Vol. 1 No. 49 January , 1959

JANUARY 1959
Some issues are more interesting than others. This is one of the others. A photo of John Thomas clearing 7-0 graces the front page. Bobby Morrow runs his first indoor meet at the 12th annual Evening Star Games in DC winning the 70, 80 and 100. Not sure how the stadium fit any of those in, but it did. Of interest in this meet is the 600 where Glenn Davis’ indoor debut was a losing one in a slow time. Nick Ellis of Morgan State beat hurdlers Josh Culbreath and Davis in 1:13.8, a time a full two seconds slower that Ed Collymore’s 600s in New York and Boston. The quick answer here is that the meet was run on a “flat floor”. No photos are included so I am not certain what the surface was. I’m guessing dirt.
Lee Calhoun has returned from his one year suspension because he and his new bride accepted gifts on a TV game show. George Grenier, writing in a column entitled, Splinter Talk, tells us that, “One New York newspaper explained Lee Calhoun’s year of absence by stating that he was on a year suspension for having his marriage consummated on television. Darn it, I miss all the good afternoon programs.”
Fearless Harold Clark of South Africa made two attempts at a four minute mile, coming up short on both occasions, but certainly earning respect in the doing. On December 20 in a solo attempt in Kimberley, a city at 5000 feet elevation, he tied Gail Hodgson’s South African record of 4:04.5. Undeterred, six days later he took another shot, this time in the town of Pearl. Nature was not his friend. The temperature was 103 with the track being estimated at 130. Harold proved himself the kind of guy you would want in your foxhole by running 4:04.9.
Page 15 has a photo of the 18 year old Styron twins. Fine looking young men, undoubtedly a credit to their family, church and community. Two pages earlier there is a shot of the finish of the 1941 AAU 100 meters, showing Barney Ewell beating favorite Hal Davis in 10.3. A close third is a young Payton Jordan. I seldom get man crushes, but Payton is a really handsome guy.
Mention is made of American athletes being invited to the Kusocinski Memorial Meet in Poland. Janusz Kusocinski won the 1932 Olympic 10,000 in Los Angeles in 30:11.4, a time that amazingly as of this issue is still the American record (defined as run on US soil). Kusocinski was an underground leader in WWII who was executed by the Gestapo.
Six of the 16 pages are devoted to the world list, a collection of 50-100 names in every event. Herb Elliott has the year’s fastest 800, 1500 and mile. Double leaders are Glenn Davis, 400 and 400IH; Albie Thomas of Australia, 2 and 3 miles and Elias Gilbert, 110HH and 220LH. Fortunately the 200-220, 400-440 and 800-880 are lumped together with conversions. Of note for our purposes is the inclusion of Gail Hodgson, whose 4:04.5 ranks him 31st in the mile and Ernie Cunliffe, listed 45th in the 800 at 1:49.5.
The AAU and NCAA have adopted several IAAF rules, the most significant concerns the sin of pacing. “Pacing a runner as an aid to a record performance will mean the record will not be accepted. Any competitor who, in the opinion of the referee, has been aided by a coach, teammate or anyone else during the competition may be disqualified.”
The high school postal two mile team race is won by Palo Alto High. Their five runners average 10:03 with George Linn leading all competitors with 9:33. The first six teams are all from California which may say as much about weather as talent. The 12th and 13th best times are 10:04.9 by Archie San Romani Jr. and 10:05 by Dixon Farmer.
Page 15 has a story on the upcoming Big 10 and Big 8 indoor seasons. Although Kansas is favored to win its eighth straight championship, special note is made of the chances of the lads from Norman. “Gail Hodgson and Ernst Kleynhans will carry the distance load for Oklahoma. The Sooners will have defending sprint champ Dee Givens back, two 14 footers in Larry Neeley and Jim Clingman, and two shot put men who have bettered 55’ in practice this year in Dan Erwin and newcomer Mike Lindsay.”
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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.