CVol. 3 No. 64 May, 1964

"With great thanks to Steve Price  for his corrections (I got a C- on the original), here is May 1964."   Roy Mason

May 1964

The last weekend of April is when the season really starts as it is the weekend of the Penn Relays, Drake Relays, and Mt. SAC Relays. Let's start with Penn where the Villanova Wildcats put on quite a show. With Vic Zwolak, Tom Sullivan and Noel Carroll doing most of the heavy lifting, the hometown youngsters warm up by winning the four mile relay (16:50.7) and the distance medley (9:55.8) on Friday before returning Saturday to take the sprint medley (3:23.4) and the two mile relay (7:31.7).

North Carolina College's Norm Tate has a pretty good couple of days. He wins his specialties, the broad jump and the triple jump with marks of 24-11w and 50-8¼ before anchoring his 440 and 880 relay teams to victory. Tate's two individual wins are matched by Bob Hayes of Florida A&M who drops Mel Pender and Tom Robinson by the wayside in a 9.3 hundred before taking the measure of Paul Drayton in the 200, 20.6 to 21.0. Hayes says he is serious about training for the 200 and will take on WR holder Henry Carr in the Coliseum Relays in three weeks. The world record holder in the 100 vs. the world record holder in the 200. We can't wait.

As good as Norm Tate is at Penn, Gayle Hopkins is better at Drake. The Arizona senior graduated from Davenport High where he set the Iowa state high jump record of 6-5½. This weekend he returns home to jump 26-2 and 51-8 and put himself firmly in the Olympic picture in both the triple jump and the broad jump. His broad jump is truly outstanding as it is an improvement of 11½ inches and betters Jesse Owens' meet record by half an inch.

Dallas Long may be the world record holder in the shot put, but he better keep an eye on the rear view mirror because Texas A&M freshman Randy Matson is gaining. On this day Matson erases Long's freshman record of 63-7 with a throw of 64-1.

Tom O'Hara was the golden boy of the indoor season, setting a WR of 3:56.4 before being injured. Now he is on his way back. In his first outdoor competition he shows his fitness with a 56.8 final lap to take the measure of John Camien by four yards in 4:01.0.

The Mt. SAC Relays have always been a mecca for discus throwers and this year is no different. On his first throw Al Oerter betters his world record by over a foot with a 206-6 effort. Just to show this wasn't a fluke, on his last toss he adds a 206-4 to his resume. Dave Weill's lifetime best of 197-6½ takes second ahead of Jay Silvester's 195-0. Silvester's mark is not to be sneezed at, but had to be disappointing as he had warmed up with a toss in the 208 range.

The Grambling 440 relay team ties the world record at 40.0. There is a photo of the quartet, Don Owens, Richard Stebbins, Vernus Ragsdale and Don Meadows, on the front page of this issue but nary a mention of this achievement in the Mt. SAC article.

Oerter's performance earned him outstanding field event honors. Vernus Ragsdale of Grambling takes home that award for the track events as he wins the 220 in 20.7 and has a 19.5 split in the 880 relay in addition to running a leg on the winning Grambling 440 relay team.

The half mile provides some excitement. USC freshman Dennis Carr throws caution to the wind, going through the quarter in 51.3 and, if unofficial splits can be believed, actually picking up the pace to hit the 660 in 1:16.5. The wall is firmly hit 30 yards later and he staggers home in an ugly final 220 of 41.1 for a last place 1:57.6. SC assistant Willie Williams says, “He ran a fine race for 660 yards”.

 

Demonstrating that patience is a virtue, comebacking Jerry Siebert blows away a good field of Greg Pelster, Ernie Cunliffe, Steve Haas, Jan Underwood and Jim Dupree in the final 220 to win by a second and a half in 1:48.5 for the national lead.

In 1964 no report would be complete without mention of an official foul up, this time the ever intricate counting the laps in the 10,000 problem. Charlie Clark hits the tape in a way too fast 28:24.0. By the time the more alert of the officials realizes that they have stopped Charlie too soon, he is in the infield accepting congratulations. The “Oh, Charlie, I think you have one more lap to run” moment had to be the very definition of awkward. Charlie is a trooper about the whole thing. He hops on the track and dutifully runs another lap to finish in 30:07.4, still ahead of Pat Clohessy's 30:21.0.

The Striders put up the fastest mile relay of the year with Mike Larrabee 47.6, Don Webster 47.2, Adolph Plummer 46.2 and Earl Young 46.8 combining for 3:07.8. Jim Heath splits 46.1 for third place Camp Pendleton and Art Carter of second place New Mexico runs 46.2. Not to be overlooked is a 46.6 in the freshman race by a young man from San Jose State, one Tommy Smith.

Ed Burke improves his position in the world hammer throwing community by improving from 206-4 to 214-8.

C.K. Yang wins the decathlon with 8043 points, over a thousand short of his world record set in this meet last year. This decline can be attributed to the fact that his training is aimed at a peak performance in the October Olympics. Although his point total was not mentioned, particular note is made of the performance of 24 year old Russ Hodge, a giant at 6-3, 220 pounds. Oddly, his best marks were in running events where he clocks 10.9, 49.1 and a very impressive 4:26.6. Hodge, who has four years of college eligibility remaining, expresses his obvious inexperience, “I haven't got taught nothing yet.” (including English apparently) “I haven't had any real coaching.”

Though there were no big meets the following Saturday, May 2, there were some significant marks. Bob Hayes runs his fourth legit 9.1 in Nashville. Randy Matson, improving by leaps and bounds, puts together the second best shot – discus double, 64-10½ and 182-11 in Houston. By next year when he is a sophomore the kid may amount to something. In Long Beach John Rambo takes over the national lead in the high jump with a 7-1½ clearance. Oregon soph Ken Moore surprises with an 8:48.1 two mile. Jim Beatty opens his outdoor season with a 4:08.4 relay leg.

The next weekend the elite of American track and field have gathered in Fresno for the West Coast Relays. Let us go back to that scene. It is Friday evening, May 8. The time is 7:48. Dallas Long is stepping into the shot put ring for his second attempt of the evening. His world record is 65-11½. Only a few moments ago he threw 65-3. If you are a track fan, this is not the time to go out for popcorn.

A mighty burst and grunt. Long spins twice to keep his balance. The last line that is marked is 65 feet. The shot lands well beyond. The crowd roars. And indeed they should. The effort is measured at 66-7¼, a new world record.

Or is it? The distance is remeasured. Yes, it is 66-7¼. The shot is weighed. It is in excess of sixteen pounds by an ounce. The landing area measures higher than the ring. So, what's problem? Well it seems the circle does not have a raised rim, a necessity for record submission. One has to believe that since Long had upped his record only a month ago, there might be a chance of a record tonight and officals would have made the ring record legal. The mark will be submitted, but acceptance is questionable.

Long takes a third throw, 64-11, and calls it a night. He seems to limp as he walks off. This evening's performance is a surprise. He had dropped a 200 pound weight on his foot and hadn't trained for ten days and, being a new father, had been up all night with the baby.

The open 440 produces the nation's best time, 46.5, as BYU's Bob Tobler holds off San Jose State freshman Tommy Smith in the same time. This is Smith's third race of the season after starring on the SJS freshman basketball team.

If you recall in our April report, Charles Craig of Fresno State bettered the collegiate triple jump record, but the lack of a wind gauge kept the mark from being recognized. Charlie is back and this time there is no official foul up. He jumps 52-4, good enough to take down Luther Hayes' 51-11 record, but a quarter inch short of Darrell Horn's winning jump.

George Kerr's 1:52.9 880 victory normally wouldn't bear mentioning except that the first lap went off in sixty seconds flat.

A week has passed and the focus of US track has moved 220 miles south on Hwy 99 to Los Angeles for the Coliseum Relays. Bob Hayes is the man at 100, but tonight he eschews the short sprint for the long one, the 200. He has been training for the 200 and is ready to take on world record holder, Henry Carr. Carr, on the other hand, is testing his mettle in the 100. He gets off well, but is nipped at the tape by Grambling sophomore Dick Stebbins, 10.2 for both. Now it is Hayes' turn to venture into the world of Henry Carr at 200. Around the curve they go and Hayes has two yards on the world record holder. Then Carr's 400 strength comes into play. The gap closes and then then opens with Carr winning by two yards, 20.6 to 20.8 on a cold night. Carr says he will concentrate on the 200 now. Hayes is not ready to concede this distance to Carr. He says, “I was beaten by an outstanding man”, but avows he will continue to work on the 200.

As the name of the meet is the Coliseum Relays it is only appropriate that the world record which is equaled this night is in a relay, specifically the two mile relay. Villanova is here to take on the best teams from the west, Stanford, UCLA, San Jose State and Texas. After the first leg the Wildcats are down 17 yards, but mid 1:49 splits by Al Adams and Tom Sullivan position Noel Carroll well on the anchor leg. He trails San Jose State's John Garrison until the home straight where he “struggles” past to win by three yards. Carroll's 1:46.9 leg gives Villanova a tie for the world record at 7:19.0. Garrison's 1:48.0 brings San Jose in second at 7:19.6. UCLA nabs third in 7:20.6 on the strength of sophomore Bob Day's 1:46.1 anchor. Texas and Stanford finish in 7:21.4 and 7:23.5.

John Camien may have a history of being outkicked by Tom O'Hara, but tonight he does some serious outkicking himself as he wins the mile in 4:00.7 five yards ahead of Jim Grelle's 4:01.4 and Bob Schul's 4:01.6.

Billy Mills, “the blue-eyed Sioux”, takes the 5000 field through a remarkably even paced three miles – 4:30.0, 4:30.6, 4:29.5 – before succumbing to New Zealand's veteran Bill Baille who runs his last lap in 60.2 for a convincing 13:54.5 victory while Mills has to be content with a 13:57.4 PR.

When USC freshman Dennis Carr woke the morning of May 16 he held three high school national records. When the sun set that day he was down to one. Larry Kelly of Chicago's Maine East HS took half a second off Carr's 1:50.9 880 record against high school competition. Carr still holds the open high school record at 1:49.2. But when it rains, it pours. Carr also lost his mile record against HS competition this day when Jim Ryun of Wichita East dropped the record from 4:08.7 to 4:06.4. Tom Sullivan still holds the open record of 4:03.5. To rub salt in Carr's wounds, both Kelly and Ryun are juniors.

To wile away the boredom of the bus ride to the Texas Relays TCU's sub 1:52 half miler Roger Hunt decides to see how long he can hold his breath. Four minutes and sixteen seconds pass before he gasps a breath. The staff at OUTV realizes that many of our readers, although of a certain age, are still very competitive. Thus we feel obligated to provide this warning: Caution, geezers, do not try this at home.

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. 2 No. 108 November 1962 A Lot of Cross Country

NOVEMBER, 1962

We just went over 17,000 hits on this site today.  Not bad for a very narrow niche blog.  And what a great lot of information.  I've included a Villanova U.  website with a bio  about Vic Zwolak,  some good pictures of Tom O'Hara who won the NCAA cross country meet in 1962,  and a brief recollection of Leslie Hegedus,  an American Hungarian  who made his mark in the Midwest and also nationally in this year.   Thanks to Roy Mason  for a great synopsis of events. 
George Brose

As would seem fitting, the November issue of Track and Field News is filled with results of cross country meets. Well, sort of. The meets earlier in the month are covered in detail, but the most important competitions, the NCAA and the AAU mention only the first few finishers and the team champions with the note “complete details will appear in the December issue”. Well, that kind of shoddy reporting is not what you readers are paying good money for. Your resolute reporter is not above peeking at the December issue in order to provide the full story. And now, the results in chronological order.

November 10 finds us in Ames, Iowa for the Big Eight meet where the distance is three miles. To a spectator standing at the finish, it would appear the team race is between Nebraska and Kansas. Mike Fleming of Nebraska is the winner in 14:53 and teammate Ray Stevens is second, eight seconds back. But here comes Kansas. The Jayhawks take 4^th, 5^th and 6^th. Now the question is depth. Unfortunately for the Cornhuskers and Jayhawks, the depth comes from Colorado. The Buffaloes place 9^th, 10^th, 12^th, 13^th and 16^th with a spread of 13 seconds to edge Kansas 60 to 63 with Nebraska third at 76.

This is not the end of big time cross country in Iowa, for two days later the Big Ten meet takes place in Iowa City. Allen Carius of Illinois smashes his own four mile course record by nearly a minute, winning by 12 seconds. Michigan State places four in the top ten and wins its tenth Big Ten championships in thirteen years. Spartans 39, Hawkeyes 64, Wisconsin 83.

Now it is November 16 and we are in Chicago's Washington Park for the Central Collegiates which quickly turn into the Tom O'Hara Show. The Loyola of Chicago junior has had a couple bang up indoor seasons, but injuries have hampered him outdoors. Not this day, however. He pulls away from the pack with ease in the final mile of the rain soaked four mile race to win by 18 seconds in 19:21. Ohio University takes the team title with 50 points. Western Michigan and Kansas follow at 62 and 87.

On November 17 in Wheaton, Illinois Central State of Ohio adds the NCAA college division championship to the one it won in 1960 to become the first school to win this meet twice. Central's Leslie Hegedus covers the four miles in 19:59 for the individual title. Central 77, Northern Illinois 96, Emporia State 119.  Ed'.s note.  I first saw Leslie Hegedus run at the Ohio AAU cross country championships in Dayton, OH about 1958 when I was in high school.   I talked to Leslie tonight by phone, and he confirmed that  he was third that meet running for the Cleveland Magyar Club, Press Whelan from the University of Kentucky was the indivudual winner that day.  Central State  recruited him on the spot.  The Magyar club was made up of Hungarian Americans and some refugees from the 1956 Hungarian revolution who settled in the Cleveland area.  Julius Penzes an older member of the club had been ninth ranked in the the world in the 10,000 meters back in Hungary and had been coached by Mihaly Igloi there.    Penzes is 86 years old now and living in Oregon.   I remember too that Leslie had a long scar on his upper arm that was probably the surgical result of a broken humerus, but we all speculated that  it was probably from a Soviet bullet.  We were wrong about the bullet wound.   In Roy's comments about one of the races, it is mentioned that Leslie was a Displaced Person, but Leslie was adamant that was not true.  His mother was born in the US but her family returned to Hungary when she was 16.  Leslie was born in Hungary in 1937, but had rights of citizenship through his mother.  They came back to the US in 1949 when he was 12 years old.   His father was able to join the family at a later date having to bribe Communist  officials to get an exit permit.   He never  ran in High School.  Leslie was a music major at Central State and taught music in several Catholic schools in the Cleveland suburbs  St. Dominic's in Shaker Heights and St. Cyril's in Lakewood.   He is still a very fit man and remains at his old racing weight of 152 pounds.  At the age of 44 he was able to run a 4:29 mile and 31:29 10 Km.  Though he no longer runs much he does climb a lot of steps in a local park and is very active with his music at age 75.

Two days later and we are in New York's Van Cortlandt Park for the ICAAAA meet, a meet Villanova has never won. Not anymore. The Wildcats edge Big Ten champion Michigan State 49-53 thanks to a 1-2 finish by Vic Zwolak and Pat Traynor. At the start of the day the five mile course record is the 25:19.8 run by Peter McArdle earlier in this year. The collegiate record is the 25:38.3 put up last year by Cornell's Steve Machooka. Ed's. note.   Machooka from Machakos, Kenya may have been the first Kenyan to run at an American University.  This was a time when very, very few Kenyans had ever attended college outside of England where the lucky few were sent at the time of independence.  Those records weren't beaten; they were obliterated. Zwolak wins by 40 seconds over his teammate in 24:47.3. He says once Traynor fell back, he eased up to save something for the NCAA meet which will be held in five days.

The USTFF meet is held in Columbus on November 22. Although there are a few top runners, the meet is an amalgamation of oddly mixed teams. Leslie Hegedus and John Macy, a former Polish army officer, match strides for five miles before Hegedus pulls away in the last mile for a 15 second win. Team scores reflect lack of continuity: Houston Track Club 23, Ohio University 32, Kentucky Federation 70, Ohio State 85.

year of photos unknown

The next day sees us at Stanford for the fourth annual West Coast Cross Country Championships run over 4.2 miles on the university golf course. This meet also has an odd air about it. Stanford wins with 10 points. Oops! How is that possible? Well, it seems that the five scorers thing hasn't made its way over the Rockies. The yet-to-be-offensively-named Indians run 1-2-3-4 with sophomore Weym Kirkland the winner in 20:06. Team captain Harry McCalla is held out as he is to depart for the NCAAs the next day. Team scores are included here to emphasize what a strange conglomeration of schools are involved. Following Stanford are San Diego State 50, Cal and San Jose State 51, Occidental 63, Whittier 128, Pomona 137, Claremont-Mudd 154. The esteem in which this meet is held is made clear by the fact that San Jose State held out its top six runners so that they would be fresh for the NCAA meet three days later. We will see how that works out shortly.

Peter McArdle may not have the Van Cortlandt Park record, but on November 24 he overcomes that disappointment sufficiently to hold off John Gutknecht over 10,000 meters and win the AAU championship in Chicago's Washington Park, a victory that earns him a trip to Sao Paulo, Brazil for the Midnight Run on New Year's Eve. Third placer Max Truex's LATC wins the team championship.

The last cross country meet of the season, fittingly enough, is the most important, the NCAA meet, held over four miles on the Michigan State course on the 26^th day of November. The conditions are optimal: 43 degrees, virtually no wind and a dry course. The individual race appears to be between Villanova's Vic Zwolak, the ICAAAA winner, and the Central Collegiate champion, Tom O'Hara of Loyola. The team battle should be between ICAAA champ Villanova and San Jose State who has thrashed a good Stanford squad twice.

Zwolak takes it out hard, but O'Hara, who has been told to stay with the leader, does exactly that. In the second mile Idaho's Paul Henden takes the lead briefly and O'Hara responds. Zwolak regains the lead, but in the fourth mile Danny Murphy of San Jose tries to break away with no success. With a half mile to go Zwolak drops off the pace, but teammate Pat Traynor takes the lead and tries to steal the race. O'Hara, a 4:01.7 miler, is having none of it. He stays with Traynor until 150 yards are left and blows by to win by ten yards, 19:20 to 19:22. Murphy hangs tough for third at 19:32 with Zwolak fourth in 19:41.

The San Jose team gets off to a terrible start. At the half mile they have no one in the top 40. But races aren't won at the half mile and the Spartans work up steadily. Behind Murphy in 3rd, comes Ron Davis in 6^th. Jeff Fishback and Ben Tucker finish 17^th and 18^th. When Horace Whitehead crosses the line in 30^th, the west coasters have won. San Jose has 58 points to Villanova's 69. No other team is close. The next three spots go to Western Michigan 120, Houston 134 and Michigan State 147.

For an update on Vic Zwolak, check out this website made by Villanova on Vic.  Nice job by a university that does not forget its past athletes. 

http://villanovarunning.blogspot.com/2011/04/three-time-ncaa-champ-vic-zwolak-still.html

Our report would not be complete without some mention of track and field. The season may be long over in the US, but much of the rest of the world is still having a go at it. There are meets from Europe still to report and, believe it or not, the British Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia will run into December.

The mark that stands out to this reporter is the decathlon score run up by Latvian Janis Lusis. Janis Lusis, destined to be arguably the greatest javelin thrower of all time, that Janis Lusis? Yep. This year he has established the USSR record and won gold in the European Championships. Seems Janis is a pretty good all around athlete. Just to put the cherry on the top of his regular season sundae, he competes in the decathlon held Oct. 18-19 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. On the first day he runs the 100 in 11.2, broad jumps 23-6, puts the shot 48-8, high jumps 6-2¾ and runs the 400 in 51.8. The next day he hurdles 15.5, throws the discus 123-3, vaults 11-9¾ and runs the 1500 in 4:50.3. Oh, I almost forgot. He flings the javelin 265-10½ for a total of 7763 points. Good job Janis. Take a little time off to chop some wood and do a little ice fishing. We will see you next spring.

The IAAF has met (though no date is given) and the world of track and field has been dragged kicking and screaming into the 20^th century. Let us count the ways.

The fiberglass pole has been approved with the result that Pentti Nikula's 16-2½ is now the official world record.

The committee approved ten meter run up zones in sprint relays.

Javelins that will be used in the 1964 Olympics must meet IAAF standards and be sent to Tokyo for approval by March 31, 1963. No country can send more than six wooden or two metal javelins.

Another gigantic step forward was taken with the adoption of electronic timing for the Tokyo Olympics and future European Championships.

Field event measurements submitted for world record consideration must be done so in meters to the nearest centimeter below.

Sprinters, be warned that if you do not come to your final set position within “a reasonable time” once the command is given, you will be charged with a false start. Apparently the burden of determining “a reasonable time” falls to each individual starter.

The first 100 meters of 800 meter races in international competition must be run in lanes.

And here is the biggie. Athletes have hopped their last hop, stepped their last step and jumped their last jump. The official name of the event is now the triple jump. Good job, IAAF. Now can we talk about that broad jump thing?