This Day in Track & Field History, Friday, March 22, 2024, Albie Thomas, Doris Brown-Heritage, Jan Merrill, by Walt Murphy News and Results Services

Walt Murphy is one of the finest track geeks that I know. Walt does #ThisDayinTrack&FieldHistory, an excellent daily service that provides true geek stories about our sport. You can check out the service for FREE with a free one-month trial subscription! (email: WaltMurphy44@gmail.com ) for the entire daily service. We will post a few historic moments each day, beginning February 1, 2024.

by Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (WaltMurphy44@gmail.com), used with permission

This Day in Track & Field/X-Country–March 22

1959—Australia, with a lineup of Denis Wilson (4:06.5), Albert Thomas (4:06.5), John Murray (4:08.0), and Herb Elliott (4:04.6), the 1500-meter world record holder (and 1960 Olympic champion-to-be), set a World Record of 16:25.6 in the 4-mile relay in Melbourne.

Wilson: https://athletics-oceania.com/25/06/5802/

1969–Doris Brown-Heritage led the U.S. to the Women’s team title by winning her 3rd straight International/World          X-Country title (4k) in Clydebank, Scotland. She got strong support from Maureen Dickson (2^nd) and Cheryl Bridges (4^th/Shalane Flanagan’s mom)

Other Winners and notable/U.S. finishers:

Senior Men (12k/England): Gaston Roelants (Belgium), 10.Mariano Haro (ESP), 11.Bill Clark (USA), 31.Tracy Smith (USA), 48.Charlie Messenger (USA), 82.Jim Murphy (USA), 95.Bill Norris(USA) , 102.Tom Heinonen (USA), 105.Chris McCubbins (USA); DNF_Mohammed Gamoudi (MAR)

Senior Women (4.0km): 21. Abby Hoffman (CAN)

Junior Men (7k/England): Dave Bedford (Great Britain), 4.John Hartnett (IRL),

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_International_Cross_Country_Championships

1970–Two International X-Country championships were held on the same weekend, American Doris Brown winning at the women-only event in Frederick, Maryland (3-21/England won the team title), and England’s Mike Tagg, Italy’s Paola Pigni, and Ireland’s John Hartnett (Jr.Men) winning in Vichy, France (3-22).

Other notable/U.S. finishers

Vichy

Senior Men (12.1km) 2.Gaston Roelants (BEL), 13.Emiel Puttemans (BEL), 23.Grant McLaren (CAN), 48.Kenny Moore (USA),  51.Tom Heinonen (USA), 64.John Loeschorn (USA), 76.Cliff Clark (USA), 92.Charlie Messenger (USA), 93.Bill Norris (USA), 95.Dave Bedford (ENG); Team: England

Senior Women (3km): Team: Netherlands

Junior Men (7.0km):10.Franco Fava (ITA); Team: England  (No U.S. team)

Frederick (4km): 13.Francie Larrieu(USA), 18.Cheryl Bridges(USA), 34.Adrienne Beames (AUS); Team: 1. England 18, 2.USA 46

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_International_Cross_Country_Championships

1980,  Jan Merrill set an American Record of 15:30.6 for 5000 meters at Stanford.

1987—At the World X-Country Championships in Warsaw, Poland, Lynn Jennings, and Lesley Welch finished 4th and 5th, respectively, to lead the U.S. team to its fourth set of gold medals in the last five years. Others on the team were Mary Knisely (14th), Janet Smith (23rd), Suzanne Gerard (44th), and Sabrina Dornhoefer (53rd).

Other Winners and notable/U.S. finishers

Senior Men(11.95k): 1.John Ngugi (KEN) 36:07, 2.Paul Kipkoech (KEN) 36:07, 7.Pat Porter (USA), 11.Steve Moneghetti (AUS), 12.Ed Eyestone (USA), 13.Francesco Panetta (ITA), 18.Moses Tanui (KEN), 23.Steve Binns (ENG), 24.Steve Plasencia (USA), 26.Gelindo Bordin (ITA), 37.Fernando Mamede (POR), 42.Abel Antón (ESP), 43.Tim Hutchings (ENG), 87.George Nicholas (USA), 98.Graeme Fell (CAN), 107.Steve Jones (Wales), 186.Alberto Cova (ITA), 198.Bob Hodge (USA), 223.Randy Reina (USA); Team: Kenya

Senior Women(5.05km):1.Annette Sergent (FRA) 16:46, 2.Liz Lynch (SCO) 16:48, 3.Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) 16:51, 9.Paula Ivan (RUM), 13.Olga Bondarenko (URS), 16.Yvonne Murray (SCO), 24.Rosa Mota (POR), 34.Svetlana Ulmasova (URS), 57.Aurora Cunha (POR), 58.Christina Mai (FRG),

Junior Men(7.05k/Ethiopia): Wilfred Kirochi (Kenya), 23.Todd Williams (USA), 28.Tim Gargiulo (USA), 29.Bob Henes (USA), 40.Marc Davis (USA), 47. Fermín Cacho (ESP), 62.Mark Mastilir (USA), 100.Eric Mastilir (USA), Team: Ethiopia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_IAAF_World_Cross_Country_Championships

Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ7Udl1MQpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyX3rQcpLKo