by RBR Admin
Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com)
This Day in Track & Field–February 25
1919—While Tommy Campbell and Captain Ted Meredith were battling each other down the final stretch of the 600-yards at the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden, Dave Caldwell came rushing by on the outside to grab the win with a desperate lunge at the tape. His winning time was a modest 1:16.6, but the large crowd was treated to “…as thrilling a footrace as the oldest of the old-timers had ever seen”.
Loren Murchison had a successful Millrose debut, winning the Handicap and Invitation 70-yard dashes. He would go on to win a record total of 14 sprint races at Millrose!
From the NY Times Archives: “The meet was perhaps the greatest the Millrose A.A. has ever held. It was an impressive spectacle, once one was able to get inside the Garden, but getting in was a herculean task. From pit to dome, the old arena was jammed, with hundreds standing up. The band played, horns tooted, and cowbells clanged, and the Garden echoed with tumultuous acclaim”.
Murchison’s Wins
1919—70y Inv., 70y-Handicap
1921—70y
1922—50y, 60y
1923—60y, 300y
1924—60y, 300y
1925—50y, 60y
1926—40y, 60y, 300y
1928–Sabin Carr, the first man to top 14-feet (4.27) outdoors in the Pole Vault in 1927, became the first to do it indoors, winning at the U.S. Championships in Madison Square Garden with a clearance of 14-1 (4.29). Carr went on to win the gold medal at the Amsterdam Olympics later in the year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabin_Carr
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/02/26/107091052.html?pageNumber=149
1961—Ralph Boston, the 1960 Rome Olympic gold medalist in the Long Jump, beat bronze medalist Igor Ter-Ovanesyan of the Soviet Union in front of 16,243 fans at the U.S. Indoor Championships at Madison Square Garden and set a World Record of 26-6 ¼ (8.08).
Ter-Ovanesyan had been leading since the first round, getting his best of 26-feet even (7.92) on his 3rd attempt, becoming only the 2nd man to reach that barrier indoors. Boston had become the first a week earlier when he beat his Soviet rival with a leap of 26-1 ¾ (7.97) at the NYAC Games.
Boston got his winning jump in the final round here, with Ter-O responding with a narrow foul on a jump that could have given him the victory and the record!
In another U.S. Soviet duel, Valery Brumel once again beat John Thomas in the High Jump (7-2 to 7-0/2.18+-2.13+)
Other highlights:
Jim Beatty came from behind to win a tactical mile over Hungary’s Istvan Rozsavolgyi in 4:09.3.
Hayes Jones won the 60y-Hurdles for the 3rd time in 4 years, running 7-flat to equal the World Record he already shared with Milt Campbell.(It was the 6th time that Jones had run 7.0).
Before Gerry Lindgren wowed U.S. fans as a prep in 1964, there was Bruce Kidd. The 17-year old high school student from Canada won the 3-mile easily in 13:47.0 over a field that included seasoned veterans László Tábori and Al Lawrence, the defending champion.
http://onceuponatimeinthevest.blogspot.com/2012/03/february-1961.html
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1961/02/26/118902399.html?pageNumber=226
1983–In an era when international athletes could compete at the U.S. Indoor Nationals, Ireland’s Eamonn Coghlan won the Mile in 3:58.5, which served as a tuneup for his great World Record of 3:49.78 two days later. Stephanie Hightower, the former USATF President, set a World Record in the Women’s 60-yard hurdles with her winning time of 7.36.
Other Highlights:
Carl Lewis won the 60y (6.04) and the Long Jump (27-4 ¾ [8.35]), while sister Carol won the Women’s
LJ (21-5 ¼’6.53])
Doug Padilla won the 3-mile (13:08.00), the first of his 7 distance tiltes (4/3-miles, 3/3000m)
For the 5th year in a row, Evelyn Ashford won the 60y (6.58)
Diane Dixon, the winner in 1981, started a 10-year winning streak in the 440y/400m with her win this year (53.78)
Greg Foster won the first of his six hurdles titles (6.92y)
Louise Ritter won the 3rd of her 5 titles in the High Jump (6-3 ½[1.92])
https://www.nytimes.com/1983/02/26/sports/lewis-captures-2-events.html?searchResultPosition=1
1996&1999-Three years to the day after breaking her own World Record for 1000-meters with her winning time of 2:31.23, Maria Mutola returned to Stockholm to improve the mark to the current standard of 2:30.94.
Mutola won gold in the 800 at the 2000 Olympics as well as at three Outdoor and seven Indoor World Championships.
“I feel good, it’s fantastic really, but I’m in pain, my legs hurt like hell,” an exhausted Mutola, who could almost not
walk after the race, told Reuters.
(1999)-Germany’s Nicole Humbert set a World Record of 14-11 ½ (4.56). Australia’s Emma George set the previous mark of 14-11 (4.55) in 1998.
https://worldathletics.org/news/news/record-night-in-stockholm-for-mutola-and-humb
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Mutola
2015—40-year old Bernard Lagat ran 7:37.92 for 3000-Meters in Metz, France, breaking his 4-day old Masters Record of 7:41.3.
2017—Georgia junior Keturah Orji jumped 46-11 ¾ (14.32) twice at the SEC Championships in Nashville to break Sheila Hudson’s 22-year old American Indoor Record (46-8 ¼ [14.23]) in the Triple Jump.
2018—3 teams had the same goal in the 4×800 at the Boston University Last Chance meet—break the World Record of 7:13.11 that was set by a U.S. All-Star team in 2014.
All 3 succeeded, with Frank Gagliano’s Hoka New Jersey/New York TC (7:11.30) coming out on top over the Atlanta TC (7:11.84) and the D.C. TC (7:12.25).
It was a 2-team race at the end of the first two legs, but a 1:45.6 split by Edward Kemboi, the 2015 NCAA 800-meters Champion while at Iowa State, brought the Atlanta TC back into contention at the final handoff, with DC, with Matthew Centrowitz on the anchor, enjoying a 2-meters lead on NJ*NY.
Sensing that the record might be slipping away after a slowish first lap by “Centro” on the anchor leg, NJ*NY assistant coach Tom Nohilly screamed out “They’re slow! You have to get around him!”, to his team’s anchor, Jesse Garn, who responded by quickly moving into the lead. Garn maintained a quick tempo the rest of the way and finished off the record performance with his 1:47.5 split. Brandon Lasater (1:47.7) passed Centro (1:49.0) to bring Atlanta home in 2nd place.
Gagliano was feeling a bit under the weather and did not make it to Boston for tonight’s meet, but his men gave him something to smile about.
“This was so important to him,” said Kyle Merber, who contributed a 1:47.2 2nd leg on the record-setting team. “He’s just all about the team. Obviously it’s just his background coming from the college system. But he is so proud of team accomplishments like this.” From LetsRun’s Full Recap
Lineups
7:11.30-Hoka New Jersey/New York TC (unofficial splits)
Joe McAsey 1:49.1, Kyle Merber 1:47.2, Chris Giesting 1:47.5, Jesse Garn 1:47.5)
7:11.84-Atlanta T.C.
Brandon Hazouri 1:49.8, Patrick Peterson 1:48.7, Edward Kemboi’ 1:45.6, Brandon Lasater 1:47.7
7:12.25-D.C. TC
Blair Henderson 1:49.2, Strymar Livingston 1:47.2, Edose Ibadin’ 1:46.9, Matthew Centrowitz 1:49.0
(The 4×800 was the final event of the meet and was witnessed by only a handful of fans!)
Earlier in the day, senior Josh Hoey (Shanahan,Pa), who passed up the Pennsylvania State Meet to compete here, ran 1:47.67 for 800-meters to smash the National H.S. Record of 1:49.21 that was set by Robby Andrews (Manalapan,NJ) in 2009.
Hoey originally planned to compete for the University of Oregon, but instead chose to enter the professional ranks. After being “stuck” in the 1:47-1:48 range for the next few years, he broke through in 2024, finishing 4th at the U.S. Olympic Trials and lowering his best to 1:43.80. His improvement has continued in 2025, setting American Indoor Records in the 1000m (2:14.48) and 800m (1:43.90-Millrose, 1:43.24-U.S. Indoor Championships)!
https://www.runblogrun.com/2018/02/mens-relay-indoor-wr-at-4x800m-71130-by-hoka-one-one-njnytc.html
Hoey Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlGmM7f9Jqw
https://www.flotrack.org/articles/6245573-breaking-josh-hoey-turning-pro
2018—Kentucky freshman Sydney McLaughlin won the 400-Meters at the SEC Championships in 50.52, a World Junior (under-20) Indoor Record. A close 2nd in 50.62 was another freshman, Georgia’s Lynna Irby.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2imckJY0nfU
Interview: https://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?video_id=235235
2023—Mondo Duplantis cleared 20-4 ¾ (6.22) at the All-Star Perche (Pole Vault) meeting in Clermont-Ferrand, France, to set the 6th
World Record of his career. The native of Louisiana missed his first two attempts before clearing the record height cleanly on his 3rd try. Meet Director Renaud Lavillenie, who held the WR before Duplantis took control of the event, rushed onto the pit to congratulate his friend, almost before he landed!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCyxvOStMYY (From The Daily Post)
Mondo’s WRs (He now has 10!)
20-02 ¾ i (6.17) Toruń, Poland 2-08-20
20-03 ¼ i (6.18) Glasgow, Scotland 2-15-20
20-03 ¾ i (6.19) Belgrade, Serbia 3-07-22
20-04i (6.20) Belgrade, Serbia 3-24-22
20-04 ½ (6.21) Eugene, Oregon 7-24-22
20-04 ¾ i (6.22) Clermont-Ferrand, France 2-25-23
20-05 ¼ (6.23) Eugene, Oregon 9-17-23
20-05 ½ (6.24) Xiamen, China 4-20-24
20-06 (6.25) Paris, France 8-05-24
20-06 ½ (6.26) Chorzów, Poland 8-25-24
2023—Texas sophomore Rhasidat Adeleke won the 400-meters at the Big-12 Championships in Lubbock,Texas, with a time of 50.33.
She not only broke the Collegiate Record of 50.34 that was set by USC’s Kendall Ellis in 2018, she also set an Irish National Record
. Adeleke didn’t have long to enjoy her claim to the CR, since Florida junior Talitha Diggs, the daughter of Hall-of-Famer Joetta Clark,
later ran 50.15 at the SEC Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas. In addition to taking the CR away from Adeleke, she also broke
the American Record, which was Ellis’s 50.34!
Big-12 Results: https://live.pttiming.com/?mid=5368
SEC Results: http://www.flashresults.com/2023_Meets/Indoor/02-24_SEC/
2023—Julien Alfred, the Texas senior from St. Lucia, continued her amazing season by winning the Big-12 60 in 6.97, her 3rd Collegiate
Record in the event this season. Alfred, who also won the Big12 200 (22.26/#2 all-time college at the time, now #3), moved to =#8
on the all-time world list in the 60 (at the time). Her 200 time broke the Texas school record of 22.40, which was set by Bianca
Knight in 2008. Posted Knight on Twitter, “15 years. I saw the writings on the wall early on that it was going this season! What a
phenomenal double!”
Alfred, who would improve to 6.96 (heat) and 6.94 (final/=#2 All-Time) at the NCAA Championships two weeks later, now has 9 of the
12 fastest collegiate times in the 60 in history. She would go on to win Olympic gold in the 100-meters in Paris in 2024!
All-Time Collegiate List 60 Meters(A-altitude) From T&F News
6.94(A) Julien Alfred’ (Texas) 3/11/23
6.96(A) ————Alfred’ 3/10/23
6.97 ————Alfred’ 2/25/23
7.00(A) ————Alfred’ 2/04/23
7.02(A) ————Alfred’ 1/21/23
7.03 ————Alfred’ 2/24/23
7.03 Brianna Lyston’ (LSU) 3/09/24
7.04 ————Alfred’ 3/11/22
7.04(A) Jacious Sears (Tennessee) 3/10/23
7.05 Kemba Nelson’ (Oregon) 3/13/21
7.05(A) ————Alfred’ 1/21/23
7.05(A) ————Alfred’ 2/04/23
7.08(A) Mikiah Brisco (LSU) 2/03/18
2023—Gudaf Tsegay won the Women’s 3000-meters at the World Indoor Tour Final in Birmingham, England (2-25) in 8:16.69, just
missing the World Record of 8:16.60 that was set by fellow Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba in 2014.
Lots of National Records set in the Men’s 1500-meters. Neil Gourley won the race in 3:32.48 to break Josh Kerr’s British (and
Scottish) record of 3:32.86 (Kerr was 5th here in 3:34.93). 2nd was Adel Mechaal with a Spanish Record of 3:33.28, and 3rd in
3:33.49 was Andrew Coscoran, who barely broke Ray Flynn’s 41-year-old Irish Record of 3:33.5! A gracious Flynn, who still holds
the Irish Mile Outdoor Record (3:49.77), Tweeted: “Huge congratulations to Andrew on his marvellous race today and on becoming
the fastest ever Irishman over 1500m!”
1500: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzD5O5-6Qig
Tsegay(Last Lap): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq7wtguozXk
Results: https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-tour/calendar-results/7165950/result
Coscoran: https://www.athleticsireland.ie/news/andrew-coscoran-breaks-irish-1500m-record
Significant Birthdays
Born On This Day*
Seilala Sua 47 (1978) 7-time NCAA Champion at UCLA—Discus(4/’97-‘00),Shot Put(3/’99,’00-in/out)
2-time U.S. Olympian in the discus (2000-10th, 2004-qual.round); 6’-1 ½”, 240
2-time finalist in the discus at the World Championships (1999-6th, 2001-5th)
1999 PAC-10 Champion in the javelin; All-American in the weight throw
4-time U.S. Champion-discus (1998-2001)
PBs: 60-8 ¾sp (18.51/’01), 69-0wt (21.03/’00), 216-2dt (65.90/’02/#9 All-Time U.S.), 198-10ht(60.60/’00),
161-2jt (49.12/’99); Collegiate PB: 212-10dt (64.89/1999/#8 A-T College)
Ranked among the Top-10 in the U.S. in the discus 9 years in a row (1998-2005/#1 1998-2001)
http://uclabruins.com/news/2013/4/17/208196670.aspx
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/89168
Rankings: https://trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/rankings
Bev Kearney 67 (1958) Former head women’s coach at Texas
Led the Lady Longhorns to six NCAA team titles: Indoors-1998, 1999, and 2006; Outdoors-1998, 1999, and
2005.
Inducted into the USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame in 2007
Was a sprinter at Auburn
Was seriously injured in an automobile crash a day after Christmas, 2002. Was initially paralyzed from the waist
down, but vowed she would walk again. She first stood on her own four months after the car accident in front
of a crowd of 20,000 cheering fans during the 2003 Texas Relays. Has since progressed to the point where
she now gets around just using one cane.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Kearney
http://www.ustfccca.org/awards/beverly-kearney-ustfccca-class-of-2007
https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/failure-is-not-an-option/
https://www.worldathletics.org/news/news/you-learn-that-the-impossible-is-possible-say
https://www.cnn.com/2013/01/06/sport/texas-track-coach-resigns/index.html
Donald “DQ” Quarrie—Jamaica 74 (1951) One of the legends of Jamaican T&F
4-time Olympic medalist: Gold—200(’76), Silver—100(’76), 4×100(’84), Bronze—200(’80)
Double sprint champion(100/200) at the 1970 and 1974 Commonwealth Games. Won a 3rd title in the 100 in
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