by RBR Admin
Walt Murphy is one of the finest track statisticians 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.
(c)Copyright 2024-all rights reserved. It may not be reprinted or retransmitted without permission.
This Day in Track & Field–May 4
by Walt Murphy News and Result Service (WMurphy25@gmail.com), used with permission.
1912–Canadian Hans Holmer won an indoor marathon in Berlin in 2:38:23, defeating 1908 Olympic Champion Johnny Hayes by eleven laps (about a mile).
https://digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A185601
All-Time List(Through March 2017): https://arrs.run/AT_IndoorMarathon.htm
Recent (unofficial) Results—Armory NYC Indoor Marathon
2018 https://www.docdroid.net/TQCqIVA/armory-nyc-indoor-marathon-team-relay-awards-pdf
Men—Malcolm Richards 2:19:02 (World Record),
Women-Lindsey Scherf 2:40:56 (World Record)
2019
Men—CJ Albertson 2:17:59.4 (World Record)
Women—Stephanie Pezzullo 2:42:11.3
1912—Cornell senior T.S. “Tell” Berna set an American Record of 9:17.8 for 2 miles in a dual meet against Penn in Ithaca,NY. It was his 3rd National Record in the event and lasted 21 years.
Berna, a 2-time IC4A Champion at 2 miles (1910,1911), won gold in the 3000-meter team race at the Stockholm Olympics later in the year (5th in the 5000).
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78107
https://cornellbigred.com/honors/hall-of-fame/tell-berna/318
1935—Future Hall-of-Famer Helen Stephens, a 17-year-old student at Fulton H.S. in Missouri, ran 10.8 to set an American Record in the 100-yard dash. She would run 10.8 twice later in the season and win the first of her two U.S. titles in the 100. She won gold medals in the 100-meter and 4×100 relay at the 1936 Olympics (and was 9th in the Discus[!] in Berlin).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Stephens
1968—Jim Baker’s triple-duty day led Harvard to a narrow 79-75 win over Yale on his home (cinder) track in Cambridge,MA. The Crimson senior won the Mile (4:11.8) and 2-mile (8:55.4) and finished a close second to teammate Royce Shaw in the 880 (1:48.5-1:48.6). Baker had run the third leg on the Harvard team that won the 2-mile relay at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.
1974—Maren Seidler set the first of her nine American Records in the Shot Put, reaching 54-10 ½ (16.72m) in San Jose. Earlene Brown had set the previous mark of 54-9 (16.69) 14 years earlier in Moscow. The Brooklyn(NY) native was inducted into the U.S. Hall of Fame in 2000.
https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/maren-seidler
1975—John Powell threw 226-8 (69.08m) in Long Beach(Ca) to set a World Record in the Discus
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_discus_world_record_progression
1984—An Athletics West quartet of Dan Aldridge (4:03.4), Doug Padilla (4:04.7), Tom Smith (4:01.9), and Chuck Aragon (3:58.5) set an American Record of 16:08.54 for the 4-mile relay in Eugene. An AW “B” team, with Jim Spivey running a 3:58.5 anchor, finished second in 16:11.57. Mary Decker ran a 2:01.2 anchor as an AW women’s team won the 2-mile relay in 8:23.56. (From T&F News).
All-Time List(4xmile/pre-2024): http://www.alltime-athletics.com/m_4xmileok.htm
Additions from the 2024 Penn Relays
15:51.91 Villanova
15:52.30 Virginia
15:52.56 Georgetown
16:07.39 Iona
16:08.65 Notre Dame
16:16.38 Michigan
16:18.64 Wisconsin
1985—UCLA’s Jackie Joyner-Kersee Long-Jumped 22-11 ¼ (6.99) on her home field in a dual-meet with crosstown rival USC, breaking the Collegiate Record of 21-10 ½ ( 6.97) set by Houston’s Carol Lewis in 1983 and 1984. Second to JJK was teammate Gail Devers, who jumped 20-8 ½ (6.31). JJK’s record stood for 36 years until Texas’ Tara Davis jumped 23-5 ¼ (7.14) at the 2021 Texas Relays.
1996—George Mason’s Julius Achon, a sophomore from Uganda, set a Collegiate Record of 1:44.55 on his home track in Fairfax,VA. That mark stood until Texas A&M’s Donavan Brazier ran 1:43.55 at the 2016 NCAA Championships. (UTEP’s Michael Saruni set the current CR of 1:43.25 in 2018).
1996—Tiffany Smith jumped 13-7 (4.14m) at UCLA to break Stacy Dragila’s 2-week old American Record (13-6 ½
[4.13m])
2001—Meb Keflezighi finished 4th in the 10,000-meter race at the Cardinal Inv. at Stanford in 27:13.98, breaking Mark Nenow’s previous American Record of 27:20.56 set in 1986.
2008–In her debut race at a distance, Shalane Flanagan ran 30:34.49 at Stanford to break Deena Kastor’s American Record for 10,000 meters. She improved the record to 30:22.22 when she won the silver medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. (Since broken by Molly Huddle-30:13.17/2016).
Full Stanford Results: http://www.sml1.com/recordtiming/stanford/pjc08/
T&F News Cover(June): https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2008-06.jpg
