Gerber Graduated To Elite Company

Farley Gerber of Weber State turned the steeplechase at the 1984 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships into an ultimate game of “Catch Me If You Can.” 

Gerber knew he had no chance to match kicks with Washington State’s Julius Korir, the returning NCAA runner-up with a much faster PR (8:20.02 to Gerber’s 8:24.72). 

So, Gerber broke away from the lead pack with two laps to go, opening up a sizable lead that led to an exciting chase on the final revolution. On the backstretch, Gerber led by as much as 15 meters before Korir started to catch up. 

After the final water jump, Gerber still led by 10 meters. Korir made up even more ground as both furiously fought for the finish. Gerber crossed first in 8:19.27 with Korir second in 8:19.85, which remains the only time two collegians have run under 8:20 in the same race. 

Gerber’s mark is particularly impressive by itself, too, when you take into account that only one man has and had run faster in meet history: Henry Rono of Washington State. 

“Julius Korir is just awesome at the end of the race,” Gerber explained afterwards. “If I had stayed back and tried to run with him in the last 200, he would have blown my doors off. So with a half-mile to go, I decided to make him run a little harder. If he was going to beat me, he was going to be in a race.”

Gerber’s assessment of Korir’s ability was on target: Korir won gold in the event at the Los Angeles Olympics two months later after unleashing a furious kick over the final 200 meters.

Jenkins Set Low-Altitude Meet Best In 1999

LaTasha Jenkins of Ball State ran the 200 meters at the 1999 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Boise, Idaho, much the way she might have written one of her short stories – with a great ending. 

Jenkins was a senior English major with a penchant for fiction, but her final race for the Cardinals didn’t exactly start off as a masterpiece.

“She had the world’s worst start,” Ball State coach Kelly Lycan told the Star Press of hometown Muncie, Indiana.

Jenkins threw in a major twist on the homestretch when she caught defending champion Debbie Ferguson of Georgia near the midpoint and stormed home to a solid victory in 22.29, becoming the first women’s NCAA champion for Ball State in any sport. 

Her time was a stunner, too, matching Nebraska’s Merlene Ottey from 1982 and behind only Dawn Sowell of LSU (22.04 in 1989) on the all-time list. 

It wasn’t just that she won the NCAA title, Lycan explained to David Woods for Track & Field News. “It was more the way she did it. She made the crowd go ‘oooh’.”

“I’m not that surprised,” said Jenkins. “I think I was just happy and relieved that I was capable of doing it. Just showing the world that small schools are just as fast.”

Rice Cooked On The Course & Track

The longest track race available to Greg Rice of Notre Dame was the 2-mile, and he showed that wasn’t nearly long enough.

It’s not that Rice wasn’t successful at the distance. To the contrary, actually, as his last race for the Irish in 1939 made him the first in the event with two meet records in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at 9:02.6 (Rice had also set a meet record in 1937 with a 9:14.2). 

In fact, no one else ever set two MRs at the 2-mile distance. 

However, Rice’s senior year saw the dawn of a new national championship on this date in 1938 – cross-country, and the NCAA’s first title race. The distance was 4 miles and held in East Lansing, the first of 25-straight times on the Michigan State campus. It wouldn’t be until 1959 that the NCAA Championships regularly included the 3-mile (now 5000 meters) as part of the outdoor track & field championships. 

Rice proved himself supreme at the 4-mile distance, winning the individual title in 20:12.9 by some 3 seconds – more than either of the 1-second victories he showed in NCAA two-mile races. His Irish teammates combined with Rice to finish second behind Indiana in the team standings.

While a great new event – the NCAA Cross Country Championships – had been created, it only began to cement Rice as one of the best track runners ever. 

Rice followed his final NCAA two-mile title in 1939 with the second of five-straight AAU 5000-meter championships. From 1940-43 Rice compiled a 65-race winning streak indoors and outdoors that included multiple 2-mile and 3-mile indoor world bests. 

One of Rice’s first indoor records came in 1940 at Madison Square Garden in New York with a notable witness, Finnish great Paavo Nurmi, who said of the winner, “That Rice is the greatest distance runner the world has even seen,” according to Pat Robinson of International News Service.

Prandini Dazzled At NCAAs In 2015

Using current scoring tables, only two women totaled more points for their teams at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships than Jenna Prandini did for Oregon in 2015: Gail Devers of UCLA in 1988 (28.5) and Merlene Ottey of Nebraska in 1983 (28).

Simply put: Prandini reached legendary status five years ago when she compiled 26 points and led the Women of Oregon to their first outdoor national team title in 30 years.

Prandini opened the weekend with a runner-up finish in the long jump, the same event in which she topped the podium in each of the previous two installments of the NCAA Championships.

A less-than-stellar opening-round effort of 4.48m (14-8½) gave way to an eventual third-round best of 6.80m (22-3¾) that put her into the lead. Prandini passed her next two attempts, but when eventual champion Quanesha Burks of Alabama soared 6.91m (22-8) in Round 5, it coaxed the Oregon standout off the bench. It ended up being for naught, as Prandini fouled in Round 6.

Fast forward two days and Prandini prepared for a three-event afternoon, beginning with the final of the 4×100 relay, followed by finals in the 100 and 200.

Disastrous hand-offs derailed the Ducks in the relay as they were hit with a Zone 2 infraction between Jasmine Todd and Ashante Horsley. By the time Prandini received the baton from Horsley after another lackluster exchange, her anchor leg amounted to trying to save face in front of the Oregon faithful at Historic Hayward Field.

Prandini returned to the track for the 100, an event in which she entered as the favorite with her wind-legal 10.92 from earlier in the season and looked to win Oregon’s third title in the past four years. Morolake Akinosun of Texas pushed the California native to the limit, but eventually the Duck broke the tape first in 10.96 – just 0.01 seconds ahead of Akinosun.

If you’re counting at home, that’s 18 points from the 100 and long jump. That leaves eight points from a close runner-up finish in the 200 – 0.03 seconds – to give Prandini her grand total of 26.

Scoring points by the bushel wasn’t new to Prandini. After all, Prandini totaled 23 points at the 2015 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships just a few months earlier to propel Oregon to a runner-up finish behind meet champion Arkansas.

All told, that was 49 points for Prandini at the NCAA Championships in 2015. That enabled her to win The Bowerman, as the collegiate track & field’s most outstanding female athlete.

Devers Reached Legendary Status In 1988

It wasn’t until her 15th career final that Gail Devers of UCLA won her first title at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Devers made it a statement victory, winning the 1988 NCAA 100 meters by a whopping 0.28 seconds – almost twice as large a margin as the meet had ever seen before.

The time was also incredible – a wind-aided 10.86 – that made Devers the fastest collegiate woman under any conditions. Devers earlier had set the wind-legal collegiate record of 11.05 just two weeks earlier at the Pacific 10 Championships. 

Asked if the monkey was off her back, Devers responded: “Yeah, monkey, refrigerator, house – whatever you want to call it.”

But there was still work to do – Devers had two more finals and every point was crucial as UCLA was in the middle of a knockout team battle with defending champ LSU.

Some 30 minutes later, Devers lined up for the 100-meter hurdles final, an event in which she held the American record and collegiate record after scorching a 12.61 at the Pac-10 meet.

In a dramatic race, Devers led until crashing into the ninth hurdle, which allowed Arizona State’s Lynda Tolbert to take control and win in a meet-record 12.82. Defending champ LaVonna Martin of Tennessee (12.85) and Devers (12.90) followed in the meet’s first trio of sub-13 hurdlers.

At this point, Devers had amassed 26 points in the meet as she was also runner-up in the long jump and had anchored UCLA’s second-place 4×100 relay team. That was second-most points in meet history to the 28 that Nebraska’s Merlene Ottey accumulated in 1983. 

But UCLA trailed LSU by five points in the team race, and the concluding 4×400 would decide the team crown. Devers – normally the Bruins’ anchor – ran the second leg and recorded her fastest-ever split of 51.4. In a thrilling finish, UCLA – anchored by freshman Janeene Vickers – won the race but runner-up LSU scored enough to win the team title by three points (61-58), then the closest women’s team finish in meet history. 

Devers finished the meet with point totals that have yet to be equaled by any woman in meet history – 28½ points in a single meet and a career total of 71¼ points.

Post-collegiately, Devers earned legendary status as one of the world’s all-time greats. She is the only athlete – man or woman – with multiple Olympic or World Championships gold medals in the 100 meters (3) and the hurdles (3).

Hall Equaled 120H World Record In 1969

Erv Hall of Villanova started the excitement early at the 1969 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

In the first heat of the first track event of the first day, Hall equaled a world record of 13.2 in the 120-yard hurdles.

The record time caught everyone by surprise – including Hall.

As Tom Cushman of the Philadelphia Daily News reported, “Hall slumped onto a nearby bench, grinning broadly, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘It felt good. . . I thought it was fairly fast. . . but I can’t believe 13.2,’ he said. ‘Things like this can happen at the strangest times’.”

Hall came back the next day to win both his semifinal and the final in 13.3 – faster than the previous meet record of 13.4 that he had a share of from when he finished second at the 1968 NCAA meet.

Some observers believe credit for Hall’s fast times were due to the surface at Tennessee’s Tom Black Track, as the host site was sporting the same Tartan surface that was used the previous year at the Olympics in Mexico City.

Hall might have been more familiar with the surface than others – indeed, he was a silver medalist in the 1968 Olympics. Still, it was the same surface for everyone, and Hall won all three of his rounds in the 1969 NCAA meet by at least 0.2 seconds.

Tulloch Shook Nerves, Dominated Javelin

Valerie Tulloch of Rice was the first freshman woman to win an NCAA Division I javelin title, but a case of bad nerves had her on the brink of missing the final in her 1992 debut.

Tulloch was the seasonal collegiate leader going into the meet at 55.14m (180-11), yet fouled on her first two attempts before landing in the final with a 49.84m (163-6) effort to secure three more attempts.

It wasn’t until the final round that Tulloch finally took control, heaving the spear 58.26m (191-2) for a PR by over 10 feet and the meet’s largest-yet margin of victory at 5.52m (18-2).

“I’ve never been that nervous in all my life,” Tulloch said. “Everything was so smooth on my last throw. I collected myself and put it all together.”

Tulloch’s victory that year started what remains the best four-year stretch by any javelin thrower – man or woman – with three firsts and a second, winning in 1994 and 1995 after being runner-up in 1993.

Tulloch showed uncanny brilliance and consistency in all four of her NCAA meets – her best throws in each NCAA championship represented her collegiate seasonal best each year, and all were within a 2-meter range of 56.56m (185-7) and 58.54m (192-1).

Tulloch’s final win in 1995 made her not only the first female javelin thrower with three NCAA titles but her winning effort of 192-1 also made her the meet’s first with throws of over 190-feet in multiple years.

Seagren Vaulted Into The Record Book

Bob Seagren of Southern California wasn’t attempting just any pole vault world record at the 1969 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

This would be a barrier-breaker, as Seagren asked for the bar to be set at 18-feet (5.49m). It was rare air that had been attempted only a handful of times – including by Seagren himself when he set the then-current WR of 5.41m (17-9). 

Seagren was jumping alone, having already won the competition at 17-7 (5.36m) by a margin – 11 inches (28cm) – that has yet to be surpassed in meet history. 

Jubilation changed quickly as Seagren was over on his third attempt, but his elation changed the result as his left hand dislodged the crossbar, which fell off. 

“I was starting to clap my hands. I thought I made it,” he explained afterwards. 

That was the final attempt of Seagren’s collegiate career and a disappointing end to one of the best in the event, as he became the first vaulter in meet history to attempt the world record more than once (He also attempted a WR while winning 1967 NCAA title). 

Seagren’s collegiate days saw him set nine world records (three outdoor, six indoor) and win the 1968 Olympic gold medal in Mexico City. In NCAA Outdoor meet history, Seagren also became one of just two vaulters with a share of meet records at four different heights (He had three in 1967). The other was another USC great, Bill Sefton in 1935-37. 

Seagren would eventually scale 18-feet, doing so as the first American in 1972.

Gophers’ Gordien Golden With The Disc

Did Minnesota have a shot at the team title in the 1948 NCAA Outdoor Championships?

The hosts were only fourth in the Big Ten Championships, but after first-day qualifying a title looked possible after advancing six to the finals. Two of those spots were courtesy of Fortune Gordien, the Gophers’ high-point man from 1947 when Minnesota finished third as a team.

The first final for Gordien – pronounced “GORE-dean” – was the shot put, and a 52-7¼ (16.03m) effort moved him up from fourth in qualifying to a career-best second place in the event, worth eight points in team scoring.

That left only the discus for Gordien, who had won the last two NCAA titles in the event. What figured to be an easy 10 points became a nail-biting 10 points as Gordien won by just three inches at 164-6 (50.14m). Individually, Gordien made history as the event’s first four-time scorer – his third-straight title was preceded by a runner-up finish in 1943 before spending two years in the Navy.

Still, team points-wise, Minnesota needed more to win. The Gophers were at 36, while Southern California was sitting at 35½. As the meet wound down to a close each squad had only one opportunity for points, and both were in events rarely contested in those days – the 400-meter hurdles and the triple jump.

The Trojans moved up to 41½ after the last track event. Meanwhile, Minnesota had Lloyd LaMois in a very competitive triple jump. LaMois – competing in the then-named hop, skip and jump for the second time in his life – came through as a hero, winning at 45-10 (13.97m) to put the Gophers at 46 points and claim the school’s first – and still only – NCAA track & field team title.

Price Was Right In The Hammer

DeAnna Price already had the hammer title locked up when she stepped into the cage for her final throw at the 2015 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Price notched a strong enough mark three rounds earlier with her heave of 67.33m (220-10) that would have beat runner-up and defending champion Julia Ratcliffe of Princeton by three centimeters.

“Coach (John Smith) always says to keep throwing,” Price told Stu Durando of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch a few weeks later. “Every time [you throw], you have a chance to do something. I was getting a feel, so I said I was going to take my last throw and go after it.”

That turned out to be the right decision, as Price launched the implement 71.49m (234-6), which shattered the previous meet record set eight years earlier by Jenny Dahlgren of Georgia. It also signified only the second time in meet history that the winning mark eclipsed 70.00m (229-8). 

“I didn’t think it went that far,” said Price, who suffered a debilitating knee injury in February 2014 and worked her way back to competition through a strenuous rehab process that spanned nine months. “I was watching the video board and I was jumping up in the air.” 

Price returned to the NCAA Championships in 2016 as the odds-on favorite and threw like it.

A first-attempt effort of 68.13m (223-6) would have won the NCAA title by more than eight feet – but just like the year before, Price took each and every throw. Her best came in Round 3 when she bettered her own meet record by two inches at 71.53m (234-8).

Price continues to throw like a champion, breaking the American record in the event at the 2019 USATF Outdoor Championships with a winning mark of 78.24m (256-8) and winning gold at the ensuing World Championships in Doha.

O-H-I- … Oh, What A Race By Davis!

The 440-yard final at the 1958 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships was a unique matchup: It featured – at the time – the world’s two fastest in the history of the 400-meter hurdles: Ohio State’s Glenn Davis and Eddie Southern of Texas.

The pair collected gold and silver medals in 1956 as Davis led an American 400H sweep in the Melbourne Olympics. They were also the first – and still only at the time – to run under 50 seconds in the event as Davis (49.5) and Southern (49.7) went 1-2 in an incredible Olympic Trials.

But the NCAA Championships in 1958 were one year away from holding the 400 hurdles on a regular basis, so each went to their 1a event – the one-lap race without hurdles, in which both had shining credentials. Davis had tied the 440-yard world record of 45.8 in winning the Big Ten Championships and Southern was hot off back-to-back 45.9 wins in west coast invitationals.

The NCAA final in Berkeley seemed to favor Southern, who lined up in lane 4 while Davis drew lane 8. In fact, as Cordner Nelson of Track & Field News reported, Southern had a clear lead early – but Davis caught him entering the homestretch and pulled away to a WR 45.7 in his final race as a Buckeye. Southern, who tied up near the finish, was second in 46.5 – equal to the meet’s previous low-altitude best (He would win the 440 the next year).

The WR for Davis – amazingly his only NCAA title – added to his legacy as the only athlete to hold world records in both one-lap events, the 400/440 and 400 hurdles. Later that summer, Davis lowered his 400 hurdles WR to 49.2 and in 1960, became the first repeat Olympic gold medalist in the event.

LSU Hurdle Dominance Yet To Be Matched

In 1989, the LSU women’s program was early in its record 11-year run of team titles at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, but its hurdling group was building a legacy that has yet to be matched.

Tananjalyn Stanley led a 1-2 LSU finish in the 100-meter hurdles at the 1989 NCAA Championships, topping an event dominance that only LSU itself has matched or exceeded.

Stanley – her first name is pronounced “tuh-NAN-juh-lynn” – clocked a meet-record 12.70 to win by 0.25 seconds over freshman teammate Cinnamon Sheffield, whose 12.95 made LSU the first school with two sub-13 hurdlers in the same race.

Stanley had shown her talent earlier in the year, winning the NCAA Indoor 55-meter hurdle title in a collegiate record 7.47 and by 0.22 seconds – still the largest margin by a female hurdler at any indoor NCAA distance.

The hurdle group at LSU showed even more dominance in 1990, placing four in the event’s NCAA final for the only time in meet history. Though a repeat victory eluded the Lady Tigers – Arizona State’s Lynda Tolbert won – Sheffield and Stanley (now recovering from knee surgery) led a 2-3-6-7 finish for 19 points, one more than LSU’s 1989 total of 18 in the event.

A year later, LSU would increase its event total in the NCAA meet to 22, thanks to the newest members of the scoring crew in Dawn Bowles and Mary Cobb.

Then in 1991, Bowles led yet another 1-2 LSU finish – the only other in the event besides LSU’s in 1989 – but this time it was actually a 1-2-5 finish as Bowles won in a wind-aided 12.70, matching Stanley’s MR. Cobb – who had won the NCAA Indoor hurdles in March – followed in 12.97, with Sheffield again scoring as the group amassed a 22-point total that remains the highest of any hurdle group in meet history – men or women.

At this point in history, LSU claimed the most sub-13 hurdlers – three with legal wind and four under all conditions at a time when no other program had more than two in either category.

No program ever matched any of the NCAA women’s 100-meter hurdle point totals LSU amassed in 1989-91.

Bowles and Sheffield scored again in 1992 (2-4) as each contributed to additional LSU legacies – part of a winning NCAA team, and each as a member of a winning 4 x 100 squad.

Anchors Aweigh! Navy Wins NCAA Team Title

As today is Veterans Day, we focus on the 75^th anniversary of the only service academy to win a team title at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships – Navy, in 1945.

World War II brought a lot of changes to the United States and that included the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 1944 and 1945, when Navy personnel were not allowed to be away from campus longer than 48 hours. NCAA meets in both years were thus held on one day instead of the then-normal two days.

Marquette Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, played host to the NCAA meet in each of those years and fuel rationing meant that many programs were unable to send athletes. In fact, even Navy didn’t send anyone in 1944, despite winning its first IC4A crown with a meet-record score.

The 1945 Navy team, however, was even better and proved it by beating defending NCAA champion Illinois in the meet’s closest-then tabulation by just 3⅕ points (If you’re wondering how a team got one-fifth of a point: There were several ties in field events on the 10-8-6-4-2-1 scale).

The Midshipmen had three champions – John Van Velzer in the 100 yards (10.1), Bill Kash in the 440 yards (49.8) and Robert Patton in the javelin (191-1). Patton led a 1-3-5 finish that would eventually only be surpassed by 1-2-3 sweeps in 1964 (Oregon) and 2019 (Mississippi State). Frank Kelley, who was third in the javelin, also scored in the pole vault, tying for fifth.

Not scoring any points for the Middies might have been the team’s best athlete, then known as Clyde L. Scott, who missed the NCAA meet for academic issues. Scott finished the year with the world’s second-fastest time in the 220 hurdles and three years later won the NCAA 110 hurdles title for Arkansas, gaining the name “Smackover” for his hometown in the same state.

Navy then had a famous athlete as its head coach – Earl Thomson, who won the 120-yard hurdles for Dartmouth in the very first NCAA Championships in 1921 in a world record after winning Olympic gold the previous year in Antwerp, Belgium.

Pagel Won Shot Put With Record Heave

Ramona Pagel of San Diego State was looking for revenge in the shot put final at the 1984 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Even though Pagel entered with a PR more than a foot better than the field – in fact, at 17.77m (58-3¾) she was then No. 2 collegian all-time – she knew there would be pressure from her rival, defending NCAA champ Carol Cady of Stanford.

It was just three weeks earlier that Cady handed Pagel her first collegiate shot put loss of the year as Cady came through with a last-round PR 17.34m (56-10¾) to win the WCAA conference meet. For Pagel, it was a cruel way to learn that the multiple long efforts don’t matter as much as the longest single effort – Pagel had four of the five longest throws that day.

The rematch at the NCAA Championships in June started much the same as Pagel took immediate control with a first-round 16.45m (53-11¾), then followed with two efforts better than Cady’s existing meet record of 17.07m (56-0).

Was Pagel safe enough at 17.27m (56-8)? Turns out she was, as Cady seemed to press too much and ended up with a best of 16.59 (54-5¼) – more than two feet behind Pagel, who once again finished with four of the five best throws on the day.

Cady got a measure of revenge by winning the discus the next day, where Pagel was fourth.

Later in the month Pagel and Cady would both make the 1984 U.S. Olympic team in the shot put, and as post-collegians each would eventually have a long reign as American record holder in different events – Cady in the discus at 66.10m (216-10) in 1986 that lasted 20 years, Pagel in shot at 20.18m (66-2½) that lasted almost 25 years.

Eyestone Held Nothing Back At NCAAs

Ed Eyestone’s final two races for BYU were dominant victories at the 1985 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships, but nowhere to be seen was the lack of extra motivation.

When Eyestone toed the line for his first final, he had at least two memories going through his mind: one, being for his older brother, whose funeral he had just attended the previous weekend (boating accident); two, when five years earlier, an 18-year-old freshman Eyestone was pulled off the same Memorial Stadium track in Austin because he was “running sideways” in the NCAA 10K final.

Not that Eyestone needed any motivation, though: He was the defending NCAA 10K champion having won the previous year with what is still the third fastest time in meet history and just a few months earlier, entered with a minute-plus PR on the field thanks to a swift 27:41.05 from back in April.

Eyestone took control of the 10K midway and left only the winning margin in doubt.

“I decided to surge for a couple of laps to try to break the field down,” Eyestone said afterward. “After that I had a gut feeling that if I kept on surging I might be able to open it up. When I got the gap up to 30 yards, they might have decided to run for second, which is what I’d hoped.”

Once Eyestone polished off that victory – by 6.42 seconds – he went to work on another title, as the only man to attempt the 5K/10K double that year. He won the 5K almost as decisively (4.86 seconds), defeating steeple champion Peter Koech of Washington State.

Counting his individual title from the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships from the previous fall, Eyestone had now won four NCAA titles during the 1984-85 academic year.

Eyestone’s post-collegiate career initially focused on marathoning – He was an Olympian in 1988 and 1992 – but now is coaching at his alma mater. The Cougar men made headlines in 2019, first in the NCAA 10K – Clayton Young (one of six BYU finalists) joined his coach as the program’s only other NCAA men’s champ in the event – then last fall when Eyestone led them to their first NCAA title in cross country.

Barrett Scared Long-Standing MR In 2013

Brigetta Barrett entered the 2013 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships as the prohibitive favorite in the high jump, having won the event in each of the two previous years and setting the still-current collegiate record of 1.99m (6-6¼) just a few weeks earlier. 

If Barrett reigned in Eugene, Oregon, just as she did at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, in 2011 and 2012, she’d become just the second woman in meet history to win three consecutive event titles. Tanya Hughes, another standout jumper from Arizona, snagged three in a row from 1991 to 1993. 

Barrett made it look effortless through five bars, needing only one attempt to go from 1.77m (5-9¾) – where she entered – to 1.89m (6-2¼) – where she eventually turned away three other competitors for the victory (Courtney Anderson of South Florida, Maya Pressley of Auburn and Leontia Kallenou of Georgia, who’d win the 2014 NCAA crown).

Not content resting on her laurels, Barrett asked the bar to be raised to 1.95m (6-4¾) – just 1 cm (one-quarter inch) below the 18-year-old meet record of 1.96m (6-5) set by Amy Acuff of UCLA. Barrett took fouls on her first two attempts, but cleared the height on her third and final attempt, leaving many to wonder if the collegiate record was also in danger. 

Ultimately, Barrett’s journey – and dreams for a meet record and an improved collegiate record – came to an end at 2.00m (6-6¾) after three misses.

“I feel like I was able to put my mark on the collegiate world,” Barrett said after the meet. “I’m very grateful for everything and couldn’t ask for more.”

Bell Rang True In Long Jump

Greg Bell of Indiana felt conditions were good enough at the 1957 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships to go after the world record in the long jump.

In fact, after practicing a day before at Texas’ Memorial Stadium, Bell found the runway so fast that he set his starting mark back a foot or so, noted Bob Halford of the Austin Statesman.

The world record – 26-8¼ (8.13m) – was the oldest one on the books at the time, having been set by Jesse Owens of Ohio State on his Day of Days at the 1935 Big Ten meet. And it was Bell himself who had come the closest attempt to it with a 26-6½ (8.09m) jump the previous fall a month before winning gold at the Melbourne Olympics.

Bell went for the record in the NCAA prelims on Day 1, opening up with a safe (for him) 25-8½ (7.83m) that would be good enough to win. On his next attempt Bell added almost a foot, breaking the sand at 26-7 (8.10m) and despite the impressive effort knew it wasn’t perfect.

“That should have been a 27-foot jump,” Bell told Halford afterward. “But I was too far forward on my takeoff and had to drop my feet.”

Bell didn’t improve on his final two attempts in the prelims – which included four rounds at the time – so he waited until the next day’s final to see if he could improve. The Hoosier started off big, but a first-round 26-5 (8.05m) was still short of the record. He followed with two fouls, both estimated to be over 26-feet.

While Bell didn’t eclipse the WR, he did break the meet record of 26-6 (8.07m) set by Willie Steele of San Diego State in 1947. That mark by Steele, which had broken Owens’ MR of 26-1¼ (7.95m) from 1935, had been the closest to Owens until Bell drew closer in 1956.

Bell finished his career in 1960 with a total of 13 jumps over 26-feet, then the most in history.

On May 30, Bell retired after 50 years as Director of Dentistry at Logansport State Hospital in Indiana. Born on this day in 1930, he is one of the oldest living NCAA track & field champions at age 90. His paternal grandfather was 102, and he wants to beat that.

“I’m feeling good now,” he told David Woods of the Indianapolis Star in June. “And I’m having a ball.”

Guidry Capped Legendary Career In 1991

There was much to savor for Carlette Guidry of Texas at the 1991 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Guidry entered the meet looking for her first individual title in the meet, which seemed puzzling since she had compiled six NCAA DI Indoor individual wins – still the most by a woman.

In a final chance for an outdoor title, Guidry starred at Historic Hayward Field.

Guidry’s good fortune began a day before she completed a 100-200 double, as her anchor leg provided the winning difference for the Longhorn 4×100 relay team. With Guidry bringing it home, the Texas quartet set a low-altitude all-time collegiate best of 42.88.

That relay was particularly satisfying for Guidry in that she overtook LSU’s Esther Jones for the victory. It was Jones who had swept the 100 and 200 at the NCAA meet the previous year, which included a false start by Guidry that was questioned by many observers.

Guidry’s best in 1991 was yet to come, though.

On the meet’s final day she ripped a wind-aided 10.91 (her second of the meet) to turn back Jones (10.99w) and then 75 minutes later, repeated the domination with a 22.44w victory in the 200. The homestretch battle in the 200 was memorable as Jones attempted twice to approach Guidry, who held her lead impressively each time to win by 0.13 seconds.

“I’ve trained more than I raced this year and listened to my body,” Guidry said after the 200. “I’ve trained to have a strong finish.”

Guidry’s collegiate career is unmatched combing performances at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Counting relays, she totaled 12 career NCAA titles, three more than any other woman. (Guidry was also a legend at the Texas high school ranks, notching the two largest point totals in Texas UIL state meet history at 48 and 43 points.)

Post-collegiate success followed for Guidry as she earned two Olympic gold medals as part of the U.S. 4×100 relay team in 1992 and 1996. And in 2015, the Texas Relays named its women’s university/college 4×100 relay after her.

Stanford Romped To National Title in 1928

How good was Stanford’s 1928 NCAA championship team?

The Cardinal’s 72 points more than doubled the total of its closest challenger.

Stanford also had five different athletes win individual titles: That’s a combination no other program has yet matched in the same meet.

Adding to the impressiveness, all five of the Cardinal’s individual champions that year were (or would become) world record setters and/or Olympic medalists, and no points were scored by a sixth athlete with that same illustrious distinction.

Bud Spencer was captain of the squad and scored Stanford’s only points on the track, winning the 440 yards in a meet record 47.7. Spencer, who had broken the 400-meter world record at 47.0 a month earlier, had the fastest split on the U.S. 4×400 quartet that won gold with a world record in the 1928 Olympics later that summer.

Also setting a meet record – two, in fact – was pole vaulter Ward Edmonds with a final height of 13-6½ (4.13m). Earlier in the year, Edmonds had equaled the world record and became history’s third-ever 14-footer. Edmonds, who in 1929 became the first repeat NCAA vault champion with a co-title (and another MR at 13-8¾ or 4.18m), died suddenly in 1930 from polio at age 22.

Robert King won the high jump at 6-4½ (1.94m) and afterward was allowed to continue jumping, scaling a PR 6-6½ (1.99m). A month later, King would only need just 6-4¼ to earn the gold medal at the Olympics in Amsterdam.

Stanford could have won the meet just in the throwing events, where they earned 34 points (team runner-up Ohio State had 31), led by sophomore Eric Krenz with 18.

It was Krenz who actually got Stanford’s celebration started early, setting a meet record in the discus qualifying on the first day. His MR 149-2 (45.48m) carried over the next day to win the final and he added a runner-up effort in the shot put, losing to teammate Harlow Rothert.

For Rothert, another sophomore, it was the first of three-straight shot put titles to become the meet’s first three-time champion in a field event (Krenz was second each time). Both throwers were Olympians, though only Rothert would earn a medal – silver in the shot put in 1932, by which time teammate Krenz – a three-time world record setter in the discus – had died in a boating accident at age 25.

Not even scoring for Stanford was Ross Nichols, who finished sixth in the 120-yard hurdles but was disqualified for knocking over a hurdle. A month later, Nichols earned a similar DQ in the Olympic Trials 110-meter hurdles, in which he equaled the world record of 14.8 in the semifinals without knocking over any barriers.

Smith Jumped Her Way Into Elite Company

Was Trecia-Kaye Smith of Pittsburgh a triple jumper who could long jump or a long jumper who could triple jump?

Smith has unmatched superlatives in both events – the most women’s combined indoor/outdoor NCAA long jump titles with five, and the longest-lasting outdoor triple jump collegiate record at 14 years.

Though Smith – whose first name is pronounced “TREE-see-uh-kay” – had just one triple jump title at the NCAA Outdoor meet, that victory in 1998 was perhaps the most satisfying of any of her seven combined NCAA titles (a women’s horizontal jump total surpassed only by Keturah Orji of Georgia with eight).

It was at the 1998 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships where Smith staked her triple jump winning mark of 13.98m (45-10½) on her first attempt. It was Smith’s second-longest effort ever, at the time, and a stark contrast to the 1997 NCAA Outdoor meet, in which she collapsed on the runway and was carted off with a hamstring injury.

In 1997, Smith attempted a unique quad of events at the NCAA Outdoor Championships – the heptathlon and high jump, in addition to her specialties of the long and triple jumps. She sported an impressive set of seasonal bests at 5931 points in the heptathlon, 1.81m (5-11¼) in the high jump, 6.71m (22-0¾) in the long jump and 14.22m (46-8) in the triple jump – the latter an outdoor CR set just two weeks earlier, but was only able to start three.

Everything started fine for Smith on Day 1 with a long jump victory at 6.65m (21-10), but Day 3 was a challenge with the triple jump going on during the heptathlon’s first day. Smith darted over to the triple jump runway after the heptathlon high jump and was in second place in the TJ after three rounds. But there would be no fourth attempt as she collapsed with a pulled right hamstring.

Injuries, unfortunately, were common for Smith, who felt strong before her final NCAA meet in 1999, telling Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “For the past two years I have actually remained consistent instead of improving, and that’s due to injuries.”

“I’m healthy now,” Smith continued. “I’m expecting to be once more out there in front of them (her competitors). I’m not saying they’re not going to follow me or even beat me, but when I was healthy they were nowhere close.”

The 1999 NCAA meet had a similar schedule to 1997, with the triple jump again conflicting with the heptathlon’s first day. Smith won the long jump with a seasonal best 6.61m (21-8¼), finished a close second in the triple jump to Baylor’s Stacey Bowers and was in second place in the heptathlon going into the final event – alas, the 800 was not one of Smith’s strongest and she finished 10^th.

As a post-collegian, Smith found her most success in the triple jump, in which in 2005 she became the first Jamaican woman to win any World Championships field event title.

Ryun Raced To Only NCAA Outdoor Title In 1967

In honor of Election Day, today’s moment features Jim Ryun, the last NCAA track & field champion elected to the U.S. Congress, serving for Kansas 1996-2007.

Jim Ryun of Kansas was about as big a favorite as could be to win his first NCAA outdoor title at the 1967 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Provo, Utah. He had set world records in both the mile and 880 yards in an undefeated 1966 outdoor season.

Ryun’s first collegiate season – which came before the NCAA allowed freshmen to compete on the varsity level – was so spectacular that Track & Field News named him 1966 World Athlete of the Year.

The excitement when Ryun ran at the 1967 NCAA Outdoor Championships boiled down to when he would unleash his killer kick, especially since no one expected a fast pace with the meet being held at high altitude. Ryun waited until the last lap to raise the heat, burning a 52.5 last quarter, with 23.9 coming on the final 220 to win easily in 4:03.5.

Ryun’s winning margin that day of 2.5 seconds seemed large, but not compared to his world records from 1966 – including a 6.7-second victory when, at 19, he became (and remains) the youngest man to set a world record in the mile (3:51.3).

Ryun had some early pacesetting help in that 1966 mile WR effort, but he chose to do all the work himself a week after the 1967 NCAA Championships. The situation of the AAU national championships in Bakersfield seemed unlikely for a record attempt, but Ryun went after it – storming home with a 53.7 last quarter to win by five seconds in a 3:51.1 that would last as the global standard until 1975.

Two weeks later, Ryun added the 1500 meters to his WR collection, running a last lap of 53.3 to win by 4.1 seconds in 3:33.1. That record stood until 1974.

Ryun, who became the first repeat World Athlete of the Year by T&FN with his 1967 season, finished his collegiate career with five combined indoor/outdoor NCAA titles, then the most by a middle-distance runner. The longest-lasting of his all-time collegiate bests was his first WR of 1:44.9 for 880 yards in 1966 – the converted 1:44.3 for 800 meters was finally surpassed 50 years to the day in 2016.

NOTES: The only other NCAA champion elected to the U.S. Congress was Marquette’s Ralph Metcalfe (Illinois, 1971-78). While not an NCAA champion, Stanford’s Bob Mathias also served in Congress (California, 1967-75), but the two-time Olympic decathlon gold medalist competed before the decathlon was included in the NCAA Championships (Mathias was second in the 1951 discus and 1952 110-meter hurdles).

Pihl Led BYU’s Decathlon Dominance In 1975

Raimo Pihl’s final collegiate competition at the 1975 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships resulted in the most dominant NCAA decathlon performance ever seen – with special thanks to his BYU teammates. 

It wasn’t that Pihl’s victory wasn’t impressive enough in itself: His 8079-point score established a meet record and his 232-point margin of victory was the second largest in meet history. In fact, his total was just 10 points off the collegiate record set by C.K. Yang of UCLA in 1963, when Yang’s 8089 was also a world record. 

Cougars were everywhere in the 1975 NCAA decathlon as host BYU went 1-3-5-6-7, the first time any program in any event had five finishing in the top-7. As part of an incredible show of dominance, all five BYU decathletes finished with more than 7000 points – and that didn’t even include defending NCAA champ Runald Backman, who redshirted the 1975 season. 

Pihl – returning from a redshirt after a 1973 NCAA title when he won by just five points – was his usual dominant self, finishing first in six of the 10 events and winning by 232 points. 

As a post-collegian, Pihl was fourth in the decathlon at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He later became a prominent coach in his native Sweden, and his pupils included Patrik Boden of Texas, the last collegian to set a world record outdoors with a javelin heave of 89.10m (292-4) in 1990.

Groenendaal Flew To Back-to-Back NCAA MRs

As Oregon’s top scorer in 1984, Claudette Groenendaal knew she’d be an important component in the program’s shot for its first women’s team title at the 1985 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships. 

But some wondered if the hot/humid conditions in Austin would sap some of the success she displayed the year before when, in front of her home crowd in Eugene, she set PRs in winning the 1500 meters (4:14.31 MR) and taking second in the 800. 

“I want to try for a double very much,” Groenendaal told Track & Field News before the 1985 NCAA Outdoor Championships. “I’m not worried about the hot weather. I just want to give it my best try.”

Groenendaal delivered for the Ducks, winning the 800 with a furious finish on the homestretch as her 2:01.20 led two others under the old meet record. A day later, she added a runner-up effort in the 1500, and her 18 points again made her the team’s leading scorer. 

The 800-1500 double was the heart of Oregon’s team that year for another reason, as Leann Warren was third in the 1500 and fourth in the 800 in her final races as a Duck. Before missing the 1983 and 1984 seasons to injuries, Warren had won the NCAA’s first 1500 in 1982 as well as an 800-1500 double at the 1981 AIAW Outdoor Championships, the top collegiate meet for women prior to the NCAA including women. 

The Groenendaal/Warren duo had accounted for an impressive 29 points, but was it enough? At that point, no, but a third-place finish by Kathy Hayes in the 5000 meters gave the team 52 points to seal the top trophy. The next four teams were within seven points – still the closest five-deep women’s team race in meet history.

Kerron Clement Had Record Speed

Kerron Clement had record speed in 2005.

It didn’t matter the classification or event.

World record? Check. Clement got that in the 400 Meters at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Collegiate records? Double check. Clement captured those in that same indoor race in addition to the 400 Meter Hurdles at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

March 12, 2005

Clement gave the Randal Tyson Track Center its first world record.

Running in the final and against the clock out of Heat 2, Clement stormed out of the blocks and into the lead at the break. Clement poured it on over the second lap and crossed the finish line in 44.57 to take down Michael Johnson’s 10-year-old world indoor record of 44.63 from 1995.

“This is amazing,” Clement told the media after the race. “I can’t describe how I feel right now.”

“Seriously, I wanted to cry,” Clement continued, “because it was so overwhelming that I knew I broke the world record of the great Michael Johnson and now I have it.”

June 11, 2005

Clement entered the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Sacramento, California, as the prohibitive favorite to win the 400H. After all, pundits saw what he could do without barriers in his way indoors and he became just the third freshman in meet history to win the event the year before, so very little could stand in his way if he executed his race.

Ultimately, fans wondered if Kevin Young’s 17-year-old collegiate record and meet record of 47.85 in the 400H were in danger, just like Johnson’s world indoor record from three months earlier.

Clement and Bennie Brazell of LSU pushed each other at Hornet Stadium, just like they had done the previous month at the SEC Outdoor Championships. It was a two-man race from the start and when Brazell inched ahead on the homestretch, Clement reeled him back in over the final hurdle and passed him just meters from the finish line for the 0.11-second victory – 47.56 to 47.67.

There was little doubt that Clement would turn professional after the meet and forgo his final two years of collegiate eligibility. Post-collegiate success followed for Clement as he has won eight global medals, including a gold medal in the 400H at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and back-to-back world championships in 2007 (Osaka) and 2009 (Berlin).

McWilliams Ran Into The 1500 Record Book

Tiffany McWilliams ran into the record book in 2003.

McWilliams, who starred for Mississippi State, won back-to-back 1500-meter titles at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 2003 and 2004, which included a collegiate record and meet record of 4:06.75 in that first year.

Let’s focus on that 2003 effort in Sacramento, California, where McWilliams lopped nearly two seconds off the meet record previously held by Suzy Favor of Wisconsin at 4:08.25. Favor set the former standard in 1990.

McWilliams, a sophomore who missed a significant amount of time in the fall as she recovered from knee surgery, dueled with defending champion Lena Nilsson of UCLA for most of the race 17 years ago. Nilsson had a strong kick, so McWilliams had to be ready when Nilsson made her move.

“I kept waiting for Lena to come up on me – and when she did, that gave me the kick and motivation to move on,” McWilliams told Gregg Ellis of the Tupelo (Miss.) Daily Journal.

McWilliams surged ahead down the homestretch and crossed the finish line in 4:06.75, three full seconds ahead of Nilsson, who finished runner-up. That also gave Mississippi State its first individual or relay title at the NCAA Track & Field Championships in program history.

“I guess it hasn’t sunk in yet,” McWilliams said. “I’m glad and I’m happy – but I just haven’t had much time to think about it.”

Both of McWilliams’ records lasted until 2008 when Hannah England of Florida State won the NCAA title in 4:06.19. McWilliams remains among the top-10 fastest performers in collegiate history (No. 6) as well as meet history (No. 5).