Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected])
This Day in Track & Field–April 23
1904–Michigan’s Ralph Rose, all 6’6”, 250 pounds (1.98/113kg) of him, got the first of his seven American Records in the Shot Put with his toss of 48-2 (14.68) at the Penn Relays. Rose went on to win Olympic gold at the 1904 and 1908 Games (and silver in 1912). Other Penn winners who went on to win gold at that year’s Olympics in St.Louis were Michigan’s Fred Schule (110-hurdles) and NYU’s Samuel Jones (High Jump),
Rose is just as well-known for his role as the first American flag-bearer at the Opening Ceremony at the 1908 Olympics in London. “When Rose (a proud Irish-American who had no love for the British) led the American brigade past King Edward VII’s royal box, he did something no other flag bearer dared: he refused to lower his nation’s banner in deference to the host nation’s leader, stubbornly holding the stars and stripes perfectly vertical.”
For the 3rd year in a row, Irv Orton anchored Penn to victory in the 2-mile relay, and Princeton’s John Dewitt won the Hammer Throw for the 3rd time in 4 years.
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Rose
1915— The Penn Relays went to a 2-day format (April 23-24) for the first time and added the sprint- and distance- medley relays to the schedule. Penn (3:33.4) and Yale (10:20.0) were the first winners of those events. Penn also won the mile relay, winning in 3:18.0 to take more than 3 seconds off the previous Relay Record. Ted Meredith, who had won Olympic gold in the 800 and 4×400 in 1912, anchored both of Penn’s winning teams.
1921–Charley Paddock set a World Record of 10.4 for 100 meters in Redlands, CA.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_100_metres_world_record_progression
1926–Fordham’s Johnny Gibson won the first of his two collegiate 400m-hurdles races at the Penn Relays. Gibson went on to set a World Record of 52.6 to win the 1927 U.S. National title and was a semi-finalist at the 1928 Olympics. Gibson was the head coach at Seton Hall from 1945 to 1972.
Obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/01/sports/othersports/01gibson.html?_r=1
1960—Dyrol Burleson ran 3:58.6 in Eugene to break Don Bowden’s 3-year-old American Record of 3:58.7. Bowden had become the first American to break 4 minutes for the mile when he ran his 3:58.7 in 1957.
https://vault.si.com/vault/2003/03/10/dyrol-burleson-miler-may-30-1960
1966—Kansas freshman Jim Ryun won the Glenn Cunningham Mile at the Kansas Relays and set a Collegiate Record of 3:55.8. He had run a 3:59.0 anchor mile on Kansas’ winning Distance Medley two days earlier, and finished off his weekend with a 47-flat anchor leg on the winning freshmen 4×400 relay.
(From T&F News)
1971–Frank Shorter, not yet a household name, lowered his personal best to 13:07.0 to win the 3-mile on Friday (4-23) at the Drake Relays, then came back the following day (4-24) to win the 6-mile in 27:24.4, just missing his PB by .4s. Minnesota’s Gary Bjorklund gave Shorter everything he could handle in the longer race and set a Collegiate Record of 27:24.6 to finish a close 2nd.
1976–For better or worse (some would say worse), all running events at the Penn Relays (except the mile run) were changed to metric distances. Many athletes who compete at the Penn Relays go on to Olympic glory, but it’s rare when an event provides an early look at the eventual gold and silver medalists. Such was the case in the 400-hurdles (4-23), when “rookie” Edwin Moses (49.8) and Penn State’s Mike Shine (50.3) placed 1-2, a finish they would replicate at the Montreal Olympics later in the year. It wasn’t until his win here that people really started to pay attention to Moses and even consider him a candidate for the U.S. Olympic team, let alone a potential Olympic champion. As the headline in Track and Field News said, “Holy Moses! Watch Out For Edwin”.
Eamonn Coghlan won three more Relays watches, first anchoring Villanova to its 10th straight win in the Distance Medley on Friday, then coming back on Saturday (4-24) to run on the winning 4×1500 and 4×800 teams.
In a controversial move by Relays Director Jim Tuppeny, apparently motivated by the move to metric distances, he changed the last two legs of the DMR to 1300m & 1500m! Thankfully, they were changed to the current 1200m/1600m format the following year.
During his anchor leg on the DMR, Coghlan waved to his girlfriend (and future wife) Yvonne, who had flown over from Dublin to watch him run!
https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/24/archives/moses-villanova-spark-penn-relays-hurdler-villanova-penn-stars.html
1980—Hungary’s Ferenc Paragi set a World Record of 317-4 (96.72) in the Javelin in Tata, Hungary (old implement). The previous Record of 310-4 (94.58) was set by fellow Hungarian Miklós Németh at the 1976 Olympics.
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_javelin_throw_world_record_progression
Conversion
1982–Villanova’s 16-year winning streak in the Distance Medley (4-23) came to an end as Georgetown’s John Gregorek ran a 3:55.1 anchor 1600m to overtake the Wildcats’ Ross Donoghue (who had transferred from St.John’s for his senior year).
Villanova had better luck the next day (4-24), taking the Sprint Medley (anchored by freshman John Marshall), the 4×1500, and an incredible 4×800, in which the first seven teams all bettered the previous Collegiate Record of 7:16.3–1.Villanova-7:12.29 (Marshall on the anchor), 2.Georgetown 7:12.62, 3.Richmond 7:12.81, 4.Arkansas 7:13.48, 5.Virginia 7:14.64, 6.Pittsburgh 7:15.37, 7.Tennessee 7:16.22.
The Collegiate Record also fell in the Women’s 4×800 (4-23), as Tennessee (8:32.12), with Joetta Clark running a 2:01.6 anchor, edged Virginia (8:32.13), which was also under the previous mark of 8:33.51.
Four years earlier (1978), Gregorek had anchored St.Anthony’s (Smithtown, NY) to a win in the H.S. DMR at Penn. In 2003, he talked about his experiences at Penn:
“I had run the 2-mile (at Penn) in 1977 (he finished 4th), but we were a group of starry-eyed kids going in there the next year. Trenton’s Aubrey McKithen, who would be my roommate during our freshman year at Georgetown, had a big lead on the anchor, but I just took it one lap at a time and was able to catch him” (with a 4:06.5 anchor). St. Anthony’s time of 10:02.5 set a meet record.
“One of the reasons I chose Georgetown was to help bring the program to the next level–Villanova was already established. Villanova’s streak was daunting, but we thought we could beat them in 1981.”(Gregorek actually had the lead with a lap to go before being overtaken by Sydney Maree, who extended Villanova’s DMR streak to 16.)
“The next year, coach (Joe) Lang was so positive and had us mentally prepared.”
(Ross Donoghue, who had transferred to Villanova from St.John’s, was given a 30-meter lead as the anchor leg began, but within two laps, Richmond, Arkansas, and Georgetown had caught up to him.) “I had no intention of going by Ross when I caught him–I wanted to make sure I had a kick left. With 200 to go, I just put my head down and took off, passing Donoguue down the final stretch. Winning that race ranks right up there with making the Olympic team”(1984 steeplechase). (Aubrey McKithen ran the 400 leg for the Hoyas.
“I credit my coaches, Don Buckley (St.Anthony’s) and Joe Lang (Georgetown), with making the whole Penn experience a fun one. It helped take the pressure off the races themselves. I love the history and tradition of Penn and the fact that I’ve been able to bring my 11-year-old son the last three years.” That 11-year-old son, Johnny, grew up to become a sub-3:50 miler (3:49.98)!.
1992—”Thursday Night at the Races” (4-23) at the Penn Relays was highlighted by Villanova’s Carole Zajac, who set a Collegiate Record of 32:22.96 in the 10,000 meters. On Saturday (4-25), a Santa Monica Track Club quartet of Mike Marsh (20.4), Leroy Burrell (19.7), Floyd Heard (19.8), and Carl Lewis (19.2) ran 1:19.11 to break its own World Record (1:19.38) in the 4×200 relay.
1997— The exact date is a little fuzzy, but it was around this time of year that a new website, DyeStat.com, made its first appearance on the Internet.
Started by John Dye, an interested parent who wanted to see how his kids, Derek (high jump) and Natalie (pole vault), compared to other high school competitors, DyeStat.com became THE source for high school information and, with the help of his wife Donna (“On The Side”), helped create an incredible cyber-community among the nation’s preps.
From John Dye: “The origin of what we were doing was Derek’s sophomore year (1996) when I sold a weekly newsletter with rankings in five Western Maryland counties. (DyeStat began) in 1997, when Derek and Natalie each won their events at the Maryland state meet (the only brother-sister combo ever to do so in Maryland in individual events at the same state meet). That made me want to know how they compared nationally. I got all the state meet results and ranked girls’ pole vault and boys’ high jump. I found that Derek (6-8) was in the 80s nationally and Natalie (9-0) in the 40s (remember, that was when girls’ pole vault was just getting sanctioned). Hence, I started doing national rankings 100 deep to make sure they were listed(-:.”
Dyestat.com, which had ceased functioning when ESPN dropped it, was revived by Runnerspace.com.
John Dye, who passed away in 2022, was recognized for his contribution to the sport by being named to the inaugural class of inductees into the National H.S. T&F Hall of Fame in 2018.
http://www.dyestat.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=news&news_id=514510
Acceptance Speech
Tribute: https://www.runnerspace.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=44531&do=news&news_id=653043
2004—Tennessee, with a lineup of Tianna Madison, Toyin Olupona, DeeDee Trotter (51.0), and Kameisha Bennett (2:04.0) set a Collegiate Record of 3:41.78 in the Women’s Sprint Medley at the Penn Relays.
2006—Deena Kastor won the London Marathon, running 2:19:36 to break her own American Record of 2:21:16.
“It was one of my expectations as my training has been going so well,” Kastor said. “I did want to run faster, but I wasn’t feeling it early on. I managed to hold on to go under 2:20, which was my main goal.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/24/sports/othersports/for-kastor-london-victory-and-an-american-record.html
Results
Women: www.marathonguide.com/results/browse.cfm?RL=1&MIDD=16060423&Gen=F&Begin=1&End=100&Max=10075
Men: www.marathonguide.com/results/browse.cfm?RL=1&MIDD=16060423&Gen=M&Begin=1&End=100&Max=22849
2010—Texas A&M won the Shuttle Hurdles at the Penn Relays and set a Collegiate Record of 52.50
(Vashti Thomas, Gabby Mayo, Donique’ Flemings, Natasha Ruddock)
2016—Texas senior Courtney Okolo set a Collegiate Record of 49.71 at the Alumni Gold meet in Baton Rouge,LA, breaking her own Record of 50.04 (2014). She lost the record to Texas A&M’s Athing Mu, who ran 49.68 and 49.57 in 2021.
Born On This Day*
Tobi Amusan—Nigeria 29 (1997) 2022 World Champion—100-Meter Hurdles—set a World Record of 12.12 in her semi-final race. Ran a wind-aided 12.06 in the final…silver medalist in 2025
4th at the Tokyo Olympics, semi-finalist at the 2024 Olympics
2017 NCAA Champion—100m Hurdles (UTEP/2016-2nd)
2018 Commonwealth Games Champion
Semi-finalist 2016 Olympics; 4th at the 2019 World Championships, 6th in 2023
7th in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2018 World Indoor Championships
PBs:7.75i (2024), 12.12 (2022/WR); 2025 SB: 12.24
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oluwatobiloba_Amusan
https://www.worldathletics.org/athletes/nigeria/oluwatobiloba-amusan-280832
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/131229
https://www.tfrrs.org/athletes/5651698/UTEP/Tobi_Amusan.html
Now a Pro
12.12: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-rqO4ufy8o
Post-Race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wC816BjsUU
SF & Final: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ayquYJ-9I4
Eugene, Oregon, USA
July15-26, 2022, photo by Kevin Morris
Woo Sang-Hyeok—South Korea 30 (1996) 2-time World Indoor Champion—High Jump (2022, 2025), won bronze in 2024
Silver medalist at the 2022 & 2025 World Championships; 2023-6th, 2017 (qual.)
4th at the 2021 Olympics, 7th in 2024; 2016 (qual.)
PB: 7-8 3/4i (2.36/2022); 2025 SB: 7-8 (2.34); 2026 SB: 7-6 1/2i (2.30i)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woo_Sang-hyeok
https://worldathletics.org/athletes/korea/sanghyeok-woo-14532326
Alysia Johnson-Montaño 40 (1986) Thanks to recent doping revelations, she is now a 2-time bronze medalist in the 800-
meters at the World Championships (2011, 2013). 4th at the 2012 Olympics, she’s now in line to receive
another bronze medal after the silver medalist was recently found guilty of a doping violation.
Also a bronze medalist at the 2010 World Indoor Championships;
Was in position to make her 2nd Olympic team when she was tripped up on the final turn at the 2016 U.S. Trials in
Eugene. http://www.nbcsports.com/video/kate-grace-takes-womens-800m-final-olympic-trials
2007 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Champion (Cal-Berkeley);
6-time U.S. Champion—800m(’07, ’10, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’15); 2015 U.S. Indoor Champion—600m
Former American Indoor Record holder—600m (1:23.59)
Anchored the U.S. team that won the 4×800 at the 2015 World Relays and set an American Record of 8:00.62
PBs: 1:23.59i (600m/#4-All-Time U.S./indoor-outdoor), 1:57.34 (2010), 1:59.60i (2010)
Almost 8 months pregnant at the time, she competed in the first round of the 800 at the 2014 U.S.
Championships “just to have fun and advocate for fit pregnancies.”
Known for wearing a flower in her hair when she ran. Also a noted karaoke singer!
Married Louis Montaño in 2011
Mother of 3: Daughter Linnéa Dori (8-15-14), Son Aster Cruz (11-24-17), Son Lennon Leonotis (2-26-20)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9DWHFrp8Cx/
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/126620
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alysia_Monta%C3%B1o
https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/39921191/russian-set-lose-12-medal-usa-montano-line-bronze
Flower Power:
https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/fourth-place-medal/why-alysia-montano-wears-flower-her-hair-during-061901527–oly.html
Running While Pregnant:
https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2014/06/26/alysia-montano-pregnant-runner-usa-track-and-field-outdoor-championships-olympics/
Video(she doesn’t appear until the end of the race)
http://www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45365&do=videos&video_id=119804
Nike/Maternity Leave: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/12/opinion/nike-maternity-leave.html
Karaoke (With Shannon Rowbury and Bernard Lagat at Coogan’s after the 2015 5th Avenue Mile)
https://www.womensrunning.com/culture/elite-runners-can-definitely-sing-karaoke-too/#UWWHdh8Mgvb4mrHx.97
(Sadly, the video of the performance is no longer available!)
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alysiamontano?lang=en
Podcast: Keeping Track
Fitness book: Feel-Good Fitness on Amazon, Feel-Good Fitness at Target, Feel-Good Fitness via Velo Press
https://www.bustle.com/life/alysia-montano-team-usa-doping-track-and-field
Gezahegn Abera-Ethiopia 48 (1978) 2000 Olympic gold medalist—Marathon
2001 World Champion…1999 (11th), 2003 (DNF)
Winner at the 2003 London Marathon; 3-time winner of the Fukuoka Marathon (1999, 2001, 2002)
PB: 2:07:54 (1999)
OG Report: https://www.olympedia.org/results/65407
https://worldathletics.org/athletes/ethiopia/gezahegne-abera-14181289
Dr.Delano Meriwether 83 (1943) The “Walter Mitty” of Track & Field. 27, when he first became well known to track fans, he became one of the fastest men in the world in the early 70s, all the time wearing his trademark uniform of hospital scrubs, suspenders, and swim trunks! (He had run in some local meets in Columbus, Ohio, in the late 1960s).
1971 U.S. Champion—100-yards (with a wind-aided time of 9-flat);
1972 U.S. Indoor Champion—60 yards
From the August 2, 1970, entry for “This Day in T&F”:
Those of us who followed the sport closely were intrigued by results coming out of the
D.C./Baltimore area. Someone named Delano Meriwether had run 9.4y and 21.0y in local
meets–and this was not only his first year of serious competition, but he was reportedly a 27-year
old doctor!
And here he was at Wantagh H.S. on NY’s Long Island, ready to compete at the National
Junior Men’s Championships (when it had a different meaning than the current age-based
Juniors).
Meriwether won the 100-yard title after getting some helpful tips the night before from
meet director Mike Byrnes. “Meriwether spent the night prior to the meet sleeping on my
couch in the living room”, said Byrnes. “We spent part of the evening with me teaching him
how to use starting blocks!”
When asked during his post-race interview about training guides, he said that he had
gotten help from a how-to book published by Sports Illustrated. Hall-of-Fame journalist Jim Dunaway, one of a
handful of reporters on hand for the event, said with a smile, “I wrote that book!”
His daughter, Nana Meriwether, was the 2012 Miss USA first runner-up, but was elevated to Miss US when that year’s winner won Miss Universe later in the year. She was a 2-time All-American volleyball player at UCLA and also high-jumped 5-8.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nana_Meriwether
https://uclabruins.com/news/2013/4/17/208191804.aspx
https://vault.si.com/vault/1997/03/24/sprinter-delano-meriwether-february-22-1971
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delano_Meriwether
Deceased
Jim Fixx, 52 (1932-July 20, 1984), wrote “The Complete Book of Running”, which is credited with helping to fuel the running and fitness boom in the U.S.
Ironically, he died of a heart attack at the age of 52 while out jogging. Doctors claimed that Fixx, who had pre-existing heart issues, had extended his life by a few years after he gave up smoking and began running to improve his health.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Fixx
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Running-James-Fixx/dp/0394411595
https://oberlinreview.org/28442/sports/28442/
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/22/obituaries/james-f-fixx-dies-jogging-author-on-running-was-52.html
Jim Golliday 39 (1931-April 10, 1971) 3-time NCAA Champion/1952-100m, 1955-100y, 220y (Northwestern)
1951 U.S. Champion-100m
Was the early favorite to win the 100 at the 1952 Olympics, but suffered an injury at the U.S. Championships.
Lined up for the first round of the 100 at the U.S. Trials, but was only able to hobble to the
Finish line.
Equalled the World Record of 9.3 for 100-yards in 1955
Also equalled the World Indoor Record of 6.0 for 60-yards in 1956, but another injury kept him from contending
for a berth on the U.S. Olympic team
Served in the U.S. Army after the 1952 season before returning to Northwestern in 1954
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Golliday
https://www.northwestern.edu/magazine/fall2013/feature/top-cats-sidebar/james-golliday-track-and-field.html
https://dailynorthwestern.com/2020/06/15/sports/northwestern-sports-time-machine-jim-golliday-1952/
