This Day in Track & Field, April 1, 2025, Oregon’s Ashton Easton and Brianne Theisen win decathlon and heptathlon at Texas Relays (2010), written, edited by compiled by Walt Murphy

Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service  (wmurphy25@aol.com)

This Day in Track & Field–April 1(No Foolin’)

1933—Ben Eastman  set a World Record of 1:09.2 for 600-yards at the PTA Sports Carnival in San Francisco.

1973—The first Cherry Blossom Invitational Run was held in Washington, D.C. 129 runners finished the race, including winners Sam Bair (51:22) and Kathrine Switzer (1:11:19).

https://www.cherryblossom.org

1977—An Arizona State lineup of Gary Burl, Tony Darden, Gerald Burl, and Herman Frazier won the 4x220y at the Texas Relays in 1:21.7, equaling the World Record that was set by Tennessee in 1976

1978—As George Grenier wrote in T&F News, “William Snoddy, getting help from one of the bigger winds since the one that carried Dorothy from Kansas to Oz, bolted to history’s fastest 100-Meters”. The time at the Dallas Invitational for Oklahoma soph Snoddy, the 1977 NCAA Champion at 200-Meters, was 9.87, well under Jim Hines’ World Record of 9.95, and the wind-reading was +11.2-meters per second (25mph)!

1979—Julie Shea set a World Record of 1:14.08 for 20-kilometers in Atlanta

2000—Linda Lypson-Blutreich set an American Record of 188-5 (57.42) in the Javelin at the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh,NC.

2010—Oregon’s Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen, still in the early stages of their careers (and long before they got married), won the Decathlon (8310w/PB) and Heptathlon (5942w), respectively, at the Texas Relays.

         Ashton went on to win two Olympic (2012,2016) and two World (2013,2015) titles (and set two World Records), while Brianne, representing her native Canada, was a bronze medalist at the 2016 Olympics and a 2-time silver medalist at the World Championships (2013,2015). She also won 6 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor titles.

https://www.si.com/edge/2017/04/25/ashton-eaton-brianne-theisen-eaton-retired-life-after-track

2017—Armand “Mondo” Duplantis, a junior at Lafayette H.S.(LA), won the Elite Pole Vault at the Texas Relays, setting U.S. and World Junior (and U.S. High School) Records with his clearance of 19-4  ¼ (5.90). He would return to Austin the following year and raise the Record to 19-5 (5.92), finishing 3^rd behind World Record holder Renaud Lavilennie and Shawn Barber, both of whom also cleared 19-5.

Slo-Mo Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo_sptJhMNs

2022—Natalie Cook (Flower Mound,TX) ran 15:25.93 at the Stanford Invitational, breaking the previous U.S. High School Record of  15:34.47 that was set by Jenna Hutchins (Science Hill, TN) in 2020.

https://ne-np.facebook.com/100044095643315/videos/natalie-cook-1525-5k-national-record/526871872136650/

https://trackandfieldnews.com/article/high-school-record-5000-for-natalie-cook/

https://citiusmag.com/natalie-cook-breaks-high-school-5000m-record/

2023—A day after setting a Collegiate Record in the Sprint Medley (3:36.10), the Texas women set two more CRs at the Texas Relays.

4×200—1:28.05 Rhasidat Adeleke, Julien Alfred, Kevona Davis, Lanae Thomas

4×100—42.00 Julien Alfred, Ezinne Abba, Rhasidat Adeleke and Kevona Davis

The previous marks were 3:38.93 by Texas A&M in 2022, 42.05 by LSU in 2018, and 1:28.78 by Oregon in 2017. The Lady Longhorns topped off their amazing weekend by winning the 4×400 in a swift 3:23.27 (#9 all-time college performance at the time). Julien Alfred and Rhasidat Adeleke ran on all four teams.

Another CR was set in the Women’s 100-Meter Hurdles, with Kentucky’s Masai Russell running 12.36. The previous mark of 12.39 was set by Clemson’s Brianna McNeal in 2013. Arkansas’ Ackera Nugent, who beat Russell at the NCAA Indoor Championships, made it out of the qualifying round, but was a no-show in the final.

Results: https://www.tfrrs.org/results/77369/2023_95th_Clyde_Littlefield_Texas_Relays

T&F News Coverage  Men   Women  Pros

Born On This Day

Andreas Thorkildsen-Norway 43 (1982) 2-time Olympic gold medalist—Javelin (2004, 2008/2012-5th)

         2009 World Champion (Silver medalist-2005, 2007, 2011/2003-11th, 2013-6th)

         2-time European Champion (2006, 2010)

         PB:300-6 (91.59/2005)

         https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Thorkildsen

         https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/107086#

         https://www.worldathletics.org/news/series/andreas-thorkildsen-javelin-training-xbox

Gia Lewis-Smallwood 46 (1979) 4-time U.S. Champion—Discus (2013,2014,2015,2017

         Set an American Record of 226-11 (69.17) in 2014; (record was broken by Valarie Allman in 2020:  230-02

              [70.15]);   6’-0”, 205

         2012 Olympian—didn’t make the final in London

         Competed at 4 World Championships—finished 5th in 2013, 11th in 2015

         2001 All-American at the University of Illinois (5th at the 2001 NCAA Championships

         https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/gia-lewis-smallwood-14315338

         https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/126087

         https://fightingillini.com/honors/hall-of-fame/gia-lewis-smallwood/50

         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaH_vAXwh2E

Ruth Beitía—Spain 46 (1979)  2016 Olympic gold medalist—High Jump

         Won the gold medal in Rio at the age of 37! (Oldest Olympic Champion in the event)

         4-time Olympian: 2004 (qual.), 2008 (=4^th), 2012 (bronze), 2016 (gold)

       Competed at 8 World Championships:

            2003 (=11^th), 2005 (Qual.), 2007 (6^th), 2009 (4^th), 2011 (Qual.), 2013 (bronze), 2015 (5^th), 2017 (12^th)

         And 9 World Indoor Championships:

         ‘01(7^th), ‘03(=5^th), ‘04(Qual.), ’06 (Bronze), ’08 (4^th), ’10 (Silver), ’12 (6^th), ’14 (Bronze), ’16 (Silver)

         3-time European Champion (2012, 2014, 2016)

         PB: 6-7  ½ (2.02)

         Rio Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqrdy9sTKYo

         Rio Report: https://www.worldathletics.org/news/report/rio-2016-olympic-games-women-high-jump

         https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Beitia

         https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/107096

         https://worldathletics.org/athletes/spain/ruth-beitia-14261980

         Retirement(2017): https://www.worldathletics.org/news/news/ruth-beitia-retirement

Kelli White 48 (1977)  “Won” the 100 and 200 at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, but was later stripped of her

         medals after testing positive for modafinil, a stimulant that wasn’t specified as a banned substance, but was covered

         under the stimulants category of “related substances”, according to the IAAF.

             Speaking at a packed press conference in Paris after news of her failed test broke, White proclaimed her

         innocence, saying she took modafinil to treat Narcolepsy, a condition that ran in her family. (I was at that “presser”,

         and, looking at the sport through rose-colored glasses, I naively bought into her explanation!)

             White admitted in 2004 to taking steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs and was the first athlete

         caught up in the Balco doping scandal. To her credit, she started working with USADA (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency),

         speaking at conferences around the world about the pitfalls of using performance-enhancing drugs.

             Travis Tygart, the CEO of USADA, said of White’s efforts, “Kelli’s contributions to antidoping will have a much

         longer-lasting and beneficial impact for athletes and sport than anything she ever did on the track.”

             Prior to her failed drug test, White won the silver medal in the 200 at the 2001 World Championships and was an

         All-American at Tennessee: NCAA-1997 (100-5^th), 1998 (100-5^th, 200-4^th), 1999 (100-6^th, 200-3^rd)

         PBs: 7.24i (1999), 11.19 (2000), 22.58 (1998), 53.77 (2000)

         https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelli_White

         https://worldathletics.org/news/news/i-can-only-be-kelli-white

         https://worldathletics.org/athletes/united-states/kelli-white-14324056

         https://worldathletics.org/news/news/iaaf-statement-on-kelli-white

         Redemption(2013)

         https://www.cbsnews.com/news/can-kelli-white-keep-her-medals/

William Reed 55 (1970)  1987 U.S. Junior Champion-400m (Central H.S., PA)…ran 45.17 in the final (still #9 All-Time H.S.)

            and beat Steve Lewis, who would win Olympic gold in the 400 the following year in Seoul.

         Suffered an injury towards the end of the 1987 season that sidelined him for most of 1988.

         Had a short collegiate career at Morehouse College—finished 3^rd in the 400 (45.96) at the 1990 NCAA Div.II

            Championships

         Set a National H.S. Indoor Record of 33.19 for 300-meters in 1986—record lasted for 27 years until Michael Cherry

             ran 33.05 in 2013

         Ran a 45.1 split at the 1986 Penn Relays (the fastest ever at Penn at the time)

         Was an age-group star from the age of 7

         Set an age-15 record of 46.55 for 400-meters in 1985.

       PB:33.19i, 45.17 (1987)

             “I would have signed William out of eighth grade,” said John Smith, UCLA’s quarter-mile coach at the time. “Even

         then his accomplishments were fantastic.”

         The grandfather of two is a Hospitality Manager in the Atlanta area for the Starwood hotel chain.

         https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/25/sports/players-15-year-old-on-path-to-greatness.html

         Catching Up(2016): https://centralhighalumni.com/2016/02/catching-will-reed-is-still-not-easy/

Rey Robinson 73 (1952)  2^nd to Eddie Hart in the 100-Meters at the 1972 U.S. Olympic Trials (both equaled the World

            Record of 9.9). Both had been considered potential medalists in Munich, but they missed their ¼-final races in

            Munich due to a misunderstanding of the time schedule!

         Ranked #5 in the world in 1972 (#3-U.S.)

         With sprint legend Bob Hayes, another former Florida prep star, on hand as the meet referee, Robinson (Lakeland

            H.S.) won the 100y (9.2w) and 220y (20.7y) at the 1970 Golden West Invitational, the premier high school meet

            at the time.

         Former coach at South Florida and Florida A&M

         https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78966

         Central Florida Hall of Fame

         Looking Back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZxwUPRCjOQ