V 11 N. 18 Kirk Hagan Kansas U 880 Man R.I.P.

                                                                                

                                                                     Kirk Hagan

 I received the following note and obit link from Bill Stone former Oklahoma State great about the passing of one of his rivals in the late 50s early 60s  Kirk Hagan, Kansas Jayhawk and Northwest Classen HS, Oklahoma City.  Kirk won a lot of races including Big 8 championships and was on Kansas' WR two mile relay team.  He was fourth in the NCAA 880 at Franklin Field, Philadelphia in 1961.  

                               Kirk Hagan on the Heels of Bill Stone at the Big 8 Meet Boulder, CO.

                                Going into the last turn.  Kirk won.

                                                  Outdoor Meet in Boulder, CO 1961

George

Shortly after receiving the Boulder picture I discovered that Kirk Hagan had passed away. I am attaching his obituary for your information. Upon reading it I found that our lives had several parallels e.g. running, Vietnam, career paths, love of travel and a great familly.   I considered him not only as a fierce competitor but a good friend.  I regret that although we lived just a few miles away, we never linked up.  The funeral is today. He was a great one.  

Bill

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/dallas-tx/kirk-hagan-10067042  Link to Kirk Hagan Obituary

                                  A few weeks after the Big,  John Bork running a monster 880 at the NCAA's 

                                  at Franklin Field.  Kirk on the outside of the pack beside Sig Ohlman, Oregon (2nd)

                                  and Ergas Lepps, Michigan (3rd)   Times were  Bork 1:48.6, Ohlman 1:49.7, 

                                   Lepps 1:49.8, and Hagan 1:50.1   How 'bout that finish line technology?

Dear George:

I was watching that race on television as I was writing my girlfriend (later wife) Monique and kept putting in comments about it (I'm sure to her complete indifference).

It was a great meet but, in retrospect, as one of your other commentators mentioned, the crowds reflect a place and a period when our sport was truly appreciated.

You may be impressed by the finish line technology, but I would give credit to John Bork and his colleagues for running good times over a track that resembled our old barnyard.

Also, that guy with the finish line looks like he is after John's neck.

Take care,

Tom Coyne

V 11 N. 18 Mile of the Century 1954, Photos surface in Michigan

Recently, Ned Price, who the past few years has provided us with excellent same day photos from Boston, put us in touch with Bill Stewart of Ann Arbor, MI.  Bill is the former American record holder for 40 years old Masters in the mile set in 1983 at 4 min. 11 sec.   When Bill found out I was based in Canada, he mentioned that he had a collection of memorabilia from the 1954 Empire/Commonwealth Games held in Vancouver, just across the Georgia Straight from where I live these days.  Bill sent several photos of the Mile of the Century between Roger Bannister and John Landy taken by a young American who was in the stands that day.  There are better photos of that race but these are a much more personal memento to Bill and now to me.  He also has pages of heat sheets for some of the races.  So we are also showing the sheets for the mile and that infamous marathon in which Jim Peters of England collapsed after entering the stadium with a huge lead.  You can see the mountains in on the horizon, the sunny skies and this beautiful setting on a track and stadium that no longer exists.  A statue is located in the park near where that event took place.  I think this event was one of the first coast to coast sports broadcasts of a sporting event in the western hemisphere apart from baseball's World Series.                          

    

                Heat Sheet for the Mile

I've chosen to show you each picture uncropped and then a cropped enlargement of the runners.

The photographer didn't pan with the runners, but it has the effect of showing the forward motion better with that slow shutter speed.  I didn't think I would search for a picture of the finish from another source, as we all know the outcome, so why mention it?  Okay, Bannister won.  

Bill noted that he had heard that Landy had cut the sole of his foot before the race and did not mention it to anyone before the race nor did he elect to withdraw from the race.    What happened was he was having trouble sleeping on Thursday night two days before the race and went out  barefoot on a lawn to walk a bit and stepped on a photographer's flash bulb that had been improperly discarded.  He was too much of a gentleman to bring that excuse to the table.  I will not explain what a flash bulb is as most of our readers are of a certain age and know those things.   He sought treatment that night (4:00AM Friday morning) got bandaged but not stitched.  On the Saturday morning of the race, he rose at 10:00AM, noticed the wound was still bleeding and got four stitches.  The race was at 2:30PM that afternoon.  It was in the sole, just forward of the heel where there would not be direct pressure when he ran, and years later Landy still contended that it did not impede his running that day.  (This info according to Jason Beck in his book  "The Miracle Mile") .

      2:40PM Saturday Same photo as above (enlarged)  Note Bill Baillie (NZ) ln 8  and Murray Halberg (NZ)ln 3 using a crouch start.   

          Landy (Aus) ln 1, Rich Ferguson (CAN) ln 2,  Halberg (NZ)  ln 3, Victor Milligan (N. Ire.) ln 4, Bannister (Eng) ln 5,  Ian Boyd (Eng) ln 6, David Law (Eng) ln 7, Baillie (NZ) ln 8   

440 Yards:  58.2,  Landy with a good lead, Bannister and Halberg side by side, followed by Baillie

                                       880 Yards:  1:58.3  Landy holding onto his lead, Bannister in pursuit

                                 1320 Yards:  2:58.4,   Bannister starting to close and challenge Landy

Frank McBride (red shirt)  holding a stop watch which was used to time the mile race at 3:58.8 (official), the watch appears to be 3:58.6.       Landy's time was 3:59.6  ...the hands have not moved since Bannister crossed the finish line...these guys appear to be quite

happy having just witnessed the first sub four minute mile in North American history,

and the third and fourth in all history.

In Bill Stewart's words:

"The man holding the watch is Frank McBride... he was an army lieutenant at the time.   Frank was from South Dakota  and had participated in the 1952 Olympic trials 1500m (7th 3:55.5). Soon after the picture was taken, he became the US army track coach in Germany... he then became  the track coach at Wayne State University. 

We shared an appreciation of middle distance running.  He gave me this collection knowing i would respect, protect and cherish it.

Thanks for your interest."

McBride attended and competed for South Dakota State University.  He was born in Carrollton, Ohio near Steubenville.  Died in 2019. (ed.)

The Marathon Route in East Vancouver and Burnaby

                    Marathon Line Up  Jim Peters would enter the stadium with a huge lead but collapse before the finish line.  It would be his last race.  Note Al Lawrence who would finish third in the 10,000 meters at the Melbourne Olympics two years later, then come to the US to run at U. of Houston and spend the rest of his life in that town as a coach.  Gerard Cote in the twilight of his career, a multiple winner at Boston.  Scotland's Joe McGhee would arrive 16 minutes behind Peters to win the race.  The South Africans Jack Meklar and Johan Barnard got second and third.  This finish occurred almost immediately after the mile race and milers were still in a state of recovery.  The whole crowd went from a state of euphoria to one of horror watching that scene unfold.

            In conversing with Bill Stewart, I mentioned that a lady who lives here in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island,  Diane Palmason, competed in the 220 yards as a 16 year old for Canada. She would go on to be one of the all time great Canadian Masters runners holding national records from 50 yards to 50 miles.  Bill was able to find her heat sheet in his collection.  Diane was eliminated in the semis and did not compete again for 22 years when she ran her first marathon in 1976.   See link:   Diane Palmason

             

 Here is Diane's reaction after I showed her this heat sheet.

"Wow George,

You and your Michigan friend have kept EVERYTHING.  I remember those daily programs - in a booklet, I think, which I must have jettisoned years ago.  There was a third heat, which Gerry Bemister - Canadian and BC record holder at the time - ran in.  Those Australians!  World record holder Margery Jackson-Nelson, Winsome Cripps.  To be waiting in a little below-the-stands change room with these world-ranked runners, as a 16 year old running 220 yards for only the 4th time in my life - 16 year-olds were not allowed to run SO FAR in Quebec - was a bit intimidating!

At least it is proof that I really was there in Empire Stadium during that week - including for the mile and marathon - the Landy-Bannister legendary race, and the Jim Peters' sad struggle to not quite finish the marathon.  Unforgettable.

Thanks for this.

Diane

"It would appear she and i had dinner together after the Skylon race in 1976..(it was a banquet for all the runners)".   Bill Stewart

George:   I really loved the pictures of the Landy Bannister race.   I remember Bill Stewart as he ran a lot of open races at Eastern Michigan when I coach at Hillsdale.  Joe Rogers

 George,

   Those are some really great pictures for just a guy in the stands.  NZ guys in a sprint start?  We had a 3-miler at Capital who did that to intimidate the opponents and later was NCAA Div. III coach of the year at Frostburg State.  It's a shame that stadium is no longer there because it was really a good one.  Wouldn't it be nice to return to large crowds at T&F meets when the sport was important.  They probably had other such crowds that same day for horse racing and boxing.  I remember hearing about that meet either in SI or on TV sports highlights, just having finished the fourth grade at Orville Wright School.  The research for your blog was really impressive, especially the Canadian "girl" whom you contacted about the meet.

   Bill Schnier

V 11 N. 17 Dick Hoyt, R.I.P. famed father who did 37 Boston marathons pushing son Rick in his wheelchair

 

We received information yesterday that Dick Hoyt, 80,  passed away this week.  Dick and his son Rick had completed 37 Boston marathons, with Dick pushing Rick, a man with severe cerebral palsy, in his vehicle along that route.  They had also competed in numerous other races including Iron Men competitions.  Since 2015,  a friend of Dick had taken over that job of being the pusher.  What greater love can a father show for his son?

Here is a link to a local news story of the men.   Dick Hoyt Dies at 80

"A Man of true Grit, courage and commitment to family!" John Bork Jr.

V 11 N. 16 Spring Is Here, Getting Old, and Ogden Nash on University Sport

Ah, second week of March and traditionally track is fully underway outdoors in the American Midwest where I cut my teeth on the sport.  My apologies to the Florida and California readers, I ask for your indulgence, but it's time you know what we had to do to run track in the Spring.    The sawdust jumping pits have be dug up and broken up into small blocks  so they would  soon thaw and the vaulters and high jumpers could  begin to  practice.  By the first of March we'd be running on soggy tracks and looking forward to that first meet in another two weeks.  Then before we knew it the big relay meets would be upon us in Bellaire, Springfield, Mansfield, Dayton.  Baseball still hoping to get in an outdoor practice or two  and not having to wait until the basketball team was  finished practice in the gym.  The sooner they get eliminated in the basketball playoffs, the sooner the gym will  theirs at a reasonable hour.

Regarding getting old, yesterday I went downtown and suddenly realized I was wearing mismatched shoes.  I guess if I were really old I would not even have noticed.  At least they were the same color if not the same style.  The only time I saw some else do that was Bruce Kritzler when we were at the All Ohio Cross Country meet thirty-five years ago,  and I looked down at the line before the start,  and he had on a blue shoe on one foot and a red one on the other.   Turned out that a shoe company had sent our coach Steve Price some samples but only one shoe of each style, however Bruce found a right and a left both his size.

 I know this is a track and field blog and sometimes I stretch the point.  Today you thinclads will have to bear with me, but I could not help but convey a poem to you on importance of university sport in America by the beloved poet Ogden Nash. Europeans, again I beg indulgence, but we often judge the quality of universities by the record of their football team.   Yes it speaks of American football and it's bloated importance, but some of this  could be extrapolated to our sport.  And too it makes some fun of the American 'university system'.  

                   One  Man's Meed Is Another Man's Overemphasis

by Ogden Nash 

from

Collected Verse from 1929 On

I salute the section of our lordly Sunday journals which is entitled

        Scores of College Football Games Continued from Page One,

Because there a flock of not very notorious institutions of learning 

        find their annual place in the sun.

Yes, the football season is a kindly time of year,

And during it we read of campuses of which at other times we do

        not often hear.

Would a playwright, for instance ordinarily select Aurora as the 

        Alma Mater for his hero?

Yet it is here recorded that Aurora  one week held Wright Jr. to a 

six-to-six tie and the next week took the measure of Wartburg

     nineteen to zero.

Yes, and the St. Cloud Teachers are an aggregation that no college lover   

    can conscientiously shelve, 

Because they nosed out Bemidji Teachers thirteen to twelve.

Oh ye of little faith who take Yale  and    Notre   Dame  for  your  Alpha

        and Omega,

What about Hiwassee, which outscored Biltmore, and Dillard

       which engaged in a Homeric deadlock with Talladega?

When better endowments are offered,

Well,what's the matter with Augustana and Millsaps and Spear-

        fish and Gustavus Adolphus and Wofford?

So if anybody makes derogatory remarks about the football season

        let us answer with scornful defiance.

And meanwhile let us not forget that Huron beat Yankton six to 

        nothing on the very same day that Jamestown smothered

    Wahpeton Science.      

Good old Nash.  He saw the academic world for what it was.  Some of these schools still exist and function, others are long gone.  How many could you identify, location, teams, etc.?

Here are answers to some of those burning questions.

1. Aurora    The only current institution by that name is in the Northwest Territories of Canada.  So I'm going to take a guess that Nash's Aurora was some little now defunct school in Aurora, Illinois  and today there is a small institution called...Orville was still alive in 1934 but Wilbur was deceased, so the new jr college was named for him.

Aurora is very much in Illinois and Aurora College is now Aurora University, still small and private.

Take care,

Tom..

2. Wilbur Wright Jr. College in the Chicago area.  But it is possible this is not the Wright that Nash mentioned.

(George:  Before you casually dismiss Wright Jr. College, you might want to take a  quick look at its alumni.

They include, among others, Comedian Shecky Greene, Actress Kim Novak and newspaper man and journalist, Mike Royko.  

I think another good actress, Barbara Harris, also went to Wright, Jr.

Wright Jr was founded in 1934 and is now part of the City Colleges system in Chicago.

Ogden was ahead of his time.  Lots of good scholarship and good athletics take place in small and little appreciated colleges.

Take care,

Tom Coyne)

3. Wartburg, hail to Wartburg in Waverly, Iowa home of the Knights of Wartburg,  where football still exists and men and women can run track and cross country.

4. St. Cloud Teachers, now St. Cloud State U. in St. Cloud, Minnesota.  The Huskies have dropped football, but lady thinclads can still get an education there.

5. Bemidji State,   Bemidji, Minnesota.  The Beavers still play football and have a women's only track and cross country program.

6. Yale and Notre Dame  (couldn't find anything on them)

7. Hiwassee,   Madisonville, Tennessee.  Permanently closed.

8. Biltmore U.  In 1963 they joined forces and became part of University of North Carolina at Ashville.

9.  Dillard University This is an historically black university located in New Orleans.  The Blue Devils offer basketball , track , cross county to both sexes and also volleyball to the ladies.

10. Talladega U.  Another traditionally black university in Talladega, Alabama, no sports, how could they?

11. Augustana College Rock Island , IL.  The Vikings got football!

12. Millsaps U. Jackson, Mississippi  Football

13. Spearfish U. Now Black Hlls State College in Spearfish, South Dakota

14. Gustavus Adolphus U.  St. Peters, Minnesota.  Still have football.

15. Wofford U.  Spartanburg, South Carolina,  The Terriers don't play football anymore.

16. Huron College was a also known as  Si Tanka U. at Huron, South Dakota.  Closed its doors April 1, 2005.

17. Yankton is a now defunct private college in Yankton, South Dakota.  Their old football stadium is now used by Mt. Marty U. for football games.

18. U. of Jamestown      Still called U of Jamestown,  Jamestown, North Dakota

19. Wahpeton Science  now part of North Dakota State College of Science, Wahpeton, North Dakota.

"How could Nash have left out Slippery Rock?"   Anonymous

         Okay, it was a slow track day.  The track is still thawing out as is my brain.

                                                                                                                                                                    Describing March was so true but I am more and more convinced that there is truly global warming because this spring has been easy.  Maybe its because we have an all-weather track circling a FieldTurf infield, but we have had numerous days over 60 degrees, not the bone-chilling weather we had at one time.  I fully believe that Cincinnati today is the southern Kentucky of our youth.  Thanks for mentioning those great HS track meets in Ohio.  Most of them are probably still meets but they are a shadow of themselves.  All the glory is now at major suburban schools who can guarantee seating, parking, safety, and excellent competition, all the while using the children and grandchildren of the heroes of Bellaire, Springfield, Mansfield, and Dayton.   Bill Schnier                                                                                                                                                  George:                                                             I can appreciate this greatly for several reasons.  Having coached at Olivet College (Michigan), we competed against one or two of the one’s you mentioned.  

 

Also, I have a good story for you.   In about 1968, I was the high school coach at Talawanda HS  (Oxford, Ohio).    I had run a dual meet one Friday night against nearby Hamilton Garfield HS at home.  I had spent about 3 hours preparing the cinder track the night before, so it was in great anticipation also due to the fact that Garfield had really good athletes, though their team could be really mediocre in early season.

 

We ended up winning the meet by a few points, they had the talent, but we had the depth for a dual meet team.   After the meet, it was a Friday night endeavor, a friend and I went to the local bowling alley for a sandwich and to celebrate.   There, we ran into Bo Schembechler (Miami Coach at the time).   He asked did you have track meet at home as he had noticed the lights at the field.   I very proudly announced, “Yes, we knocked off Hamilton Garfield..”   He jokingly replied,  “Overemphasis! Overemphasis!”  At which point, I smiled and said “You Bet!”

 

Joe  Rogers                                                                                                                              

Great article, George.  When I was in junior high, my dad bought season (football) tickets for us to attend the games of the Grand Rapids Junior Raiders who were one of the few junior colleges in Michigan to have a football program.  (Full disclosure:  I attended JC in ‘66-‘67).   I remember at least one game against Wright Junior College and another one against Thornton Junior College, also from the Chicago area.   GRJC played its games on local high school football fields so we went all over the county to watch them play.   Nash got Wright Junior all right, but he left out my Raiders.   Great times and great memories!  E. Geelhoed

V 11 N. 15 Ed Cook, A Look Way Back in Time

 

                             Ed Cook,  1908 Olympic Gold medal in Pole Vault

                            photo taken almost 30 years after his London victory

Today a friend sent me a link to an archives  to do some research.  Archive.org   It took about five minutes of browsing on this site to realize that it would take a lifetime to even look at all the titles of newspapers, books and music that can be found here.  So with a bit of spare time I typed in Dayton, Ohio public library to see what I would find.  Dayton, Ohio was my hometown and where I lived until moving back to Canada 8years ago.  One thing that popped up was a 1937 high school yearbook from a neighboring suburb, Oakwood, Ohio the upper crust end of town that bordered on my blue collar area  Belmont.  I remembered  that a former Olympic gold medalist Ed Cook had been on the faculty at Oakwood HS between the wars.  By 1937 he was also serving as the track coach.  Ed had shared the pole vault gold medal of 1908 with A. C. Gilbert the inventor of The Erector Set in London that year.  Not only that but Cook also was credited with a fourth place in the broad jump which occurred simultaneously with the pole vault, and he had qualified for the broad jump finals but had not been allowed to take his final jumps by some sanctimonious British official who didn't think he should be allowed to do both events and slow things up.  So I looked through the yearbook and found Ed Cook  (pictures below) and as an extra reward for my diligence there was a picture of my paternal aunt who was the school nurse at Oakwood at the time.  She would go on to be an army nurse in the South Pacific and be part of the battle in Okinawa.  

There is more about Ed Cook to be seen and another website turned up valuable information on the Chillicothe, Ohio athlete who would go to Cornell.  In the early 1900's Ohio high schools could compete against university and in open competitions.  Cook was such a precocious high school athlete that he won multiple events in these high school/college competitions around Ohio.  He would often compete in the Pole Vault, Broad Jump, 100, 220 , High Jump, and 4x220 relay in most meets.  

                           Coach Ed Cook on far right in suit and tie

Looking a bit further and if you are interested there is a good account of his high school and collegiate career  on  oh.milesplit.com   written by Shawn Conlon   which follows.

Ed Cook, High School Years

Ed Cook, College and Olympic Years

He had PR's of 12' 5" in the pole vault with an ash pole with a spike in the end.  No vaulting boxes in those days.  And no landing pits.  The world record holder in 1908  W. R. Dray of Yale did not compete in the Olympics, because his mother was afraid he would get hurt due to lack of  a soft landing surface.   Cook also had a 9.8 100 yards,  21.6, 220, 6'3" HJ, and was over 23' in the broad jump.  It is also noted that he did not graduate from Cornell but did find his way onto a very well educated faculty at Oakwood HS.  He eventually left coaching and returned to Chillicothe to become a bank president and a gentleman farmer.  He died in 1972.

Here is a brief account of the Olympic result by Shawn Donlon:

The Olympic trials began soon after the season in Philadelphia. Ed won the long jump going 23-02.5. He did not place in the top three in the pole vault. He was selected for the 1908 London Olympic team in both the long jump and the pole vault. The games were marred by numerous controversies. Plant boxes were becoming standard by 1908 and even hay bales were used for landing pads at numerous meets. 

The Olympic Games of London had neither. Dray from Yale even withdrew due to safety concerns. The pole vault had six rounds of competition, plus finals. In the finals Cook and A.C. Gilbert of Yale tied at 12-02. By some accounts there was no jump off due to the controversy of the marathon finish. Dorando Pietri of Italy finished first in the marathon, but upon entering the stadium due to extreme fatigue and dehydration he ran in the wrong direction. He fell to the ground five times in the stadium and was help up by an official each time.  He finished about thirty seconds ahead of American Johnny Hayes. The American team immediately filed a complaint. 

In the end Pietri was disqualified and Hayes was awarded the gold medal. Due to time constraint from this event, officials declared a tie in the pole vault and both Cook and Gibert were awarded gold medals. Both athletes also set the Olympic record with their vaults. Controversy followed Cook in the long jump as well. Cook was in fourth place after the prelims but was not allowed to participate in the final even though he was supposed to receive a spot. He finished fourth with a jump of 22-10.

   I had never heard of Ed Cook but his marks were truly impressive, all of them.  I never cease to be amazed by the ignorance and haughtiness of administrative officials in all walks of life including athletics.  Those 1908 decisions were consistently wrong.  I guess it takes mistakes like those to realize how to eventually get things right.

   Oakwood HS has had a long history of excellence in T&F, as has Chillicothe HS.  However, it takes research like yours to unearth these gems.  Thanks for doing so.

   Bill Schnier

George: Another great article.   I was not aware of vaulting without boxes.   Chillicothe is just 40 miles east of my hometown and the was the original Capital of Ohio which was later moved to Columbus to be more central.

 

Also my best was 12 feet with a fiberglass pole that I could not bend.  But of course we had boxes.  In high school we landed into sawdust pits.  Thanks for the research.  Joe Rogers

V 11 N. 14 A short quick laugh from Steve Price

 We've had sad news to report of late, so I thought I would try to make up for that with this note from Steve Price

Roy Mason, Steve Price, George Brose

at the Silver Cafe in Franklin, OH on our

way to the Dogwood Relays  1998.  The mugs

were empty, time to hit the road!

"Today I reupped my subscription to T@ F News ( print version , yep I’m old ).

I first started subscribing in 1956. My first issue included a list (but no pics) of the top US hammer throws. I immediately grabbed my dad's carpentry hammer to give it a go.
Until I got the next issue with a picture of a hammer thrower, I thought I wasn’t too bad at this......."

Steve Price

For those of you who do not know Steve Price, he was coach of the Kettering Striders in the mid 60's and 70's,  went on to coach the first men's cross country team at the U. of Dayton,  was an assistant national coach in Bahrain,  also was assistant US team coach in the Russian dual indoors in Moscow when Mary Decker threw her spikes at a Russian runner.  When the reporters asked him what he was going to do to Mary, he said, he would make sure that she was on the plane next day.  He then moved on to Bowling Green State University (where his friends did their best to keep him out of trouble, unsuccessfully sometimes), retired, and began coaching part time at Findlay University where he stopped at nursing homes on his way to the track to play piano for the old folks..  Everywhere he went, great runners evolved.  You also learned to say grace before meals on track trips, and to wait to eat until everyone had been served.   He now lives in Piqua, OH and proofreads our blog when he isn't selling his advice door to door.  His quips run from the profound to the profane.   ex.  "If you don't love your neighbor, then you don't love God."  One of his favorite sayings was, "If you don't know anything about sex, bluegrass, or track and field, I don't want to talk to you."  Oh, yeah, one of the other ones, was, "I ain't had this much fun since the hogs ate my little brother."  Keep 'em coming, Steve.

V 11 N. 13 Bob Parks and Paul McMullen Two Eastern Michigan Legends R.I.P.

 

Two Eastern Michigan legends passed away on consecutive days,  Bob Parks and Paul McMullen.   McMullen's death in a ski accident is yet to be confirmed.

Tony Paul wrote the following story on Parks which appeared in the March 4, Detroit News.    The story on McMullen is from Wikipedia.

Bob Parks, the most successful coach in Eastern Michigan coach, in any sports, who guided the men's track-and-field and cross-country programs to six national championships and 31 Mid-American Conference titles and was named MAC coach of the year 22 times, has died.

Parks died Wednesday. He was 90.

He ran at Eastern Michigan from 1951-55, and returned to coach the teams in 1967. He retired in 2001.

"We are saddened by the loss of our father," said Sue Parks, of Parks' four children. "He touched countless lives and was a father figure and an inspiration to so many. He was as competitive as anyone but more importantly, he always wanted to ensure that his athletes were ready for the challenges of life when they left his program. He will long be remembered for his positive impact and the way that he treated people"We will all carry his passion, strength and fighting spirit with us."

Parks won six NAIA and NCAA team championships, and coached 286 individual conference champions and 31 NAIA and NCAA national champions. He coached more than 110 All-Americans, and was national coach of the year once and regional coach of the year nine times.

He also coached at least one athlete who compete in every Olympics from 1968 through 2012, including 1976 gold-medalist Hasely Crawford (100 meters), 2000 silver-medalists Clement Chukwu and Nduka Awazie (4x400) and 1984 bronze-medalist Earl Jones (800m).

Parks is a member of the Eastern Michigan Athletics Hall of Fame — the school's indoor and outdoor tracks are named after him — as well as the Drake Relays Hall of Fame. He was enshrined in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2000, and the MAC Hall of Fame in 2015. Parks was on the ballot for the 2021 Michigan Sports Hall of Fame class.

Eastern Michigan won the 1970 NAIA and NCAA Division II national championships, then moved to the MAC and Division I in 1972. In Division 1, Parks led Eastern Michigan to the NCAAs seven times, with a sixth-place finish in 1974.

In track, his dual-meet record was 162-14-1; in cross country, it was 132-24-1.

"The entire Eastern Michigan athletics family is heartbroken by the news of Bob's passing," athletic director Scott Wetherbee said. "It is impossible to summarize the legacy of Coach Parks and the impact that he has made on our institution in just one statement. Bob Parks is one of the finest examples of a champion that this university has ever seen, not only in his field of competition, where he built our cross-country and track-and-field programs into two of the very best in all of intercollegiate athletics, but outside of his sports, as well. Thousands of student-athletes, coaches, staff members, and individuals in the Ypsilanti community were positively impacted by his dedication to Eastern Michigan.

"Many individuals leave a mark on the places they go — few fundamentally change them for the better. Bob Parks is one of those few, and Eastern Michigan University will never fail to recognize him for his achievements and contributions to our department."

Parks was born in Pittsburgh, but was raised in Howell. He played football, basketball, baseball and ran track at Howell High School, winning a state championship in the 440. At Eastern Michigan, which then was Michigan Normal College, he was a conference champion in the 880 and mile  relay team.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the "Bob Parks Track Dedication Fund."

Paul McMullen (Wikipedia)    

Paul McMullen 1998 USA Indoor Championships    link

Paul McMullen (born February 19, 1972 in Cadillac, Michigan) was an American middle-distance runner who specialized in the 1500 meters. Paul was known by some as "the pride of Cadillac" after qualifying and competing in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

McMullen finished tenth at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics in Gothenburg, Sweden and the 2001 World Championships in Athletics in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He won the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials 1500 m and was a semi-finalist Atlanta Summer Olympics the same year. He won National Championships in 1995 (1500 m), 1996 (1500 M) and 1998 (Indoor Mile). His personal best 1500 m time is 3:33.89 minutes, achieved in July 2001 in Monte Carlo Monaco. In 2001, Track and Field News ranked him at number one in the US.

In 1997, McMullen lost parts of two toes when his foot slipped under a lawnmower he was operating. He returned to the sport in December 1998, and as the results above indicate, was able to run even faster than before the accident; Runner's World referred to him, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, as "the world's fastest eight-toed miler."

Paul McMullen attended Eastern Michigan University and graduated in accounting. After graduation, he ran three seasons for Asics Shoes and four seasons Saucony Shoes before enlisting in the United States Coast Guard at age 29 and served four years as a surface swimmer and Federal Boarding Officer on the Great Lakes. McMullen still holds the Coast Guard's Cape May New Jersey Training Center 1.5-mile run record of 7:09 which he ran on week 6 of basic training in December 2002. McMullen last broke the four-minute mile at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon at the age of 32 then later retired from running after failing to make the 2004 Olympic Team while representing the US Coast Guard.

Hall of Fame inductions: He was inducted into the Drake Relays Hall of Fame in 2000 and Eastern Michigan's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003.

Before his death, he worked as a Life Safety Consultant for EPS Security and competed in masters road cycling events during the summer. McMullen was married to his high school girl-friend Nuria De Soto Queralto of Spain. He has two children from his first marriage, Olivia, 13 and David, 8. His wife Nuria of three years gave birth to their first child Catalina on July 5, 2014. Paul is also brother to Phil McMullen (a fireman paramedic in the East Bay Area of San Francisco, California and former world class decathlete).

Eastern Michigan All Time List

 George:

A few follow-up items to your posting:

Bob Parks was the Assistant to Coach George Dales of Western Michigan University when the Broncos won consecutive NCAA cross-country title in 1964 (at four miles) and 1965 (at six miles).   He then went on to his stellar career at Eastern Michigan University.  Parks and Dales had a great rivalry over the ensuing years in the MAC.

Paul McMullen's first wife was Jill Stamison, an outstanding runner for WMU who set a PR of 2:00.51 at the 1997 World Championships.

Paul was a strong, powerful looking runner.

Phil McMullen, Paul's brother, was a decathlete at WMU, who finished fourth, as I remember, in the U S Trials, in his only bid at the Olympics in 2004. 

Take care,

Tom Coyne

That's really a shame for this coach/athlete.  Bob Parks had to be the most successful T&F coach in MAC history.  His results were incredible.  I always wondered how he did it because his results were greater than even a standout coach could produce although I knew that EMU had in-state tuition for Ohio residents.  Finally I discovered that EMU also gave full academic scholarships to those HS kids with more than a 3.4, another real boost.  Even though armed with those big advantages, Bob continued to attract amazing people in every event, then coach them up in almost every instance.  We should look up the EMU men's records to fully appreciate Bob's work.

   Jeff Dils from Trotwood ran for Bob and eventually made the EMU Hall of Fame.  I was so impressed with the work Bob had done with Jeff that I made a contribution to their track team fundraiser, even though I was either at IU or UC at the time.  Bob was really amazing.

   Paul was a football player who opted for T&F and I believe became an Olympian at 1,500 m.  What a story that was!

   Bill Schnier

"So sad to hear about Paul. I have this note in his "birthday" bio.

After making the U.S. Olympic team in 1996, he returned as a hometown hero to Cadillac, Michigan, and 

            did a workout on the 4^th of July as hundreds(thousands?) of  local residents formed a one-lane tunnel 

                 all around the track! "   Walt Murphy

	6:07 PM (3 hours ago)

Boy, I loved driving up to Ypsilanti for all-comers meets. Parks put on open meets during cross country, indoor, and outdoor. I ran my first steeple there, doing a swan dive in to the water on the first water jump (shouldn't have wore flats). Bob was always so welcoming for open athletes and us clueless kids from Findlay College. I brought a freshman hurdler from Findlay (via Hardin Northern HS) along to a late fall cross country race, and Bob was showing him hurdle drills!   Bruce Kritzler

Ryan shea.  Jeff drenth and now mc mullen...  good runners all from the
same small area. And all died at a young age ..  Nick Price, Bill Stewart