Rono Rolls Into The Record Books

On this day in 1978, Henry Rono of Washington State became the first (and still only) man to set two different NCAA Championships meet records in distance races on the same day, doing so in the steeplechase and 5000 Meters on a warm, windy day at Hayward Field.

It was such an impressive display that none other than Track & Field News co-founder Bert Nelson was “thoroughly convinced I just had the pleasure of witnessing as an amazing performance our sport has produced – including, if you will, Bob Beamon’s astounding 29-2½ long jump.”

Rono, who earlier in the season had set world records in both events, won both races by more than 20 seconds in times of 8:18.63 (steeplechase) and 13:21.79 (5000 Meters). Perhaps even most unbelievable was that these were achieved in preliminary heats!

A sore foot convinced him to scratch the final of the 10,000 Meters the next day (He already had the world lead at 27:46.6), but he came back to win the steeple in an even more impressive 8:12.39 — which remains the meet record 42 years later — before sitting out the 5K final.

Rono’s unbelievable season continued as the month of June would find him setting two more world records – 10K at 27:22.47, winning by half a minute during intermission of a soccer match in Vienna, Austria, and the 3000 at 7:32.1 in Oslo, Norway, for his fourth WR in 81 days.

Jackie Joyner Doubles Down On Multi Crowns

On this day in 1983, Jackie Joyner of UCLA became the first woman to win an event twice at the NCAA Championships, claiming her second consecutive crown in the heptathlon with a then-collegiate-record-setting score of 6390 points. When Joyner won the heptathlon the previous year, she was the first woman to win any title at the NCAA Championships. Both victories also helped UCLA capture back-to-back team titles at the meet.

The multi-talented Bruin would end her collegiate career finishing in the top-3 in five different individual events at the NCAA Championships (adding both of the hurdle events as well as the long and triple jumps) – the only man or woman with such a collection. She was also a four-year starter as forward on the basketball team.

Joyner, of course, would continue on to build a career worthy of perhaps the best athlete in history, winning Olympic and World Championships gold in the heptathlon and long jump and setting world records in both as well. Her world record score of 7291 in the heptathlon is still more than 250 points better than anyone else and owns the top-6 marks in world history with performances from 1986 to 1992.

Connect Four: Prefontaine Makes History

On June 9, 1973, Steve Prefontaine of Oregon became the first athlete to win titles in the same outdoor event four times, claiming the 3-mile/5000m from 1970-73. He set meet records with each victory, plus another in a preliminary. He led practically every lap, never being one to sit and kick.

Pre never lost a collegiate race beyond a mile. He set collegiate records in three of his four years in the 5K, plus two in the 6-mile, which he only contested early in the season.

Prefontaine became a legend early in his collegiate career and the “Go Pre” chants at Hayward Field drew interest well beyond the borders of his native Oregon.

His lore grew even more in 1972 when he followed up his NCAA meet record in the 5K of 13:31.4h by smashing his own American record at the U.S. Olympic Trials with his 13:22.8h. Then later that summer, he forged the pace in the Munich Olympic Games, ultimately finishing fourth after leading several times in the final 800 meters.

On this day in 1975, Pre died in a single-vehicle automobile accident and is still remembered around the world. The Prefontaine Classic meet began days later and has seen numerous records set over the years, including four world records and Alan Webb’s incredible all-time high school mile best.

Ralph Metcalfe Is Mr. Triple-Double

Ralph Metcalfe, who was born on this day (May 29) in 1910, won three consecutive NCAA title in two sprint events while at Marquette from 1932 to 1934. It was on June 23, 1934 — the day you see on the post — that he became the first athlete to win three NCAA titles in two separate events.

Metcalfe is one of three men to win three consecutive NCAA titles in the 100 yards or meters — joining Mel Patton of Southern California (1947-1949) and Charlie Green of Nebraska (1965-67) — and one of two men to do so in the “200” (220 yards or 200 meters), joining Walter Dix of Florida State, who accomplished the same feat from 2006-08.

As a sophomore in 1932, Metcalfe equaled the world record in 100 (10.2) and straight 200 (20.3) at the NCAA Championships, a meet that doubled as the Olympic Trials (He would later add a silver and bronze at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games). The following year, he again set or equaled world records in the 100 (9.4 for 100 yards) and straight 200 (20.4 for 220 yards).

His post-collegiate career saw a new collection of highlights: Olympic gold in 1936 with Jesse Owens on the 4×100 relay (Owens and Metcalfe led off the world record-setting quartet), coaching Xavier of Louisiana to the first HBCU victory at the Penn Relays in the 440-yard relay, rising to rank of first lieutenant in World War II for the U.S. Army, and serving four terms in Congress for Chicago until his death 1978.

Georgia’s Orji Jump-Starts Record-Breaking Career

On this day in 2016, Keturah Orji of Georgia set her first collegiate record in the triple jump of 14.29m (46-10¾) at the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Florida.

Orji, then a sophomore, would eventually win her second of four consecutive NCAA outdoor triple jump titles to become one of just five women with four titles in the same outdoor event in NCAA DI history. She added three more indoors plus an outdoor long jump crown in 2018 for a total of eight – the most combined in the two meets by a female field eventer in NCAA DI history and equal to the most by any female athlete, period.

The Mount Olive, New Jersey, native dominated the triple jump during her legendary career. In 28 collegiate competitions, she won 27. Her bests indoors and outdoors are each more than 10 inches ahead of history’s next best. The 2016 NCAA outdoor win at 14.53m (47-8) – when she won by nearly 2½ feet – remains the longest mark in meet history by more than a foot. Orji’s collegiate outdoor best that she set in 2018 at the SEC Championships is just shy of 48 feet at 14.62m (47-11¾) and tops the all-time chart by more than 10 inches.

All of her records and titles were made even sweeter when the record three-time finalist for The Bowerman finally won the award in 2018 after a sensational senior year on the runway.

The First Championship

The first NCAA track & field championship was also the first championship conducted in any sport by the NCAA, and the significance of the event started at the top. Amos Alonzo Stagg chaired the committee which oversaw that first contest, whose referee was none other than Gen. Palmer E. Pierce, the first president of the NCAA.

Some newspapers even dubbed the event the “American Olympics” as entries came from all regions of the country and included notable stars from the 1920 Olympics.

That first meet took place on June 18, 1921, at Amos Alonzo Stagg Field on the campus of the University of Chicago. The site was primarily used for football, but had also staged some AAU national track & field championships, including the 1893 meet in its inaugural year of use (It was known then as Marshall Field).

A light rain fell before the meet started on Saturday at 2 p.m. with field events, followed by heats of the 120-yard hurdles 15 minutes later. The longest race was the 2-mile, there were no relays, and all of the current field events were held except the triple jump. There were 113 competitors from 62 institutions, half of which scored by placing individuals in the top-5 and given points on a 5-3-2-1-½ basis.

Illinois (20¼ points) won the meet without having a single event champion, but saw nine athletes score in 10 of the 15 events. One of the Illini’s top athletes was Harold Osborn, who scored in the high jump and long jump (Osborn would win Olympic gold medals in the long jump and decathlon three years later and remains the only athlete to ever win Olympic golds in both the decathlon and an individual event).

Notre Dame – one of just two programs to win two events – was runner-up with 16¾ points. The Irish had Gus Desch win the 220-yard hurdles and Johnny Murphy claim the high jump. The previous year, Desch was a bronze medalist in the 400-meter hurdles at the Olympics, while Murphy was fifth in the high jump.

Washington was the other program to win two events, courtesy of Gus Pope, who swept the shot put and discus. He became the meet’s first double winner (Pope was bronze medalist in the 1920 Olympic discus).

The biggest individual star was 1920 Olympic gold medalist Earl Thomson of Dartmouth, who equaled his own world record in the 120-yard hurdles of 14 2/5 (Watches were only accurate to a fifth of a second back then). His world record would not be bettered until 1931.

The meet was a homecoming for Earl Eby of Penn. The native of Aurora, Ill., went to high school in Chicago and won the 880 yards in his final collegiate competition. He was silver medalist in the 1920 Olympics and helped Penn win the team title at the 1920 IC4A Championships.