run 70 second laps the rest of the way.
Clarke is as focused as he is courageous. He splits 4:25, 8:57 and 13:32, just 4.5 seconds off his PR at this distance. If the bear jumps on his back at this point, it is only a cub. The next two miles go off at 4:38 and 4:40, as he clocks 18:10 and 22:50 at four and five miles. Now there is little doubt that Iharos' record will fall. All that is needed is a 4:53 final mile. Indeed, Clarke is finishing strongly. His last mile goes off in 4:27.6, producing a new six mile record of 27:17.6 and clipping 26.2 seconds off Iharos' mark, lowering Clarke's previous best by 53 seconds.
The 10,000 record is lost in the joy of the moment. Clarke slows to a jog before the shouts of excited reporters alert him to the fact that Bolotnikov's mark is there for the taking. Can he muster up enough steam for one more hard lap? You bet he can. When he hits the tape 376 yards later he has run 28:15.6 and beaten the old record by 3.2 seconds.
If the Track and Field News event rankings are an indication of how US athletes fared, 1963 was a pretty good year for the red, white and blue. Following are those ranked number one in each event and the leading American if in the top ten.
100: Bob Hayes
200: Henry Carr
400: Ulis Williams
800: Bill Crothers (Canada) 3. Jim Dupree
1500: Peter Snell (New Zealand) 2. Dyrol Burleson
5000: Murray Halberg (New Zealand)
10,000: Ron Clarke (Australia)
steeplechase: Gaston Roelants (Belgium)
110 HH: Hayes Jones
400 IH: Rex Cawley
HJ: Valeryi Brummel (USSR) 3. Gene Johnson
PV: Brian Sternberg
BJ*: Ralph Boston
TJ: Jozef Schmidt (Poland)
SP: Vilmos Varju (Hungary) 2. Dave Davis
DT: Al Oerter
HT: Gyula Zsivotzky (Hungary)
JT: Janis Lusis (USSR) 7. Frank Covelli
Decathlon: C.K. Yang (Formosa) 6. Steve Pauley
- Although the event has been renamed the long jump, TFN uses broad jump as that is what the event was called in 1963
Former East Texas State athlete runs strong 50 years later
Published: Friday, February 25, 2011
from The East Texan
 "Photo: ontariomasters.ca")
ontariomasters.ca
Former East Texas State University student-athlete and Netherlands native Hylke Van der Wal recently visited A&M-Commerce 50 years after having attended the university. Van der Wal is a championship track and field athlete.
After earning a place in the University of Nebraska at Kearny Hall of Fame and breaking more records than he can remember, championship runner and former East Texas State University student Hylke Van der Wal spent the second week of February getting reacquainted with his old school.
Van der Wal, now 73, attended East Texas State in 1959 and 1960 for his sophomore and junior years, after transferring from Oklahoma Baptist University.
"The campus seemed a lot closer back then, because I think people are commuting a lot more now," Van der Wal said. "Back then there seemed to be more cohesiveness. I was on a full track scholarship, getting $50 a month spending money, my scholarship paid for room and board and books. I bet the tuition was less than $200 per year, for two semesters."
Originally from northern Netherlands, Van der Wal and his family immigrated to Canada when he was 11-years-old. He said he adapted quickly to the new country and continued to immerse himself in the sport of running.
"In the Netherlands I was a high jumper," Van der Wal said. "I ran all the time, and swam, and biked. My dad had been a runner. He made national teams and had been an army champion. When we came to Canada, this farmer had land that was about eight miles from the house we lived in, and Dad would ride on a bike and I would run beside him, so I practiced long, slow distance running this way."
He said he later realized this type of running practice was one of the best ways to hone his abilities, which would help him win races and earn nearly 50 different scholarships to colleges in the United States.
"I have to say, the thing that really attracted me to East Texas State was that I could work and I could run," Van der Wal said. "School was actually incidental. It was not my first priority, but I realized by this time that I wanted to teach because I'd get more holidays that way, and I could run more. My parents did not slow me down from that, they were silently very proud of me."
Van der Wal said there were little or no African-American students on campus at East Texas State during the time he was there, and ultimately it was segregation issues that led him to transfer to another school before graduating.
"At the end of my junior year, I left because they wouldn't allow me to run against blacks," he said. "And so I went to the University of Nebraska at Kearny and graduated from there. I believed everyone was created in God's image."
Van der Wal said that he was the first white runner to compete in an all black track meet in the U.S., at Texas Southern University in Houston.
"When I look back, a guy would've had to have had real guts to do that, because I could have gotten myself killed," he said. "I did it two years in a row, '63 and ‘64, and back then, you didn't do that in Texas."
Van der Wal said he can't recall all the things he has accomplished over the years as far as running, but some achievements are especially memorable to him.
"One of the most amazing things ever, I don't know how I did it, I hitchhiked all the way to the Cow Palace and set the world record for the one mile steeplechase," Van der Wal said. "I became the Midwestern AU athlete of the year, in other words of the whole area top athletes, professional and amateur. I was just a Canadian kid, so it was unreal. I beat Gale Sayers, who was Rookie of the Year in the NFL."
He still runs and competes regularly, and won five first place medals at the National Canadian Track and Field Championships just last year.
"It's been over 55 years that I've won championships, in the U.S. and Canada," Van der Wal said. "The sport has been so good to me. I have received jobs because of the sport. I got my commissions because of the sport. Nobody tells me that they started on their own running and they did it for 55 years if they didn't love it, and to continue as a runner, you have to have people around you that love it too."
Glad the "e" finally got attached to Hylke van der Wal's name. pronounced "Hike". i knew him. Nice guy,but prone to blow his own horn. He had been to our house in Saginaw in the mid 70s. Good to hear he's still spouting off. RT
Van der Wal, now 73, attended East Texas State in 1959 and 1960 for his sophomore and junior years, after transferring from Oklahoma Baptist University.
"The campus seemed a lot closer back then, because I think people are commuting a lot more now," Van der Wal said. "Back then there seemed to be more cohesiveness. I was on a full track scholarship, getting $50 a month spending money, my scholarship paid for room and board and books. I bet the tuition was less than $200 per year, for two semesters."
Originally from northern Netherlands, Van der Wal and his family immigrated to Canada when he was 11-years-old. He said he adapted quickly to the new country and continued to immerse himself in the sport of running.
"In the Netherlands I was a high jumper," Van der Wal said. "I ran all the time, and swam, and biked. My dad had been a runner. He made national teams and had been an army champion. When we came to Canada, this farmer had land that was about eight miles from the house we lived in, and Dad would ride on a bike and I would run beside him, so I practiced long, slow distance running this way."
He said he later realized this type of running practice was one of the best ways to hone his abilities, which would help him win races and earn nearly 50 different scholarships to colleges in the United States.
"I have to say, the thing that really attracted me to East Texas State was that I could work and I could run," Van der Wal said. "School was actually incidental. It was not my first priority, but I realized by this time that I wanted to teach because I'd get more holidays that way, and I could run more. My parents did not slow me down from that, they were silently very proud of me."
Van der Wal said there were little or no African-American students on campus at East Texas State during the time he was there, and ultimately it was segregation issues that led him to transfer to another school before graduating.
"At the end of my junior year, I left because they wouldn't allow me to run against blacks," he said. "And so I went to the University of Nebraska at Kearny and graduated from there. I believed everyone was created in God's image."
Van der Wal said that he was the first white runner to compete in an all black track meet in the U.S., at Texas Southern University in Houston.
"When I look back, a guy would've had to have had real guts to do that, because I could have gotten myself killed," he said. "I did it two years in a row, '63 and ‘64, and back then, you didn't do that in Texas."
Van der Wal said he can't recall all the things he has accomplished over the years as far as running, but some achievements are especially memorable to him.
"One of the most amazing things ever, I don't know how I did it, I hitchhiked all the way to the Cow Palace and set the world record for the one mile steeplechase," Van der Wal said. "I became the Midwestern AU athlete of the year, in other words of the whole area top athletes, professional and amateur. I was just a Canadian kid, so it was unreal. I beat Gale Sayers, who was Rookie of the Year in the NFL."
He still runs and competes regularly, and won five first place medals at the National Canadian Track and Field Championships just last year.
"It's been over 55 years that I've won championships, in the U.S. and Canada," Van der Wal said. "The sport has been so good to me. I have received jobs because of the sport. I got my commissions because of the sport. Nobody tells me that they started on their own running and they did it for 55 years if they didn't love it, and to continue as a runner, you have to have people around you that love it too."
Glad the "e" finally got attached to Hylke van der Wal's name. pronounced "Hike". i knew him. Nice guy,but prone to blow his own horn. He had been to our house in Saginaw in the mid 70s. Good to hear he's still spouting off. RT
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