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 8
1928 lloyd Hahn ran 1:53.8 in Brooklyn to set World Records at 800 meters and 880 yards. The 2-time U.S. Olympian was 6th in the
1500 at the 1924 Games, 5th in the 800 in 1928.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Hahn
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78495
1971–Dr. Delano Meriwether had gained some attention in the track world in 1970 when this “unknown” started running some fast times for the 100-yard dash at some low-key meets on the East coast. Meriwether said to his wife after watching some of the sport’s top sprinters on TV earlier that summer, “Hey, I can beat those guys”, and that led to the beginning of an improbable career. (He had competed in some meets in the Midwest during the early stages of his medical career).
But now, at the CYO meet on the University of Maryland campus in College Park, his first major indoor meet, he was up against some of the same men that had inspired his entry into the sport–world-class sprinters like Charlie Greene, Mel Pender, Ivory Crockett, and Don Quarrie.
Greene was eliminated in the heats of the 60-yard dash, while Pender had equalled the World Record of 5.9 in his qualifying race.
Attired in what would become his trademark outfit of a hospital shirt, gold swim trunks, and suspenders(!), Meriwether proceeded to beat Pender in the final, with both being clocked in 6-flat, and a legend was born!
Meriwether would later win the 100y at the U.S. Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, but a knee injury suffered during the 1972 indoor season dashed any hopes he had of making the U.S. Olympic team. Check the links below for much more on this fascinating story.
Other notable winners at the meet included Lee Evans, who improved his World Record for 500-yards to 54.4, and Tom Von Ruden, who set an American Record of 1:48.5 in the 1/2-mile
Sports Illustrated Vault
https://vault.si.com/vault/1971/01/18/hey-i-can-beat-those-guys
https://vault.si.com/vault/1971/02/22/champion-of-the-armchair-athletes
SI Cover Photo:
2022—Winners (and notable finishers) at the U.S. Cross Country Championships in San Diego:
Senior Men(10k):1.Shadrack Kipchirchir 30:32, 2.Dillon Maggard 30:34, 3.Sam Chelanga 30:34, 4.Leonard Korir 30:37, 5.Benard
Keter 30:49…7.Ben Blankenship 31:37…9,Futsum Zienasellassie 32:03
Senior Women(10k):1.Alicia Monson 34:01, 2.Weini Kelati 34:18, 3.Emily Infeld 34:36, 4.Emily Durgin 34:50, 5.Stephanie Bruce
34:50, 6.Natosha Rogers 34:54…8.Molly Seidel
Junior/Under 20 Women: 1.Zariel Macchia (William Floyd H.S.,NY)
Junior/Under 20 Men: 1.Gabe Simonsen (Oklahoma State)
https://results.usatf.org/2022XC/
https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a38700405/usatf-cross-country-championships-results-2022/
Video (for subscribers):
Significant Birthdays
Born On This Day*
Quincy Wilson 17 (2008) 2024 Olympic gold medalist in the 4×400! (ran 1st round)
16 at the time, he became the youngest American male Olympic gold medalist in history (was already the youngest ever U.S.
male Olympian)
Made the U.S. team with his 6th place finish in the 400 at the U.S. Trials—ran 44.66 in the 1st round in Eugene to break the 42-
year old U.S. High School Record of 44.69 that was set by Darrell Robinson in 1982!—improved the record to 44.59 in his
semi-final race before running 44.94 in the final. He would then run a sensational 44.20 in Gainesville, Florida, on July 19
before heading to Paris for the Olympics (bettering his World Youth/Under-18 Record).
Ran a surprisingly “slow” 47.27 on the lead-off leg in the heats of the 4 x400, handing off in 7th place, but the U.S. still managed
to qualify for the final.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMkLfUCSDG0
2023 New Balance Indoor Champion-400m (2nd Outdoors)…won Indoors (setting a U.S. High School Indoor
Record of 45.76) and Outdoors in 2024
Currently a junior at The Bullis School (MD)
Set U.S. High School freshmen Indoor Records in the 300 (34.11), 400 (46.67), 500 (1:02.63), and 600 (1:17.80) in 2023
Added sophomore records in 2024 in the 400 (45.76), 500 (1:01.27), and 600 (1:17.36), and got the junior record in the
600 when he ran 1:07.19 on December 28, 2024.
Has been competing since the age of 8… “As Wilson approached high school, his parents, Monique and Roy Wilson, sought a
school with a coaching staff that could get the most of his talent. The family relocated from Chesapeake, Va., to Gaithersburg,
Md., so Wilson could attend Bullis, in nearby Potomac, from which his cousin, Shaniya Hall, who now runs at Oregon, graduated
in 2020.” (From the Washington Post article linked below)
Member of the football team in his freshman year, but is now fully concentrating on track
Also excels in the classroom—maintains an A average.
One of (if not THE) the youngest athletes to sign an NIL deal (New Balance).
Coached by Joe Lee, who has turned Bullis into one of the top prep programs in the U.S.
PBs: 21.02i (2024), 45.76i (2024), 44.20 (2024), 1:01.27i (2024/#2 All-Time), 1:17.19i (2024/#2 All-Time)
Instagram: _quincy_wilson
Meet Quincy Wilson:
