by Larry Eder
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 (wmurphy25@aol.com), used with permission
This Day in Track & Field–January 11
1914—As attendance kept growing at NY City armories during the first six years of its existence (1908-1913), the Millrose Games moved to the more spacious Madison Square Garden.
From the “Wanamaker Millrose Story” (Written by long-time Millrose Director Fred Schmertz in 1967):
“Before a capacity crowd, we featured a handicap Road Race in conjunction with our track meet. The event started at the Old Garden at 26th Street, then through the city streets to 110th Street and return, finishing the race with the final lap on the Garden floor. 110 starters, Harry Smith on scratch, were allotted handicaps up to 7 minutes. The winner was Fred Travalena, a John Wanamaker employee, and later Met. AAU President and Millrose Games official.
In our other features Alvah Meyer allotted handicaps to teammates Dan Ferris, Jack Eller and Jim Rosenberger in the Sprints; the “300” had Tommy Lennon , N.Y.A.C. on scratch, the event being won by Fred Wilkens, who had a small handicap. The 1000 Yard Handicap, with 59 starters, had Abel Kiviat on scratch, and the 2 Mile Handicap Walk, with a large field, featured Dick Gifford, Dick Remer and Fred Kaiser, all of whom started from scratch. Willie Kramer, Long Island A.C., won our feature 2 Mile. Tom Halpin, B.A.A., won our scratch “300”.”
1957–While on a Goodwill Tour in Manila, sponsored by the U.S. State Department, World Record holder Parry O’Brien won the Shot Put with a toss of 62-2 (18.945m).
1964–Wendell Mottley, a Dean’s List senior from Yale, ran 55.5 at the Knights of Columbus meet at the Boston Garden to equal Earl Young’s year-old World Record for 500-yards, and Bob Schul set an American Record of 13:31.4 for 3-miles.
Schul went on to win the gold medal in the 5000-meters at the Tokyo Oympics later in the year, while Mottley, competing for his native Trinidad & Tobago, won silver in the 400 and bronze in the 4×400 relay.
Mottley was named the first winner of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Trophy as the meet’s Outstanding Performer.
Mottley: http://ivy50.com/blackhistory/story.aspx?sid=5/11/2007
1974–Dick Buerkle was a surprisingly easy winner over Steve Prefontaine in the 2-mile at the CYO meet in College Park,Md (8:26.2-8:33.2). It was Pre’s first loss to an American in a race longer than a mile since 1970.
Rod Milburn won the 60-yard hurdles in 6.8, tying the World Record he already shared with Hayes Jones, Earl McCullouch and Willie Davenport. Fred Thompson’s Atoms T.C., with a lineup of Michelle McMillan (57.3), Cheryl Toussaint (56.0), Lorna Forde (56.9) and Brenda Nichols (56.8) set a World Record of 3:47.0 in the women’s mile relay.
https://umdarchives.wordpress.com/2015/03/13/track-glory-at-cole-field-house/
1980–Larry Myricks jumped 27-5 ¾ (8.38m) at the East Tennessee State Invitational to break Bob Beamon’s 12-year old World Indoor Record of 27-2 ¾ (8.30m). Among the first to congratulate Myricks was the legendary Ralph Boston, the former indoor and outdoor record holder in the event. Myricks told Track and Field News, “I wasn’t going to come here, but then my coach told me what a good facility it was and I couldn’t pass it up”.
Myricks, one of the greatest jumpers in history, was inducted into the National Hall of Fame in 2001.
HOF Bio: https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/larry-myricks
1997—Stacy Dragila regained the American Indoor Record in the Pole Vault from Melissa Price by first clearing 13-7 (4.14) and then
14-0 (4.27) at the Snake River Open in Pocatello, Idaho. Price had set the previous mark of 13-6 ½ (4.13) in 1996.
2014—A Penn State lineup of Megan Osborne, Kiah Seymour, Dynasty McGee, and Mahagony Jones ran 1:35.65 in the 4×200 relay on its home track to break Virginia Tech’s Collegiate Record of 1:36.43.
2019—Virginia Tech freshman Jacory Patterson set a World Junior Record of 32.49 for 300-meters on his home track in Blacksburg,VA. (Not an official IAAF/World Athletics record event)
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74cNSjAJm2k
Significant Birthdays
Born On This Day*
Amy Yoder Begley 47 (1978) 2001 NCAA Champion-10,000m(Arkansas), 2000
NCAA Indoor Champion-5000m,
2008 Olympian-10,000m (25th); 6th-2009 World Championships (10,000);
Former coach with the Atlanta Track Club
https://www.startingline1928.com/pioneerstories/amy-begley
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Yoder_Begley
Karl Van Calcar 60 (1965) 1988 NCAA Champion-steeplechase(Oregon
State/1985-4th)
6th at the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials
Won his NCAA title at Eugene’s Hayward Field. When the crowd was
informed that he might be the last man from Oregon State to compete
at the NCAA Championships (the school was dropping men’s T&F), they
cheered him on during an unplanned victory lap, much as they would for
one of their beloved Oregon Ducks! (See Oregonlive link)
PBs: 3:59.35 (1988), 13:40.7 (1996), 8:23.95 (1992)
https://osubeavers.com/honors/hall-of-fame/karl-van-calcar/124
Former Oregon State coach Kelly Sullivan Reflects:
http://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/index.ssf/2010/06/karl_van_calcar_he_was_the_las.html
Race Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coh1qIRaPhI
Madeline Manning-Mims 77 (1948) 1968 Olympic gold medalist—800m (1972-
Silver/4×400)
4-time U.S. Olympian—Semi-finalist in the 800 in 1972 and 1976; 1980-
boycott
Held the American Record from 1967-1983…set 6 American Records
during that span:2:01.6 (1967)-2:00.92 (1968)-2:00.5 (1975)-2:00.3
(1975), 1:59.81 (1976), 1:57.90 (1976)
6-time U.S. Champion—won her last in 1981, 14 years after winning her
first in 1967 (1967, 1969, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981)
4-time U.S. Indoor Champion (1967-1969, 1980)
Ranked #1 in the world 3 years in a row (1967-1969)…1972(10),
1975 (3), 1981 (7)
Ranked #1 in the U.S. 8 times (1967-1969, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1980-
1981/1979-3)
Inducted into the National Hall of Fame in 1984
Competed for Ed Temple’s Tennessee State Tigerbelles…credits Alex Ferenczy, who began coaching her as a youngster in
Cleveland, with most of her success. “He became a father figure in my life, at a time I really needed a father. He always said, ‘You
can’t do things sloppily.’ “I didn’t just take off my sweats and throw them to the side. I had to fold them and place them. If I took
off my shoes, I had to tie the laces together so I wouldn’t lose one. I tucked my shirt in.”
Currently the President of the United States Council For Sports Chaplaincy
Has served as an athletes’ chaplain at many Olympics (and recently with
the WNBA’s Tulsa Shock) and has been known to offer stirring renditions of the National Anthem at many events.
Member of NBC’s broadcast team at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki
Earned a Masters degree in Divinity from Oral Roberts
HOF Bio(1984): https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/jackie-joyner-kersee
50 Years later:
https://www.self.com/story/madeline-manning-mims-reflects-on-her-history-making-win
Rankings: https://trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/rankings
Anthem Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51QWZijk6Dk
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/77903
Video(highlight): https://olympics.com/en/video/madeline-manning-800m-women-athletics
https://www.startingline1928.com/pioneerstories/madeline-manning-mims
Profile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBI0wEZHaCI
www.cleveland.com/timstake/index.ssf/2015/04/olympic_champ_madeline_manning.html
Deceased
Tom Hicks 76 (1876-Jan.28, 1952) 1904 Olympic gold medalist—Marathon
The Marathon at the St.Louis Olympics, which were held in conjunction with the city’s World’s Fair, might have been the strangest
rendition of the event ever staged.
American Tom Hicks (3:28:53) was the winner of the almost-26 mile race on a hot and dusty day, but barely survived the effort.
From “The Strange Story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon”:
“So who was the eventual winner? That honor went to the English-born Tom Hicks. Hicks had a terrible race, suffering in the dust and
heat, and was desperate for a drink by the ten-mile mark. His two-man support team refused him water, and instead fed him a
concoction of egg whites and strychnine. Strychnine was used to stimulate athletic performance at the time, but is also a strong
poison which leads to convulsions, asphyxia, and death. Still, Hicks took the dose and somehow managed to continue running for a
while longer.
When he began to tire again, the support team gave him more egg whites and strychnine, and this time he was allowed to wash it
down with brandy. He continued to battle onwards, hallucinating, barely able to walk for most of the course. When he reached the
stadium his support team carried him over the line, holding him in the air while he shuffled his feet as if still running. The judges
decided this was acceptable, and gave him the gold medal. He never ran professionally again.”
Shades of Rosie Ruiz, the infamous “winner” of the 1980 Boston Marathon–Hicks wasn’t the first man to cross the finish line. That
“honor” went to American Fred Lorz, who had initially dropped out of the race after 9 miles. He hitched a ride back to the stadium
in a car, which broke down at the 19-mile mark. He then rejoined the race and jogged across the finish line and was hailed as the
winner. He even posed for a picture with Alice Roosevelt, the daughter of President Teddy Roosevelt! His ruse was discovered
before he could be presented with the gold medal, and he claimed he was just going along with the deception as a joke. Officials
initially banned him for life, but they soon gave him a reprieve and he went on to win the 1905 Boston Marathon (legitimately)!
From Simthsonianmag.com: “…from the start the 1904 marathon was less showstopper than sideshow, a freakish spectacle that
seemed more in keeping with the carnival atmosphere of the fair than the reverential mood of the Games. The outcome was so
scandalous that the event was nearly abolished for good.”
Check these links for more details of this bizarre race.
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78551
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1904_Summer_Olympics_–_Men%27s_marathon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Lorz
John Nuttall-Great Britain 56 (1967-Nov.9, 2023) 1989 NCAA X-Country Champion, led Iowa State to the team title. 1996 Olympian-
5000m.
Passed away suddenly of a heart attack on November 9, 2023, at the age of 56.
He was married to Liz McColgan, the 1991 World Champion at 10,000-meters and the winner of the 1991 NY City Marathon, and
step-daughter Eilish McColgan is the British Record holder at 10,000-meters and the Half-Marathon.
Nuttall and his wife had been coaching at the Doha Athletic Club in Qatar
PBs: 3:40.60 (1990), 3:58.83 (1991), 7:36.40 (1996), 13:16.70 (1995), 28:07.43 (1995)
https://cyclones.com/news/2023/11/10/cross-country-isu-mourns-loss-of-john-nuttall.aspx
https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/athletics/john-nuttall-dies-liz-mccolgan-eilish-athletics-b1119651.html https://cyclones.com/sports/2015/3/2/GEN_20140101158
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/69355
