Vol. 1 No. 44 July, 1958

JULY, 1958

And a very good issue it is with reports on the NCAA meet in Berkeley and the AAU in Bakersfield.

Glenn Davis might turn out to be pretty good. In the NCAA meet he sets the WR around two turns, running 45.7 to crush Eddie Southern’s 46.5. Jack Yerman is third at 46.6. Eight days later Davis breaks Josh Culbreath’s 50.5 WR in the 440 hurdles with a 49.9. Admittedly the metric times in both these races are superior: Lou Jones 45.2 and Davis 49.5, but, hey, a WR is a WR.

Hal Connolly sets a monster WR in the hammer, 225-4, after a Bakersfield blacksmith repairs the ball that had been “flattened” by hitting a wall in practice. Connolly’s wife, “the pretty Olympic discus champion” Olga, apparently makes her husband nervous when she watches so she hides behind some bushes, only to run out at the announcement of the record, “crying with joy” and gives her “embarrassed husband a bruising hug and kiss”. No mention is made of what happened at the motel later that evening.

Olympic champions of past and future win the miles in these meets. In the NCAA Ron Delany runs 4:03.5 to leave Jim Grelle 4:04.8 and Gail Hodgson 4:04.9 in his wake, then doubles back to take the 880 in 1:48.6 over Frank Murphy’s 1:49.4 to complete a great career at Villanova.

The AAU mile is Herb Elliot’s time to shine. Though countryman Merv Lincoln throws down a 54.7 final lap, Elliot covers it with his own 54.1 to finish in 3:57.9, his second best time and maybe a new world record, but actually only tying a previous WR which wasn’t allowed. Confused? I’ll bet. Sit down, listen carefully and I’ll tell you how this worked. Derek Ibbotson’s 3:57.2 and Elliot’s own 3:57.8 may not be approved because they were….are you ready?... “paced”. Imagine someone resorting to that. If they are not approved, then this time would beat John Landy’s record of 3:58.0. But wait, there’s a catch to that too. Landy actually ran 3:57.9, but four years ago in the dark ages of 1954, records in the mile were not recognized in tenths of a second. Bet you can’t wait to run this by the guys at the Dew Drop Inn tonight.

But not to discredit the rest of the AAU field. Lincoln runs a stout 3:58.5. He is followed by Ed Moran of Penn State, who until three weeks ago had never broken 4:10, but this night clocks 4:01.7, the same time as fourth and fifth placers Jim Grelle and Jerome Walters. They are followed by Don Bowden, 4:02.9, and Gail Hodgson, 4:04.5. Oh, and the future of American miling was visible in the heats. High schooler Dyrol Burleson ran a nonqualifying 4:12.2.

The giants of the discus world tangle in both meets. Rink Babka and Al Oerter “tie” at 186-2 in the NCAAs. The rule to break a tie with the second best mark was not yet in place. Babka takes the AAU 187-10 to 181-6.

As far as developing international competitors, the AAU has made the effort by including the intermediates, hammer and hop-step-jump. The NCAA has none of these. What is does have is team scoring. The first person to recognize a major southern school (think current SEC or ACC), raise your hand. USC 48, Kansas 40, Villanova 33, San Jose State 20, Winston-Salem 20, Illinois 17, the Ohio State University 17, Nebraska 14, California 13, Manhattan 12, Texas 12, Western Michigan 12, Indiana 12, Arizona State 11, SMU 10, Pacific Lutheran 10, Occidental 9, Oregon 9. While there were a lot of fractions in those scores (which I am not doing), what there wasn’t were any relays.

And Negroes are still being identified. Ernie Shelby, who wins the BJ in both big meets, is a regular run of the mill Negro, but Hayes Jones is a medium-sized Negro, Ray Nickleberry a short Negro and John Thomas a thin Negro.

The Frosh and JC Marks list contains a triple-double-double. That would be three sets of twins, each making the list in two events. The Styron twins are in the house. Dave has run 9.6 and 21.2. Don has hurdled 14.5 and 22.8 for NE Louisiana State. The McKeever twins are freshmen at USC. Mike has weight marks of 52-6 ½ and 153-3 ½ while Marlin has thrown 52-5 and 156-8. Finally, we have Mel and Mal Spence of Arizona State. Mel has a 47.9 to his credit while Mal is a tenth back. Not sure about the 880. Mel ran 1:52.3 while Mel is credited with 1:53.0. Obviously one of these is supposed to be Mal. I just report ‘em, I don’t ‘splain ‘em.

On the next to last page, sacrilege, a blow has been struck against Clifford Severn and Adidas. Indeed a quarter of a page is devoted to an ad proclaiming the superiority of Rawlings Fleetfoot track shoes, “the shoes built for that ‘fit and feel’ so necessary to track men”. Not to worry. Cliff and Adidas confidently occupy their usual spot on the lower right corner of the last page.

Vol. 1 No. 25 August, 1956

Now it is August, 1956. The Olympic Trials are over, but the games themselves are three months off. OK, not all the spots on the team were decided last month. The decathlon team has been decided in a separate meet. Rafer Johnson edges Milt Campbell as “the two 6’3” 200 pound Negro giants” score 7755 and 7559. Bob Richards, already on the team in the PV, takes third at 7054…….The often mentioned JW Mashburn finally appears in a photo, winning the NCAA over John Haines of Penn. Last month’s issue had the margin as .00. Looks like a good foot to me.……The US top ten listing shows a weakness in the distances. No American has broken 9:00 for two miles or the steeplechase.
Much of this issue is devoted to the European Report where the distance runners are heating up. Hungary’s Istvan Rozsavolgyi, the holder of WRs at 1000 meters (2:19.0) and 2000 meters (5:02.2), splits the difference and adds the 1500 to his list with a 3:40.6. Countryman Sandor Iharos runs 10K in 28:42.8 to obliterate Emil Zatopek’s last WR by 13 seconds. Throw in Gordon Pirie, Vladimir Kuts and the great Zatopek himself and the distances could be the highlight of the OGs.
Willie Williams, the best sprinter on the planet not to be competing in Melbourne, and Ira Murchison, who will, both run 10.1 in a meet in Berlin. Williams did it twice, semis and final. Officials say all three marks will be submitted for ratification and should be accepted.
The Olympic team’s competition schedule has been set: October 13 in Berkeley, Oct. 20 in Santa Ana, Oct. 27 in Ontario, CA and a final tune up in Eugene on Sept. 3. The games don’t begin until late November. How do you fill the remaining 2 ½ months?
Ron Delany told the press that Ireland may not have enough money to send him to Australia. I can see it now, collection jars in pubs throughout the land.
Third place finisher in the steeplechase, Horace Ashenfelter, says that he won’t compete in the OG unless he feels he is in top shape.
Dave Sime says that his muscle pull was not due to a lack of curve running as previously reported. He ran the curve twice a week during the season. Though obviously disappointed, he is planning for next year. He is quoted as saying that he will go to summer school to get ahead in credits so that he can have free time to run indoors and “After baseball ends in late May I’ll switch to track again”. Baseball? Baseball?
There are five Profiles of Champions, the sort of outline derived by the athlete answering a questionnaire. Of note is that Phil Conley has to be the best athlete to wear a Cal Tech uniform. Okay, that is like being the skinniest fat girl, but this guy is damn good. His yearly javelin progression in college has been 176, 199, 231 and 244. He has a pretty good resume in other sports. In high school he was number one man on the league champion tennis team. The way it is worded, I can only guess the following were in college. He was the second team all conference quarterback and led the conference in total yards one year. In basketball he was first team all conference center one year; second team another, leading the team in scoring both years. In baseball he hit .345 and .375 before giving up the sport for track.
Other profiles include George Shaw, Walter Thane Baker, Phil Coleman, Jerome Walters and Kenneth Bantum. Particularly noteworthy: Thane Baker was inspired by hometown hero Glenn Cunningham and began running in the second grade at Elkhart Grade School in Elkhart, Kansas His best high school hundred was 10.1 in 1949. His yearly progression at Kansas State College was 9.9 and 21.6; 9.7 and 21.0; 9.5, 20.8 and 48.1; 9.4, 20.4 and 47.1. He won the Big Seven 100 and 220 three times. Ken Bantum (6-6, 235, Negro, dark brown hair and eyes, 21) started as a hurdler. Progressed from 34’ for the 12 pound shot and 25 for the 16 to 53-7 and 48 (in practice) by the time he graduated from Ozone Park HS in New York. Phil Coleman ran a 6:58 mile in high school PE class, then ran three races as a 16 year old senior with a best of 5:00. Then it was off to So. Illinois where he ran 4:37 and 10:07 as a freshman. By his senior season in 1952, he had run 4:15.3, 9:27 and 14:58 for 1, 2 and 3 miles. George Shaw trains three days a week, 12 months a year. He bounds up and down the infield about four times each way. “Then in and out 150’s or 220’s, five of them.” He also takes three full jumps each week. Jerome Walters, an LA county probation officer, got his start as a 10th grader in Compton where he ran a 2:13 on a bet. (You are a 10th grader who just ran 2:13 without training? Come here, young man, we need to talk about your future.) He was 1947 California state champ at 1:57.6 as a junior. As a senior, he ran 1:58.4 and 4:21.4 (second in state meet). He was undefeated in two years of high school cross country.
Some things never change: You can still join the TFN Olympic Tour for $1469 and, yes, Clifford Severn is still selling Adidas (“9 world records in 1955”).

Note from Ernie Cunliffe:
NFO. George, I hate to tell you but I ran 2:06 my jr year with no training, so Jerome Walters wasn't unique. At least they didn't call
him a thin Negro !!