Wolcott Hurdled Into NCAA History

Fred Wolcott of Rice said he had never raced for a record – yet he has one that has endured 80 years. 

That record? Wolcott amassed more hurdle wins (five) at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships than any other athlete in meet history. Still, his fifth hurdles crown proved more difficult than anticipated. 

While Wolcott entered the 1940 NCAA Championships in Minneapolis as the favorite to win a third-straight victory in both the 120-yard high hurdles and 220-yard low hurdles, two challenges faced the native of Snyder, Texas (near Abilene). One was an incredible rain storm which moved almost every field event indoors and left the track a muddy mess. The other was a hurdler from Tufts named Ed Dugger. 

First up were the high hurdles, an event in which Wolcott had equaled the world record of 13.7 a month earlier. He led early but was overtaken by Dugger at about halfway and the two fought to the finish in 13.9, Dugger edging to a meet record by two tenths of a second. It was the first collegiate hurdles loss for Wolcott. 

The Owl senior got revenge in the 220 lows, defeating Dugger in 23.1, matching the NCAA meet record set by Jesse Owens in 1936. Better conditions might have allowed Wolcott to lower his own world record of 22.5 that he set two weeks earlier (Wolcott cut 0.1 seconds off the previous mark of 22.6 established by Owens in his famous “Day of Days” at the 1935 Big Ten meet). 

As for his opinion on records, Wolcott explained his preference to Frank Diamond of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “It’s too much fun winning, to worry about smashing records that don’t mean a thing.”