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 14
1915—Ted Meredith, the 1912 Olympic Champion at 800-Meters, won the 600y at the Millrose Games before a record crowd of 10,00 fans in NY’s Madison Square Garden. His time of 1:13.6 just missed the World Record of 1:13.4 that was set the year before by Tom Halpin, who finished 2nd here, 3 yards behind Meredith.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/01/15/104639708.html?pageNumber=9
1961–New Zealand’s Murray Halberg, who won the 5000-Meters at the previous year’s Olympics in Rome, smashed the Indoor World Record for 2-miles when he ran 8:34.3 in Portland, Oregon. Australian Al Lawrence set the previous mark of 8:46.0 the year before in Los Angeles.
Racing Past Profile: http://www.racingpast.ca/john_contents.php?id=128
1961—Three years before a young Gerry Lindgren took the track world by storm, 17-year old Canadian Bruce Kidd lit up the Boston Garden by winning the 2-mile at the Knights of Columbus meet. Screaming fans were on their feet as the youngster held off a late charge by veteran Pete McArdle (8:49.6). Kidd’s time of 8:49.1 stood as the record for 17-year olds until Lindgren ran 8:46.0 early in the 1964 indoor season.
Kidd excelled in the classroom as well as on the track and was the Vice President and Principal at the University of Toronto-Scarborough before retiring in 2018
Sports Illustrated Vault:
https://vault.si.com/vault/1961/01/23/how-young-kidd-made-good
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Kidd
2013 Interview: http://athleticsillustrated.com/interviews/bruce-kidd/
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/66118
1972––Reynaldo Brown set an American Indoor Record of 7-4 (2.23+) to win the High Jump at the CYO Invitational in College Park,Md. Brown, who made the 1968 U.S. Olympic team before entering his senior year at Compton H.S.(Ca), just missed making his 2nd Olympic team, finishing 4th at the U..S Trials later in the year.
“Little” Adelphi University won the Mile Relay in 3:13.7, a “World Record” on an 11-lap track. Running for coach Ron Bazil were Keith Davis (49.2), Larry Ross (49.0), Dennis Walker (48.2), and Clyde McPherson (47.3). The same foursome would lower the record to 3:12.2 the following week in Philadelphia, and, with Ray Lee replacing Ross, would win the NCAA title in March.
(Brown): https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78163
Adelphi: http://www.aupanthers.com/news/2012/1/13/TRACK_0113124114.aspx
https://vault.si.com/vault/1972/02/07/if-youve-got-no-money-try-diploma-power
1974–Frosh Robin Campbell (Eastern,DC), one of the early “super-stars” of girls’ high school track, ran 1:19.3 in Toronto to set the current high school record for 600-yards (rarely contested these days). Campbell went on to become the 1983 U.S. Champion at 800-meters and represented the U.S. in the 800 at the 1983 World Championships (5th) and 1984 Olympics (semi-finalist).
She had other scholastic bests of 2:02.40-800m, 2:07.5i-880y, 2:30.7i-1000y. Only Mary Decker was ahead of her on the All-Time H.S. lists when she ran those times! Finished her prep career at Florida’s Oak Hall H.S.
Wiki Bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Campbell_(athlete)
1977—Lorna Forde (Barbados/Atoms TC) won the 440y at the CYO meet in College Park, Maryland, in the World Record time of 53.8.
Francie Larrieu-Smith (4:34.7) won the Mile over two stars-to-be, Liberty A.C. teammates Joan Benoit (4:44.8) and 16-year old Lynn Jennings (4:47.3). All three are members of the National Hall of Fame.
HOF Bios:
Larrieu-Smith(1998): https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/francine-larrieu-smith
Benoit-Samuelson(2004): https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/joan-benoit-samuelson
Jennings(2006): https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/lynn-jennings
1983–Billy Olson jumped 18-10 ¼ (5.75) in Ottawa, Canada, to add 1/4” to his own World Indoor Record in the Pole Vault. It was the 5th record in less than a year for Olson, who would set two more in 1983, the final one being the first indoor 19-footer (19-1/4[5.80) in Toronto on February 4.
Making a modest return to action in the same meet, after an injury-induced year-long layoff, Eamonn Coghlan won the mile in 4:04.52.
Sports Illustrated Vault:
https://vault.si.com/vault/1983/02/07/billy-cracks-the-vault
Indoor Record Progression(PV-metric);
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_pole_vault_indoor_world_record_progression
Metric Converter: http://www.usatf.org/statistics/calculators/markConversions/
2007—Running by himself for most of the race, Ryan Hall ran 59:43 in Houston to break Mark Curp’s 21-year old American Record of 60:55 for the Half-Marathon. Next across the line were Fasil Bizuneh (62:20) and Meb Keflezighi (62:22).
David Monti’s Race-Day Report
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Z8DC_PiKY
2012—Making the U.S. Olympic team at the Marathon Trials in Houston were Meb Keflezighi (2:09:08/his 3rd team), Ryan Hall (2:09:30/2nd team), and Abdi Abdirahman (2:09:47/4th team!) in the Men’s race, and Shalane Flanagan (2:25:38/3rd team), Desiree Davila-Linden (2:25:55), and Kara Goucher (2:26:06/2nd team) in the Women’s race.
Finishing 4th in the respective races were Dathan Ritzenhein (2:09:55) and Amy Hastings (2:27:17). 6th in the Women’s race was Deena Kastor (2:30:300, the bronze medalist at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
LetsRun Coverage: https://www.letsrun.com/events/2016/02/2016-us-olympic-marathon-trials
NBC Coverage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jHBd-zVYN0
2012—Penn State freshman Robby Creese set a Collegiate and U.S. Junior Record of 2:19.53 for 1000-meters on his home track (still #8 All-Time College/still AJR)
https://gopsusports.com/news/2012/1/14/Creese_Sets_Collegiate_1000_Meter_Record.aspx
All-Time College Indoor List (T&F News)
https://trackandfieldnews.com/collegiate-indoor-all-time-list-men/
2:18.05 Tinoda Matsatsa (Georgetown) 1/19/24
2:18.10 Yusuf Bizimana’ (Texas) 1/12/24
2:18.26 Brannon Kidder (Penn State) 1/16/16
2:18.55 Rich Peters’ (Boston University) 3/02/14
2:18.56 Nathan Green (Washington) 2/04/24
2:19.17 Abel Teffra (Georgetown) 1/19/24
2:19.37 Matthew Payamps (Georgetown) 1/19/24
2:19.53 Robby Creese (Penn State) 1/14/12
2:19.56 Parker Stokes (Georgetown) 1/19/24
2:19.57 Christian Smith (Kansas State) 2/04/06
2012-Working his way around lapped runners late in the race, Edward Cheserek, a junior at St.Benedict’s Prep(NJ), ran 8:43.16 to win the 2-mile at the Stanner Games at NY’s Armory.
The 18-year old native of Kenya fell short of his goal of breaking Gerry Lindgren’s 48-year old U.S. prep record of 8:40.0 (and his personal best of 8:42.66), but succeeded the following year when he ran 8:39.15 at the 2013 Millrose Games at the Armory. (Drew Griffith ran 8:34.91 in 2024)
Race Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVDo_R-NcOI
http://tinyurl.com/CheserekESPN12
All-Time U.S. H.S. Indoor List—Boys 2-Mile
*-Junior, **-Sophomore
https://trackandfieldnews.com/high-school-all-time-indoor-top-10s-boys/
8:34.91 Drew Griffith (Butler, Pennsylvania) 2024
8:39.15 Edward Cheserek’ (St. Benedict’s, Newark, New Jersey) 2013
8:40.0 Gerry Lindgren (Rogers, Spokane, Washington) 1964
8:40.70 *Lukas Verzbicas’ (Orland, Sandburg Park, Illinois) 2011
8:42.60 Jackson Heidesch (Dowling, West Des Moines, Iowa) 2023
8:42.66 ————**Cheserek’ 2011
8:42.7 Jeff Nelson (Burbank, California) 1979
8:43.16 ————*Cheserek’ 2012
8:43.24 ————*Verzbicas’ 2011
8:43.24 Connor Burns (Southern Boone, Ashland, Missouri) 2023
**10 performances by 7 performers**
8:45.16 *Brodey Hasty (Brentwood, Tennessee) 2017
8:45.19 Alan Webb (South Lakes, Reston, Virginia) 2001
8:46.08 Noah Affolder (Carlisle, Pennsylvania) 2017
Oversized track:
8:38.67 Drew Griffith (Area Senior, Butler, Pennsylvania) 2024
8:43.2 Dave Merrick (Lincoln-Way, New Lenox, Illinois) 1971
8:45.6 Craig Virgin (Lebanon, Illinois) 1973
2018—Ethiopia’s Ruti Aga (66:39) won the Women’s division of the Aramco-Houston Half-Marathon, with Molly Huddle finishing 7th in 67:25, breaking Deena Kastor’s 6-year old American Record of 67:34. Along the way, she also broke Kastor’s AR for 10-miles (50:52/51:34).
2023—Senior Shawnti Jackson (South Granville,NC) ran 36.63 for 300-meters at the Virginia Showcase in Virginia Beach, breaking the previous U.S. High School Record of 36.82 that was set by Sydney McLaughlin (Union Catholic,NJ) in 2017. Runnerup to Jackson was Madison Whyte (Heritage,VA), who moved to #4 on the All-Time list with her time of 37.09 (now #5).
https://www.milesplit.com/articles/326522/shawnti-jackson-breaks-sydney-mclaughlins-300m-nat-record
https://www.dyestat.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=news&news_id=653339
All-Time U.S. H.S. Indoor List–Girls 300
36.63 Shawnti Jackson (South Granville, Creedmoor, North Carolina) 2023
36.73 Jackson 2023
36.82 Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (Union Catholic, Scotch Plains, New Jersey) 2017
36.95 *Jackson (Wakefield, Raleigh, North Carolina) 2022
36.96 Francena McCorory (Bethel, Hampton, Virginia) 2006
36.97 Adeajah Hodge’ (Academy, Montverde, Florida) 2024
37.09 McLaughlin-Levrone 2017
37.09 Madison Whyte (Heritage, Newport News, Virginia) 2023
37.11 McLaughlin-Levrone 2017
37.12 Whyte 2023
**10 performances by 5 performers**
37.32 Elise Cooper (McDonogh, Owings Mills, Maryland) 2024
37.36 Athing Mu (Central, Trenton, New Jersey) 2020
37.38 **Kayla Davis (Providence Day, Charlotte, North Carolina) 2020
37.39 *Sydney Sutton (Bullis, Potomac, Maryland) 2024
37.53 Britton Wilson (Godwin, Henrico, Virginia) 2019
Significant Birthdays
Born on This Day*
Mariya Kuchina-Lasitskene—Russia 32 (1993) 2021 Olympic gold medalist—High Jump
3-time World Champion (2015, 2017, 2019)
2-time World Indoor Champion(2014, 2018)
2018 European Champion (2-time Indoor Champion/2015, 2019)
Missed the 2016 & 2024 Olympics and the 2022 & 2023 World Championships due to the ban on Russian athletes
2010 Youth Olympics Champion
Ranked #1 in the World six times by T&F News (2014,2015,2017,2018,2019,2021)
PB: 6-9 (2.06/2017/=#8 All-Time/ind-out), 6-8 3/4i (2.05/2020/=#7 A-T); 2024 SB:6-4 (1.93)
http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/146098 (Through 2023)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariya_Lasitskene
Tokyo: https://www.nbcolympics.com/videos/lasitskene-leaps-high-jump-gold
Kemoy Campbell 34 (1991) Jamaica’s greatest distance runner—holds the following National Records:
3000 (7:40.79i, 7:41.87), 5000 (13:14.45i, 13:20.39), 10,000 (28:06.40)
Other PBs:1:49.95, 3:41.00, 4:00.98i
10th in the 5000 at the 2017 World Championships (1st Jamaican to make the final)
2016 Olympian was eliminated in the first round of the 5000-meters in Rio
Was an All-American at 3000 and 5000 meters while at Arkansas
NCAA: 3000i (2013-2nd, 2015-4th), 5000 (2013-5th, 2015 (3rd)
Collapsed while pacing the Men’s 3000-meters at the 2019 Millrose Games at NY’s Armory. After the race
concluded, the meet was delayed while he was continuing to be attended to on the infield. He was then
transported across the street to NY Presbyterian/Columbia University Hospital, where he stayed for more than 2
weeks. He made a full recovery, but announced his retirement in September, 2019, after doctors warned him that
running at an intense level could lead to another serious incident. “I was told today that I shouldn’t compete again
or this incident will happen again, but that will not stop me from supporting and helping this sport and my team
(Reebok Boston TC) any way I can. So it’s farewell to competing,” he wrote on Instagram.
Read more at the links below. Currently working as a coach
https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/jamaica/kemoy-campbell-14201885
College Stats: https://www.tfrrs.org/athletes/4066671/Arkansas/Kemoy_Campbell.html
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kemoy_Campbell
Collapse
https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a26287737/kemoy-campbell-collapses-millrose-games/
https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a28954873/kemoy-campbell-retires-from-competitive-running/
Gift of Life: Prior to the 2020 Millrose Games, Lewis Johnson interviewed Campbell on the Armory infield for NBC.
Among others interviewed for the feature were Todd Sinclair, who was the first person to administer CPR to
Campbell. (Campbell was the starter for the 3000 at the 2020 Millrose Games)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA_T4R0FqdA
https://www.tracklifeinternational.com/features/kemoy-campbell-returns-to-millrose-as-a-starter/
Hyleas Fountain 44 (1981) 2-time U.S. Olympian (Heptathlon)-2008 (silver medalist), 2012);
4-time NCAA Champion (Georgia)-2003 (Heptathlon), 2004 (Indoor-LJ, Pentathlon, Outdoor-LJ)
6-time U.S. Champion (5-Heptathlon, 1-Pentathlon)
PBs: 12.70/100h (‘12), 6-2 ¾ (1.90/’10), 22-7 ¼ (6.89/’09), 4753i (‘10/=#4 All-Time U.S.), 6735 (‘10/#4 A-T
U.S.)
Competed in bobsleigh in 2012
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyleas_Fountain
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/114383
https://www.teamusa.com/profiles/hyleas-fountain
Bobsleigh/Bobsled: https://www.ibsf.org/en/athletes/athlete/129375/Fountain
Shawn Crawford 47 (1978) 3-time Olympic medalist—Gold-200m (2004), Silver-200m (2008), 4×100 (2004)
NCAA Champion—200m (Clemson), currently coaching in California, married to hurdler Ginnie Powell-Crawford.
The Medal No One Wanted: http://tinyurl.com/zonv62t
Man vs Beast(s):<
