Vol. 3 No. 46 February, 1964

FEBRUARY 1964

Take a seat on the flying carpet and we will transport you back to February 1964 and the world of Bob Hayes, Gerry Lindgren, Ron Clarke and Tom O'Hara.

Running through this issue of TFN chronologically, we begin our journey on January 30 with the 57^th Millrose Games in Madison Square Garden where Bill Crothers runs 880 yards in what is reported as an American record of 1:50.0. As Crothers is Canadian, we must assume that this term means the fastest 880 run by anyone on American soil. Ireland's gift to Villanova, Noel Carroll, is clocked at 1:50.4.

The crowd of 16,004 is treated to three meet records. John Thomas jumps 7-2¼ to better the mark of Valeriy Brumel. Bruce Kidd holds of the big kick of Bob Schul, running his last half in 2:02 and the final quarter in 58.9, to win the three mile in 13:32.4 with Schul at 13:33.8. Well back in sixth is Billy Mills of the Quantico Marines at 13:53.4.

With the mile field through the ¾ mile in 3:05.6, John Camien throws down a 57.0 finish only to earn a distant view of Tom O'Hara's backside as the redheaded Loyola student finishes in 54.9 for a 4:00.6 Millrose record.

With a plethora of records, one non-record race stands out. Yale's Wendell Mottley takes a shot at the WR at 600 yards. The Yale captain doesn't lack for courage as he goes through the quarter in 48.3. Does he have enough gas in the tank for one more 160 yard lap? Not only is the gauge on E, the tires fo flat, the radiator overheats and the head gasket blows. The bear on his back is of the Polar variety. Mothers cover their children's eyes to keep them from witnessing the horror of a last lap in 26 seconds. Mottley's last 100 yards consume 17.5 seconds as the field goes by. His 1:14.3 puts him fourth behind Jay Luck's 1:11.2. There will be better days for Wendell. In fact one is only two days off.

Gary Gubner demonstrates his dominance over anyone not named Dallas Long. He shows no respect for the age of Perry O'Brien or the youth of Randy Matson. Gubner's 62-6½ leaves O'Brien 2½ feet behind and Matson over five feet back.

Now it is two days later, February 1, and we are in the Boston Garden for the 75^th Boston AA meet. This is one of those aforementioned better days for Wendell Mottley. He splits 22.3 for the 220 on the 160 yard track and holds off Charley Mays of the Grand Street Boys Club to run 48.0 and break Roy Cochran's 1942 world record of 48.2. Mays is right there at 48.3. Not to worry about Charley. He is not one to brood over missed opportunities. He wins the broad jump in a meet record 24-4¾.

Note: Broad jump is not an antiquated term. We learned last year that the event had been renamed the long jump. This transition must take place in the outdoor season as every indoor meet reported in this issue has a broad jump competition.

The 13,535 spectators are disappointed that snow has shut down the airport and therefore Bob Hayes and Bill Crothers aren't here, but their disappointment is mitigated by the world record performance of those plucky youngsters on the Villanova two mile relay team. NCAA cross country champ Vic Zwolak opens with a 1:55.1 leg but then things speed up. Al Adams covers his 5½ laps in 1:51.8 and hands off to Tom Sullivan who cranks out a 1:50.8. Now it is up to Noel Carroll. Noel is taking no prisoners. He runs 52.2 for the quarter en route to a 1:48.7 split and a 7:26.4 WR, breaking the old record of.....well, which one do you want? Last year Georgetown set the 8 lap to the mile record of 7:29.0. The 1962 Kansas team had the dirt track record of 7:29.2 and the 11 lap to the mile record of 7:30.8. Take your pick, Villanova beat them all.

Now it is February 7 and we are still on the East Coast. The Philadelphia Inquirer Games may be competitive but there will be no fast times because of the “sharp-turned 12 lap track”. (For those of you without a calculator at the ready, that is 146 2/3 yards to the lap, not your basic dodge-ball ball circle, but close.) An example of the difficulty is provided by Charley Mays, who last week ran 48.3 on a 160 yard track. Tonight he wins the quarter in a meet record of 49.7.

The next night on the other side of the county things pick up in the LA Times meet. There is no snow at LA International, so Bob Hayes and Bill Crothers are in attendance.

Actually Crothers is the focal point of the meet. He states that he can beat Peter Snell for the Olympic gold, because “I am faster than he is”. If tonight's performance is any indication, he may be. If you are assuming that this indicates that Crothers extends his 16 race winning streak at 1000 yards and the press unanimously vote him Athlete of the Meet, you would be half right.

Running against a strong field with 370 yards to go, Crothers makes his move on the curve. He catches the heel of an unmentioned opponent and down he goes. By the time he is up again Dick Drake estimates that he has lost 45 yards to the field. You are starting from a dead stop 45 yards behind the field with only two laps left. What do you do? If you are Bill Crothers, you take off after them. Drake writes, “Perhaps the final 340 yards of an indoor 1000 have never been run so fast”. Incredibly he passes four competitors with a lap to go. Only Jim Dupree is ahead. The crowd goes wild as Crothers eats up Dupree's lead. Into the straight they come. Both lean at the tape and Dupree gets the nod by an inch as they are both timed in 2:11.9. The crowd acknowledges the magnificent effort it has just seen. The standing ovation lasts two minutes. Off is performance tonight the great Canadian is ready for Peter Snell. Bring him on.

Snell isn't here, but there are two representatives from down under, Aussies Ron Clarke, the world record holder at 10,000, and Tony Sneazwell, the high jumper with the third best ever mark. Both compete well, but winning is not in the cards tonight. Clarke leads the two mile until the mile and a half mark when Bob Schul makes his move. Clarke make a game effort, but two miles is not his forte and Schul is not to be denied. He holds Clarke off by four tenths in 8:42.2. Sneazwell jumps 7-0¾ but can't match John Thomas who goes an inch higher.

We mentioned that Bob Hayes was in the house and indeed he covers 60 yards in 6.0 to equal the world record for the third time in four weeks. He is not the only Hayes to win tonight. Hayes Jones holds off Dee Andrews of Long Beach State to take the 60 hurdles in 7.2 for his 52^nd consecutive indoor win.

Tom O'Hara wins the mile in only 4:07.0, but his destruction of Jim Grelle on the last lap gives indication that something awfully good is in the future. Grelle can't match O'Hara's kick and settles for second in 4:08.4.

Ralph Boston trails Wellsley Clayton until the fifth round of the broad jump where he soars 25-7½ for a three inch victory.

As close as the broad jump is, the match up in the shot between Gary Gubner and Dallas Long is closer. Gubner throws 62-4¼ only to see Long put one out a quarter inch further.

February 13 finds us back at Madison Square Garden for the New York Athletic Club Games.
 Jim Beatty is injured and won't run tonight, but, as the world record holder in the indoor mile, he fires the pistol that starts the race. Three minutes fifty-six and six tenths later he is no longer the world record holder. Tom O'Hara follows through splits of 59.0 and 2:01.3 before starting his drive 500 yards out. He scoots by leader John Camien, passes the 1320 in 3:01.6 and the race for the record is on. Fifty-five seconds later he hits the tape in 3:56.6, clipping 2.3 seconds off Beatty's record.

Bill Crothers adds O'Hara to his list of guys (two in number) who might beat Snell. “I used to think that O'Hara was the one man who might give Snell a good race at Tokyo. Now I think that O'Hara will outkick him.”

Crothers himself has his hands full in the 880. After a relaxed opening quarter of 56.1, Missouri's Robin Lingle supplies all the competition Crothers can handle and leads into the final straight before Crothers catches him with ten yards to go, winning 1:50.8 to 1:50.9. Noel Carroll finishes faster than everyone but can only muster third at 1:51.0.

You know you are really good when you keep running world records and no one pays much attention. Such is the case for Bob Hayes who equals the WR 6.0 at 60 yards for the fourth time this season.

The two best high jumpers in the world not named Valeryi Brummel, John Thomas and Tony Sneazwell, go head to head and the winner is.......Lew Hoyt of USC who PR's with a 7-1 clearance to beat the big boys by two inches.

Five days ago Bob Schul upset Ron Clarke at 2 miles in Los Angeles. With Bruce Kidd added to the mix you don't want to be going out for popcorn during the 2 mile tonight. Surely Clarke will take it out fast to nullify the kick of the others. Nope, the mile goes by in 4:28. The field of six stays together through a mile and a half when the big boys ramp it up. Clarke, Kidd and Schul are together at the gun when Schul makes his move. Kidd hangs on down the backstretch, but Clarke lets ground open up. Just as they hit the final turn Kidd moves by. There is a bump but no foul is called as Kidd holds off Schul 8:42.6 to 8:42.8 with Clarke third in 8:43.8. Kidd's last lap is 57.0.

Gary Gubner puts the shot 63-2½ to put that Matson kid from Texas A&M in his place by four feet.

Two evenings hence, February 15, Jumbo Elliot is pretty sure his two mile relay team can break that world record they set two weeks ago. One reason for his confidence is that they will be running on an 8 lap to the mile track in Louisville's Mason-Dixon Games. This issue is never in doubt. Orr opens up with a 1:53.9 (1.2 seconds faster than Vic Zwolak ran in Boston). Adams (1:52.6), Sullivan (1:49.5) and Carroll (1:48,8) follow and the record drops 1.5 seconds to 7:24.9.

Bob Schul is here but Kidd and Clarke have other duties to attend to, so after a dawdling 4:28 opening mile, the Miami of Ohio star cranks out a 4:19 finish to win the 2 mile by ten seconds over Pat Traynor in 8:47.3.

Charley Mays nearly pulls off one of the strangest doubles in recent history. He tangles with Ray Saddler and Earl Young in the 500. Bumping and shoving ensue, but Charley holds on for a 56.2 victory with Young edging Saddler for second, both at 56.3. No time to chat, Charley is off for the broad jump runway where he does battle with Ralph Boston. Charley sees Boston's 25-3 and spots him his own 25-3¾. There is a reason that Ralph is the Olympic champion and he shows it in the fifth round, when he goes 25-10 to keep Charley from the 500-BJ double.

Oh, and Bob Hayes equals his own WR at 70 yards with a 6.9 clocking.

On the other side of the country there is another meet this evening. The Golden Gate Invitational, held in San Francisco's Cow Palace, draws a capacity crown of 13,277. That high school kid, Gerry Lindgren, captured the city's heart seven weeks ago when he ran 9:00 for two miles. A month ago in LA he ran 8:46.0. Tonight he is back in the city by the bay to tangle with the great Ron Clarke. You bet it's a sellout. Grab your coat and hat. We're going.

The meet lacks the star power of others previously reported but no one came to see the 440, triple jump or 60. The crowd is here to see the two mile and I am sure the distance runners among us agree that is the way it should be.

If you are a 117 pound high school kid racing one of the greatest runners the world has seen, what is your strategy? Well, you go out hard and take it to him. Lindgren leads through a 61.7 quarter and a 2:06.4 half. The pace settles a bit and the mile comes up in 4:19.7. After the race Clarke comments that he wanted to share the pace setting but Lindgren wouldn't let him. When the mile and a half mark is reached, Lindgren is still in the lead at 6:30.7. Finally the 26 year old Aussie makes his move with three laps left. Once he has gone by there is no doubt as to the outcome. Even as Clarke powers away, the crowd is with Lindgren. The 3000 meter mark is passed in record time for both, Clarke 8:05.0 for the world best, Lindgren 8:06.3 for the American mark. Not often is the second place time more significant that the winning time, but this time it is. Clarke's 8:36.9 has been done before. Lindgren's 8:40 hasn't, not by a high school kid, not by a 17 year old.

To the delight of the crowd the two jog a lap with their arms around each other. Clarke's admiration is obvious. “He's colossal. The kid is the best I have ever seen.” Lindgren is quoted as saying, “I was hoping I could run 8:46 again. Now I don't know what I can do.”

The Golden Gate meet has emotion of a different sort as well. A sense of reality settles in with the appearance of Brian Sternberg in his wheelchair. He, his family and his girlfriend have been flown from Seattle for a ceremony initiating the Brian Sternberg Award. This award is to be given annually to “the athlete who most typifies the spirit and ideals of American track and field as exemplified by Brian Sternberg.” The crowd stands as he is wheeled around the track by his buddy, Ron Morris, and his idol, Dutch Warmerdam. Brian says his only regret this evening is that his good friend, John Pennel, had to withdraw from the meet with a heel injury. “I sure wanted to see John. He is a great guy.”

What if we staged an indoor track meet on a Tuesday night, just four days before the nationals, would anyone come? That had to be the concern of the promoters of the Long Beach Games, but sure enough they hold the meet. When the Golden Gate Invitational ended, the track was disassembled, loaded on trucks and set up in Long Beach.

The size of the crowd isn't mentioned, but a good many big names are there to compete. Two of the biggest names are the focus of attention for different reasons. Dallas Long leaves Perry O'Brien two and a half feet behind with a throw of 64-8 in the shot, the best in the world this year. This is not unexpected news.

What is unexpected is Bob Hayes loss in the 60 to Darell Newman of Fresno State. Wait a minute, the invincible Bob Hayes lost? Yes, but there is an explanation. Newman gets a rolling start that is apparent to everyone save the starter and recall starter. Hayes eases off his blocks thinking that the race will be recalled. No shot is fired and the Florida A&M star has an “oh-oh” moment. Realizing that the race is on, he takes off after Newman. In fairness it must be mentioned that Newman is not flat out as he listens for the recall. Hayes gains, but Newman is a world class sprinter. Give him an advantage an it is all over. Bert Nelson estimates that Hayes gains four feet in the final 30 yards, but it isn't enough. Newman wins by inches at both clock 6.0. There is talk of running the race again but it doesn't happen.  More about Darell Newman  (from L.A. Times, 1997)

But flash back to the mid-1960s and Newman is the "bald bullet" of Fresno State. This is a man who briefly shared the world record for 100 yards with Bob Hayes. Newman ran the 100 in 9.2 seconds (hand timed) and ran a world-record 5.9 seconds for 60 yards indoors.

Blessed with an extremely fast start--and already bald as a collegian, hence the nickname--he was ranked third in the world at 100 meters in 1965.

That was a golden age for track and field, when dual meets between nations drew huge crowds and worldwide attention.

Newman's apex of fame came in a United States versus Soviet Union meet in Kiev. Newman won the 100 meters in 10.03; he says it was the first competitive 100 to be electronically timed and the first event televised live from one continent to another.

Newman was named the male athlete of the meet and was swarmed by autograph seekers. "All of a sudden I was super famous in Russia," Newman said. "I was even assigned two KGB agents as bodyguards."

But upon returning home and graduating from Fresno State, Newman had to give up running and get a job. Although he had never played football, he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 1966. After a couple days in camp he decided to return to California to teach and coach.

His first job at Smedley (now Carr) Intermediate in Santa Ana was the start of 27 years as a track coach, including 11 at Santa Ana High. Fifteen years ago he became the Saints' girls' cross-country coach and in 1992 he took over the entire program, although he now mostly deals with administrative duties while Roger and Imelda Nava handle the day-to-day coaching.

Although it might seem incongruous, a sprinter coaching distance runners, Newman says he enjoys the simplicity of the sport. Still, his background makes him a prime target for ribbing from Athletic Director Frank Alvarado, a former cross-country runner.

"I often tease Darel that he never ran anything over 200 meters in his life," Alvarado said. "He just laughs and says that's because he was smart."

Back to February 1964

The best distance race is the 1000 yards where Canadian Sig Ohlemann, competing for the Emerald Empire Athletic Association, takes the measure of John Bork 2:10.1 to 2:10.3. Long Beach State ace Darryl Taylor is third at 2;10.9.

Now the aforementioned four days have gone by and we are back at the Garden for the 76th AAU National Indoor Championship, a meet Jim Dunaway reports is “marred by confusion, inept announcing, sloppy administration and erratic officiating”. Other than that, how did you like the meet, Jim?

Still, there are some very good marks. Ron Clarke benefits from running three miles rather than two. Try as he may to take the lead and set a fast early pace, he has trouble getting to the front because of that damned Lindgren kid who goes through the mile in 4:22. Clarke finally takes over at the mile and a half (6:40) and, with the exception of Pete McArdle forcing the pace at two miles, leads the rest of the way to win easily in a WR 13:18.4. McArdle is second at 13:32.6 with Lindgren setting a high school record of 13:37.8 in third.

Some of those good Aussie runners of the time.
Front Al Lawrence,  John Macy (Poland) Barrie Almond
Back  Pat Clohessy, coach Johnny Morris, and George Ranken (nat. ?)
U. of Houston's Cross Country champions

For a country with no indoor track, the Aussies have a fondness for the indoor three mile. The 13:26.4 record Clarke breaks was first set by countryman Al Lawrence and later tied by fellow Aussie Albie Thomas. Good to keep it in the family so to speak.

How do you define confidence? How about this? You are a Nebraska freshman. You were a dominating high school sprinter last year in Seattle but his is the national championship and you have made the finals in the 60 and will be running against Bob Hayes. Your name is Charley Greene and you have just told Hayes that he will have to equal his world record of 5.9 to beat you. You are right. You, Mel Pender and Hayes are shoulder to shoulder at 40 yards. Indeed the Florida A&M deity pulls away for a hand timed 5.9 clocking. His Bulova phototimer time is 5.99, the first sub six clocking, but if you are young Charlie Greene, the future looks promising. You just ran 6.05.

And look who has just risen from the dead. That's Ernie Cunliffe toeing the starting line in the 1000. But wait, it can't be. The first quarter just went off in 62 seconds. That's not the Ernie we remember, not the guy who goes out hard and lets the chips fall where they may. No, this is the older, wiser Ernie who chooses the moment to strike. And strike he does. Three hundred and fifty yards remain when the veteran separates the man from the boys. His burst supplies a half second victory in 2:14.8. Could it be that the former Stanford star is back?

Speaking of veterans, yes, that is Perry O'Brien leading the shot through five rounds with his seasonal best of 62-10. But that is also Gary Gubner throwing 63-2½ on his final attempt to take his third consecutive US indoor title.

Another Olympic champion tastes defeat as Ralph Boston's 25-8¼ broad jump is topped by Charley Mays' 26-1½. Without Lew Hoyt here to upset the natural order of things, John Thomas jumps 7-1 to relegate Tony Sneazwell and his 7-0 to second. You think nothing outlasts the Energizer bunny? How about Hayes Jones who wins his 54^th consecutive indoor hurdle race, in this case the 60 yard variety in 7.0.

Tidbits from Dick Drake's and Bert Nelson's columns follow. Ron Clarke trains twice a day, plays squash at lunch and often goes out for a brief run with his wife just before bed. When he finds time to play, he is an avid golfer. When his running days are over he would like to play golf daily. (Why is it there are no golfers who say when they are done playing, they would like to take up distance running?).......Clarke says that a couple days after his 10K record he felt depressed. He said John Landy told him he went through the same experience after setting his mile record......The world record holder used to be a chubby? Apparently so. Clarke says that when he was in the army he gained 50 pounds in 3½ months, the result of starchy food and no running.....Talk about your that and fifty cents will get me a cup of coffee award, the AAU has seen fit to award Brian Sternberg a lifetime membership......After three years at Occidental, Jim Bush will succeed Ducky Drake as head coach at UCLA. Ducky will stay on as head trainer......Herb Elliot and Merv Lincoln are still competing with each other. They are TV sports commentators on rival Melbourne stations......Says Bob Hayes who has been drafted as a receiver by the Dallas Cowboys, “I hope they give me a chance. I would like to prove a sprinter can succeed in pro football”. We'll see how that turns out.

Vol. 3 No. 35 November, 1963

November 1963

There was no report of cross country in the October issue so this issue jumps right to the championship meets with little mention of what preceded them. The IC4A meet is held November 18 in New York City, probably Van Cortlandt Park though it is not mentioned. Former Marine and current Villanova student Vic Zwolak opens such a large lead that even though he is bothered by a stitch in his side which slows him to a 5:13 final mile, he still wins by 120 yards and breaks the course record he set last year with a 24:46.8. Notre Dame takes the team title easily with 55 points followed by Brown (133), Michigan State (154) and Villanova (159).

A week later, November 26, the NCAA meet is held in East Lansing, Michigan and Notre Dame runs into the big boys from the west coast. Defending champion San Jose State enters the meet as a strong favorite and more than lives up to that billing, winning with 53 points to beat Oregon's 68. The Fighting Irish edge Kansas and Michigan State for third 128 – 130 - 135.

Vick Zwolak leading John Camien and Geoff Walker

Once again Vic Zwolak is the man of the hour though this time he has little margin for error. Emporia State's John Camien 

stays with him throughout the race only to be outkicked by ten yards. San Jose had it pretty much wrapped up early with three runners in the top ten: Jeff Fishback 3^rd, Danny Murphy 5^th and Ben Tucker 8^th.

From Dick Drake's “On Your Marks” column we learn that Wilbur Hutsell has retired after coaching Auburn for 42 years. He is replaced by Melvin Rosen...

Mel Rosen

.Larry Questad scored 18 points for Stanford in this year's NCAA meet, but he won't score any next year as he has been suspended for the year for an unmentioned fraternity prank. He will continue to train with Payton Jordan.....Joe Faust has married the unnamed 1962 Mt. SAC Relays Queen. (Her name, Joanne Radaich, was mentioned in the September issue. How hard would that have been to include?) ...Ernie Cunliffe has been transferred by the Air Force to the ROTC unit at the University of Oregon and will train with Bill Bowerman.....Max Truex has retired from track. He is the vice-president of his class at the USC School of Law.....Another USC post graduate, Dallas Long, has arranged his studies at the SC School of Dentistry so that he will have time to train for the Olympics. “He is on an all out weight training program and is as strong as an ox”.......Former Oxy and Strider hurdler Clarence Treat is the lead singer with the New Christy Minstrels…....Ray Barry, a 20 year old sprinter from the Virgin Islands will become the University of Miami's first Negro athlete......Speaking of Miami, Bob Schul has just enrolled. That would be the Ohio type Miami.....Oliver Jackson who has helped individuals or relay teams to break or tie 15 world records in his 15 years as coach at Abilene Christian has resigned to become district manager of American Founders' Insurance Company where he has worked part time for the last nine years.

Three quarters of a page is devoted to a fictitious 800 competition among the 12 greatest half milers of all time as seen by Roberto Quercetani, the European correspondent. To cut to the chase, semis pare the field down to Mal Whitfield, John Woodruff, Arthur Wint, Tom Courtney, Peter Snell and Rudolf Harbig. Wint leads with 200 to go, but Courtney and Harbig pass and pull away. But here comes Snell. He squeezes through on the inside with 50 meters to go and wins in a WR 1:43.6 (even 51.8 second splits). Harbig 1:43.9, Courtney 1:44.0, Woodruff 1:44.2, Whitfield 1:45.0 and Wint 1:45.2 follow.

Snell, Courtney, Woodruff and Dave Wottle.
 Looks like Dave Wottle could mediate this conversation about a hypothetical 800 race.  Where might he place himself?

Arthur Wint defeating Herb McKenley and Mal Whitfield while equalling the WR in 400 M at Wembley Stadium August , 1948

Harbig Smoking a Field in Berlin

This is somewhat akin to Sandy Koufax, leading 3-2 with one out in the ninth, pitching to Babe Ruth with Ricky Henderson on second.

Three pages are devoted to “The Tokyo Diary”, publisher Bert Nelson's diary of his experience as the manager of the US team at the recent Tokyo International Sportsweek meet. He relates incidents involving John Pennel, Russ Rogers and Larry Questad, but most importantly, this journal answers the question of what Pat Boone was doing anchoring a relay team in Ireland this summer.

The August issue of TFN has a photo of the singer running with baton in hand and no competition in sight. Even the boys down at the Dew Drop Inn were flumoxed by this seeming inanity. Finally we have the answer from the lips of one of Boone's relay teammates, Larry Questad.

“That's the craziest thing you will ever hear. Pat is a good friend of the owner of the stadium. The stadium wasn't doing well, so Pat wanted to help him with publicity. It worked. The stadium was packed. Pat may have looked good in the picture (editor's note: no he didn't), but he can't run worth a darn. He had about a 35 yard lead when I handed off to him and he lost all but six inches of it. He was running against a half miler, too.

Larry Questad, Any Resemblance to
Pat Boone , below?

Boone training for track meet?  I swear we
didn't photoshop this picture

“Everybody in town seemed to know that Boone was arriving and when our group got there they mistook me for him (ed. note: there is a resemblance) Ain't That a Shame?  . After the meet Pat threw a big party for us. Starlets and everything.” That's Pat Boone, lousy runner, but a friend of track and field. The boys will raise a glass in his honor Friday night at the Dew Drop.

Vol. 3 No. 14 May, 1963

MAY 1963

It is spring and we have relay meets, specifically Kansas, Drake, Penn, Mt. SAC, Quantico, West Coast and the Coliseum. Pour a cup of coffee, get comfy in the recliner and let us take you back to those golden days of yesteryear.

April 19-20 find us in Lawrence, Kansas, basking in 75 degree weather at the Kansas Relays. There are exciting races, but no great marks. Colorado sophomore, Bill Miller earns his scholarship this weekend. In addition to running heats in the 440 and mile relays and the high hurdles, he wins the 400 meter hurdles in 52.6, places second to Rex Wilson of Texas in the highs, 14.1 for both, anchors the 440 relay to a third place finish, brings the 880 relay from third to first on the anchor leg and blisters a 45.9 anchor to win the mile relay in 3:10.1.

John Camien

John Camien, who outkicked Dyrol Burleson in the Texas Relays, is outkicked himself in the Glenn Cunningham Mile as Missouri's Robin Lingle powers past in the home straight to win by three tenths in 4:04.8.

Now it is the last weekend in April, the traditional home of the three major relay meets in the US, Drake, Penn and Mt. SAC.

The wet weather in Des Moines hurts the Saturday portion of the Drake Relays, but the competition is tight. Texas Southern dominates the college division, winning four relays, three of them with faster times than the winners of the university division. Englishmen, now Southern Illinois students, Brian Turner and Bill Cornell, shine. Turner takes the two mile in 8:51.7 while Cornell blazes a 1:47.1 anchor in the sprint medley as the Salukis record an outstanding 3:18.7.

Robin Lingle tangles with Dyrol Burleson in the mile. John Camien outkicked Burleson at Texas and Lingle outkicked Camien last week in Kansas, so it makes sense that Lingle outkicks Burleson today, right? Nope, this isn't the math equation in which A is greater than B and B is greater than C, therefore A is greater than C. Burly debunks that by opening up on the back straight and it is over. The ex-Oregon star puts Lingle away by 30 yards in 4:05.4. No splits are given. But this isn't the fastest mile of the day. Harry McCalla runs a 4:04.8 anchor to make up 40 yards on So. Illinois and bring Stanford home first in the 4 mile relay.

Coverage of this meet would not be complete without mention of the efforts of one of our favorites here at OUTV, Jerry Dyes, who wins the javelin at 238-9, places fifth in long jump at 23-8 and leads off the Abilene Christian teams which win the 880 relay and take second in the 440 relay.

Brian Sternberg

And now to Philadelphia and the Penn Relays where the big news is Brian Sternberg's 16-5 world record pole vault. After missing at 15-0 and 15-6, the University of Washington “sophenom” (T&FN's word). clears 16-1 and 16-5 on his first attempts. His second attempt at 16-7 is oh, so close, making this height a definite possibility in the near future.

After seven years of placing second in the mile relay, Morgan State finally wins in 3:12.4 much to the delight of coach Eddie Hurt who says, “At the end of every leg we were in front and I couldn't believe it. I could hardly bear to watch Nick Lee come down the homestretch, I was so excited.” The top individual time of the day belongs to Maryland's Chris Stuaffer who runs the 400 intermediates in 51.2. The best relay split belongs to Oregon State's Norm Hoffman who brings the Beavers' sprint medley team from far back to second with a 1:48.2 effort. Double relay winners are Michigan State (440 and 880) and Fordham (2M and 4M).

If you got excited about Drake and Penn, you are going to get all wiggly about what happens the same weekend in Walnut, CA in the Mt SAC Relays. Penn and Drake are prestigious universities. Mt. SAC is a junior college. The Penn Relays began in 1895 and is the oldest track meet in the country. Drake got its start in 1910. Mt. SAC is a neophyte, just finding its way in its fifth year of life. Yet the disrespectful newcomer has placed its esteemed forefathers out of focus in the rear view mirror if the quality of competition is to be the judge.

You want world records? How about three on the same day? The first day of competition is rained out. The second and third days see one of the great meets in track and field history. Two time Olympic champion Al Oerter extends his discus world record by half a foot to 205-5½ in the greatest discus display in history. Five of his six throws are over 200 feet. But Big Al can't rest on his laurels. Jay Silvester is second at 197-4, but that is not the full story. 

Jay Silvester

He has a foul at 205 and a warm up throw at 215. Yes, the discus will be fun to watch the rest of this season.

Just as Oerter's record is not unexpected, neither is Arizona State's mile relay mark. What is to be surprised about? They have already set this record twice this season. Mike Barrick opens with a 48.0. Henry Carr once again is the fast leg at 45.1. The big difference is that Ron Freeman lowers his best to 45.6. Anchor Ulis Williams goes out too fast and pays the price in the homestretch, but his 45.8 is enough to drop the record to 3:04.5.

Now to the jaw dropping performance that left spectators stunned, specifically C.K. Yang's dominating, unbelievable, off the chart, (fill in your own superlative here) dismantling of Rafer Johnson's decathlon world record. On the morning of Sunday, April 28 the WR is 8683 points. By that evening, after a second day like no other, it is 9121.

Indeed, at the end of the first day C.K trails Rafer's first five event total by 207 points (4750 to 4543). The first three events, 100, broad jump and shot put, give no indication of what is to happen. Yang runs an expected 10.7, the followed with slightly below normal marks of 23-6¼ and 43-4½. He balanced this by slightly exceeding expectations in the high jump (6-3 ½) and 400 (47.7). Still when he goes to bed that night he is down 207 points.

The next day the sun shines brightly and the angels sing. C.K. opens with a sizzling, yet not surprising, 14.0 in the hurdles. Then comes his other weak event, along with the shot put, the discus, where he throws only 134-6, losing 375 points vis a vis Rafer's 170-6.

The pole vault is next and this is where it all comes together. Yang has become a very good vaulter as evidenced by his indoor WR of 16-3 two months ago. This time he clears 15-10½ for 1515 points, a stupefying 785 points more than Rafer's 13-0¼ had given him. A fine javelin throw of 235-5 and a 5:02.4 1500 are enough to produce the record. In truth the record may increase. As Yang's vault is ¾ of an inch higher than the decathlon point table goes, more points may be added upon review.

There are two ways to look at this. Yang's performance can be viewed as one of the great achievements in track and field history. He crushes the great Rafer Johnson's world record by 438 points. Numbers don't lie. There is no room for argument.

On the other hand, you can view this record as the result of the fiberglass pole. Rafer Johnson vaulted 13-0¼ with a metal pole. What would he have done with a fiberglass pole or how high would Yang have vaulted had he been restricted to a metal pole? (He did 14-1¼ the day Johnson did 13-0.) Take the pole vault points out of the equation and Johnson wins 7953 to 7606.

Your reporter has peeked at the January 1964 issue. Track and Field News has taken the mathematical position. C.K. Yang's photo graces the cover as the world athlete of the year based on this performance.

April 30 finds us in Monroe, Louisiana on the campus of NE Louisiana State

for a midweek dual meet. Remember the 16-5 WR vault by Brian Sternberg three days ago? Today it becomes the former world record as John Pennel flies 16-6¾. Sternberg had said he didn't think his record would last very long, but one would think he had hoped for at least a week.

It is May 4 and we are in Quantico, Virginia for the Quantico Relays where sectionalism is rewarded. Jim Dunaway writes that “the East” saw not only its first four minute mile, but its fastest mile relay. Indeed Cary Weisiger runs 3:59.2, but details such as splits or the names and places of other competitors are missing. Coach Eddie Hurt of Morgan State has reason to be pleased. After winning at Penn State last week in 3:12.4, his foursome clocks 3:08.8 today. Undoubtedly his joy is tempered somewhat by the fact that his lads are beaten by Maryland State as Charley Mays' 45.8 anchor catches Nick Ellis. Mays also takes the broad jump at 25-4.

Adolph Plummer

Georgetown wins a competitive 2MR on the strength of Eddie Duchini's 1:49.1. The Hoyas clock 7:29.4 to edge Villanova by a tenth and Fordham by three tenths. And a ghost from the past emerges in the hurdles as comebacking Elias Gilbert edges John Bethea, 13.9 for both.

A week later the West Coast Relays are hampered by an unusually cool Fresno night, but Mahoney Samuels has a bang up night. Well, the actual bang up came just a few minutes before the competition. The car in which he was riding was in an accident that sent the three other occupants to the hospital and Mahoney to the top of the triple jump runway with a stiff neck. Undetered, the Jamaican, now representing the Santa Clara Valley Youth Village, pops a wind aided 54-5 for the outstanding mark of the night. Oddly, this is the only wind aided jump of the competition.

Given the quality of the competition, with a few notible exceptions, the meet produces disappointing marks. Frank Covelli sets the meet record in the javelin at 263-9½ and Jay Silvester does the same in the discus with his 194-11½ effort. Arizona State takes a shot at the WR in the 880 relay, but poor passing leaves them short at 1:22.9 even with Henry Carr's 19.8 split. The most exciting race of the evening is the 2MR where Oregon State edges Occidental 7:23.4 to 7:24.0.

Six days later, May 17, the Coliseum Relays provide the excitement that the was missing in Fresno. A crowd of 32,000 watches eight meet records set. Bob Hayes dominates the 100, winning by three tenths in 9.3, then beats Henry Carr in the 220, 20.8 for both. Villanova's latest Irish import, Noel Carroll, powers past Kevin Hogan and Jim Dupree in the straight to take the 880 in an impressive 1:47.5. Hogan and Dupree run 1:48.0 and 1:48.3.

New Zeland's Olympic gold medalists, Peter Snell and Murray Halberg, have mixed results. Snell allows Tom O'Hara to lead the parade through a 3:06.5 1320 before dropping the hammer for a 53.1 last lap and a 4:00.3 win over Dyrol Burleson who makes the mistake of allowing Snell to kick first. Cordner Nelson says Burleson's 4:00.8 doesn't reflect how close he finished to Snell. Nelson's estimate is four feet. O'Hara is third at 4:02.0.

Tom O'Hara

Halberg doesn't meet with the same success in the 5000 where Jim Beatty cranks out a 56.1 final go around for a 13:57.4 victory. Halberg is second at 13:59.2, Ron Larrieu third at 14:00.0. USC's Julio Marin runs 14:02.4 for a collegiate record in fourth.

Ron Morris, John Rose and Gerald Pratt all vault 16-0½ to finish in that order. Pratt can take comfort in knowing his mark is the best ever third place finish. World record holder John Pennel can do no better than fifth at 15-0. Ralph Boston broad jumps a meet record 26-3½. His four 26 foot jumps are the only ones in the Coliseum Relays history. Jay Silvester's 197-9 throw takes the discus gold by over two feet from Rink Babka.

Ah, but the relays are what this meet is about. Texas Southern takes the 440 relay in 40.7 when ASU's Henry Carr can't gain on TSU's Lester Milburn on the anchor leg. Arizona State does not go home empty handed as the Wilcats handle TSU easily in the mile relay, 3:05.2 to 3:07.7. Once again Carr's 45.4 second leg is the fastest of the day. The Lobos of New Mexico are heard from in the 880 relay. They run 1:24.4 as Adolph Plummer comes from behind to pass TSU and win by three tenths.

The two mile relay is a classic dual between Occidental and San Jose State with Oxy's Ron Whitney holding off Ben Tucker on the final carry to win 7:21.6 to 7:22.2. Surprisingly, the fastest split of the race belongs to fifth place Long Beach State's second leg, Darryl Taylor, who cranks out an impressive 1:48.6.

According to Cordner Nelson, the best race of the night is the frosh 2MR in which UCLA's anchor, Bob Day, runs 1:49.0 but comes up inches short as San Jose State and the Bruins both cross the line in 7:30.6.

The Pan American Games are contested from April 27 to May 4 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Often this is a lackluster, ho hum sort of affair and 1963 is no different. Even with Joe Faust retired at the last minute (though he competed and won at Mt SAC the day the Pan Am Games opened), the US goes 1-2 in every field event except the triple jump where we are 1-4. Ralph Boston fills in for Faust with a second place 6-8 3/8 behind Gene Johnson's 6-11 3/8.

Jim Grelle turns the tables on Jim Beatty in the 1500, running 3:43.5 to win by a tenth. No splits or race description is given. Oddly, the US won neither sprint race. Ira Murchison was second in the 100. Ollan Cassell took second in the 200, a race in which the first three were separated by one onehundreth.

J.D. Martin would win the decathlon at
these Pan Am Games

Cordner Nelson's Track Talk column profiles 16 high school kids who may bear watching, three in particular. Randy Matson is described as “the greatest shot-discus doubler of all time. His 66-10½ shot put is the second best ever (behind Dallas Long) and his 192-3 discus throw is number three on the all time list.

Randy Matson in later years as a
Texas A&M aggie

Ryun in his early high school career

 Cordner avows that “when he becomes serious about these events, he'll be quite good”. Then there is Tommy Smith of Lemoore, CA who is showing some potential in the sprints. He has marks of 9.6, 21.1 and 47.4. Oh, and he has broad jumped 24-6½. CN opines prophetically, “He has a poor start, making his future in the 220 or 440”. Then there is this skinny kid in Wichita who is only a sophomore, but has the fastest time in the mile this season, 4:17.5, Jim Ryun. Elsewhere in this issue we find Ryun has lowered that time to 4:16.2, a new sophomore class record.

In Fran Errota's Prep Panorama column we learn of one of the best races ever at the league level. This would be Southern California's Foothill League 880 where Larry Arnett of Pasadena High wins in a nation leading 1:53.4. Times for the next four places are 1:54.1, 1:54.6, 1:54.6 and 1:54.7. This race produces five of the top eleven times in the country and all the runners are from different schools.

We will close with a comments from the Quotable Quotes column. Brian Sternberg: “I didn't really break the record. Don Bragg still holds it with the metal pole.”

Don Bragg: “Sternberg wrote me a letter when he was in high school. The kid had heard I was against fiberglass and begged me to keep up the campaign. But I see he has changed his mind.”

Sternberg

New Zealand coach Arthur Lydiard: “We have lots of boys with more natural talent than Snell and Halberg and so do you. To be a really great runner you have to have speed to begin with. Then you build in the endurance, the ability to carry speed over a long distance. Snell can only run the 220 on the curve in 22.2. When we started him on long distance running he couldn't do much. On his first 22 mile run it took him three hours and 15 minutes and he was so fatigued he lay on the bed and cried like a baby for half an hour. Later he was able to run it in 2:05.”

Because we haven't mentioned it lately and therefore have had a mounting number of inquiries, we feel obligated to inform you that ad for Adidas at Clifford Severn's North Hollywood store still adorns a large portion of the last page. Records may come and go, but Clifford Severn is forever.

Lynn Saunders Abiliene Christian and
Adolph Plummer take off on their relay legs