Walt Murphy News and Results Service ((email protected))
This Day in Athletics – November 11 (Veterans Day)
1868– From Wally Donovan’s Indoor Track History
https://www.amazon.com/history-indoor-track-field/dp/B0006CJ3TG
“On a cold and rainy night in New York, an indoor racetrack was born. The fledgling New York Athletic Club held the first organized track and field meet ever held in the United States in a building being constructed at Third Avenue and 63rd for a skating rink.th Street:
The building (later known as the Empire State Rink) had only a partial roof, so loyal club members hurriedly gathered tarps, sewed them together and stretched over the yawning hole atop the structure.
Inside, the center of the rink was not floored, so athletes competed on a bumpy eighth-mile clay track with four straight and narrow sides and four awkwardly sharp corners.
It was raining heavily on Wednesday evening, November 11, 1868, when the crowd arrived in horse-drawn carriages and carriages. They were greeted by a 42 piece band and the place lit up with gas lights. However, that didn’t keep the 2,000 spectators (both male and female) and athletes away from their lackluster pitches.
Spiked shoes were used for the first time, but there was only one pair, so they were shared by (some) athletes. The shoes helped win an award in every event they were used in, with three firsts, one second and one third making up the evening’s total. When it’s remembered that none of the users had ever worn spiked shoes before, and that the track was almost as hard as a concrete floor, one can understand that the new style shoes were somewhat uncomfortable, to say the least.
The use of a gun at the start was not as common as it later became, and at this meeting a bass drum was used to signal the start. Although it is generally accepted that such a sound would be audible not only to beginners but also to all spectators, a participant in one heat of the 75-yard dash asked for another test because he “didn’t hear the drum”.
Each winner’s marks were the first amateur records ever set in America.”
Winners:
75 yards — William B. Curtis NYAC 9.0
220 – Frank Johnson NYAC 28.0
440y—HS Magrane NYAC 1:02.0
880y— HS Magree 2:26.0
Hurdles (no distance listed) – Frank Johnson NYAC 24.0
Running Jump — FW Stone Woods’ Gymnasium 5′-2″
Sprint Broad Jump — John Gold Caldeonian Club 17′-0”
Standing Broad Jump (with Weights) — PM Broderick NYAC 11′-6 1/5″
Standing High Jump: John Gold Caldeonian Club 4′-5″
Standing Triple Jump — PM Broderick NYAC 33′-8″
Pole Vault — WL Campbell Caledonian Club (NYAC?) 8′-3”
Shot put — Alexander Graham Caledonian Club 35′-5″
Hammer — WL Campbell Caledonian Club (NYAC?) 73′-0″
Mile Walk–JE Russell NYAC 7:50.5
1882-Lon Myers lowered his American record in the mile to 4:27.6 in New York. A National Hall of Fame inductee (1974), Myers also set American records in the 100, 220, 440 and 880 and won a total of 15 US titles in the 100 (2), 220 (4), 440 (6) and 880 (3).
Wiki Biography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lon_Myers
https://www.usatf.org/news/2020/myers-earns-throwback-athlete-of-the-week-honors
1963— Just as the mile has its own 4-minute barrier, the traditional 2-1/2-mile high school course standard at New York’s Van Cortlandt Park is 13 minutes. While he didn’t garner the level of attention that Roger Bannister did with his historic 3:59.4 in 1954, Bill Leahy, a 17-year-old senior at Boston Catholic Memorial HS, became another hurdler when he ran 12:58.6 at the Christian Brothers Championships on this day.
Mark Bloom, a Van Cortlandt Park Hall of Famer (for his extensive coverage of high school events at the iconic venue), writes at length in this RunnerSpace article about Leahy’s life before and after his heyday (Leahy was inducted into the VCP HOF in 2025):
https://www.runnerspace.com/news.php?news_id=647922
Born on this day*
KC Lightfoot 26 (1999) Set American record 19-11 (6.07) at Nashville on June 2, 2023 in Nashville.
The previous record of 19-10 ½ (6.06) was set by Sam Kendricks in 2019.
2021 NCAA Indoor Championship Champion (Baylor); 4:th-2019 NCAA Championship, 8 p.mth Inside
Tied for 4th In the 2021 Olympic Games, participated in the qualifying round of the 2019 World Championship
Tied for 10th at the 2022 World Indoor Championships
2:th to the 2021 US Olympic Trials; eliminated in the qualifying round of the 2024 trials
3:th 2023 US Indoor Championships, 4:th Outside
2018 National School Champion
Has been suffering from injuries in recent years
PBs: 19-11 (6.07/2023/NR/#5:00 all time), 19-8 1/4i (6.00/2021/=Collegiate Record/=#10 AT, #4-US);
High school PBs: 18-5 (5.61+/2018/#3 AT), 17-9i (5.41/2018/#10 AT)
2025 SB18-10 ½ (5.75)
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/147335
https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/kc-lightfoot
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KC_Lightfoot
AR:: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh-mo-U7fxc
Post AR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfNQ39RtVrg
Raymond Hecht – Germany 57 (1968) Javelin bronze medalist at the 1998 European Championships
4:th in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics
4 World Cup finals – 1991 (12th), 1995 (4:th), 1999 (5:th), 2001 (5:th)
Set a German record 303-10 (92.60/#9 All Time) in 1995 (from being broke)
T&F News top-10 world ranking 10 times from 1993-2003 (missed in 1997) … ranked #2 in 1995 and
1996
Ranking tables:
http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70268
Dead
Willie May 75 (1936-March 28, 2012) 1960 Olympic Silver Medalist – 110-Hurdles (lost in photo finish to Lee Calhoun)
All-American at Indiana. NCAA (120-year hurdles)-1957 (7:th), 1958 (3:th), 1959 (2:th)
Silver medalist at the 1963 Pan American Games
Became coach and athletic director at Evanston Township (IL) High School. 2006
but remained as an assistant until 2012.
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78748
AND (Finish): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sIwZKn2_6A
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_May
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2012-04-04-ct-met-willie-may-obit-20120404-story.html
Jan Johnson 74 (1950-February 23, 2025) 1972 Olympic bronze medalist – pole vault
1970 NCAA Champion at Kansas (event held indoors due to inclement weather / set world indoor record
17-7/5.36)
After transferring to Alabama, he won the 1972 NCAA Indoor Championship title
1971 USA and All-American Games Champion
PB:18-1/2 (5.50/1972)
Raised on his family farm in Chicago Heights, IL. “I started out in pole vaulting, pitchfork jumping over grass
balls. That is the honest truth. We used to go out to milk the cows and then drag the hay in the afternoon. Probably mine
My earliest memory of jumping over grass was when I was about 8 or 9 years old.”
Coached his daughter Chelsea through high school…she went on to win a silver medal in the women’s pole vault.
2009 World Championship in Berlin – (her husband is Trey Hardy, two-time world champion – 2009
2011 and 2012 Olympic silver medalist in decathlon).
Daughter Chelsea’s Facebook post
“Some of the pole vaulters he coached were 1997 World Championships bronze medalist Dean Starkey.
(19’5″), Greg Duplantis (19’0″) 1988, Simon Arkell, former Australian record holder (19’4) 1991.
Shayla Ballenty, Former National HS Record Holder (13’8) 2001
Founder of Sky Jumpers Vertical Sports Club in Atascadero, California.
Was USATF Pole Vault Safety Chair
He wrote about his journey to the 1972 Olympics in his autobiography, The High Flyer and the Cultural Revolution.
https://www.amazon.com/High-Flyer-Cultural-Revolution-Journal/dp/1480986003/
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78614
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Johnson
Sky Jumpers: https://www.vstraining.com/skyjumperspv/
Alexander Baryshnikov — Russia 75 (1948-September 15, 2024) Two-time medal winner of the Olympic Games: shooting (1976 – bronze, 1980 – silver)
Was one of the early adopters (but not the first) of the spin technique.
Former world record holder: 72-2 ¼ (22.00/1976). This was the first world record using the new technique.
http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/77373
http://rethinkingathletics.blogspot.com/2016/08/are-shot-putters-becoming-spinners.html
