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.
This Day in Track & Field–March 8
by Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com), used with permission
1941—3 World Indoor Records were set at the Knights of Columbus meet at Madison Square Garden.
John Borican won the 600y in 1:10.2, then came back an hour later to win the 1000y in a quick 2:10.3, not a record but still the 3rd-fastest time ever.
Earle Meadows set the other records in the Pole Vault (14-7 1/8 [4.44+]) and Al Blozis in the Shot Put (56-2 7/8 [17/14+]).
NY Times Coverage (for subscribers)
1969—Germany’s Dieter Fromm set a World Indoor Record of 1:46.6 while winning the 800-meter at the European Indoor Championships in Belgrade.
1969—Marty Liquori completed a sweep of the five Madison Square Garden meets by winning the Mile at the IC4A Championships (4:05.3). The Villanova sophomore had previously won the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games, the
2-mile at the Garden Invitational, the 1000y at the Knights of Columbus Inv., and the 1500m at the Olympic Inv.
Villanova easily won the team title, thanks to additional wins by Erv Hall in the 60y-Hurdles (7.2/also 2nd in the 60y), Larry James in the 600y (1:09.3/Notre Dame’s Rick Wohlhuter finished 2nd out of the slower section [1:10.4]), and Frank Murphy, who set a Collegiate and European Record of 2:07.1 in the 1000y. James also ran on the winning mile relay.
Art Dulong (8:45.0) of Holy Cross won the 2-mile over Villanova’s Dick Buerkle (8:47.8), Yale’s Frank Shorter (8:49.0), and Villanova’s Tom Donnelly (8:49.0).
For Subscribers: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1969/03/09/90061414.html?pageNumber=299
1986–Pat Manson (Aurora Central,CO) jumped 17-6 ½ (5.35) to set a High School Indoor Record in the Pole Vault in Flagstaff,AZ. Manson, an eventual 3-time gold medalist at the Pan-American Games, jumped 18-0 (5.49) outdoors that year, starting a remarkable string of 22 consecutive years (through 2007) in which he cleared 18’ or better.
He had a best of 19-2 ¼ (5.85/1997)
http://www.patmanson.com/webfront/bio.php
1987—The final day of the first World Indoor Championships in Indianapolis featured one of the most spectacular spills in the history of track and field. Greg Foster and Canada’s Mark McKoy, the two most recent World Record holders in the Men’s 60-meter hurdles, lined up next to each other in the final, McKoy, who leads with his right leg, in lane 4, and left-leg lead Foster right next to him in lane 5.
As McKoy told Sports Illustrated, “When (Foster’s) to my right, we always hit each other”. Sure enough, as Foster tried to catch a quick-starting McKoy, he hit the 2nd hurdle and drifted into McKoy’s lane, clipping his rival’s arm. Now off balance, they both hit the 4th hurdle, and crashed to the floor of the Hoosier Dome, arms and legs flying everywhere as both lay bleeding from their various injuries. Luckily, neither one suffered lasting effects from their memorable (forgettable?) encounter.
Meanwhile, Tonie Campbell went on to win the race in 7.51. Said Campbell after the race, “When you hear wood flying, you get out of the way. I’ve already gotten two concussions running the highs, so when I heard it, I automatically tucked in and pushed forward”.
The 6th World Record of the weekend came from Bulgaria’s Stefka Kostadinova, who cleared 6-8 ¾ (2.05) to win the Women’s High Jump.
Results:
Sports Illustrated Vault: http://tinyurl.com/SIVault87WIC
Foster-McKoy:
VIdeo: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KmIaTzuT7Cs
http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/09/sports/track-and-field-collision-mars-hurdles-final.html
Great Photo (Getty Images):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_IAAF_World_Indoor_Championships
