This Day in Track & Field, April 30, Joe McCluskey set steepe AR of 9:28.6 (1932), and other stories of the Penn Relays, curtated, edited and written by Walt Murphy

 

Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service  (wmurphy25@aol.com)

 

This Day in Track & Field–April  30

 

1921—Finishing in a 4-way tie for first place in the High Jump at the Penn Relays was Illinois’ Harold Osborn, who also won the Triple Jump (46-9  ½ [14.26]). He would win Olympic gold in the High Jump and the Decathlon in Paris in 1924.

Earl Eby, the silver medalist in the 800-meters at the 1920 Olympics, anchored Penn to its 2nd-straight win in the Sprint Medley(3:31.8).

Penn’s George Bronder set a Relays Record of 183-1/4 (55.79+) in the Javelin. He won 6 consecutive U.S. titles from 1914-1919.

For Subscribers: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1921/05/01/98679617.html?pageNumber=102

Results

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Osborn

 

1927—M.I.T.’s Henry Steinbrenner, whose son George (a hurdler at Williams College) would become the owner of the New York Yankees, won the 120y-Hurdles at the Penn Relays in 15.4.

The Steinbrenner Family Heritage Award was established in 2001 to recognize multi-generational families for their support and dedication to the Penn Relays.

For Subscribers: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/05/01/96644411.html?pageNumber=137

Results

 

1932—Fordham’s Joe McCluskey set an American Record of 9:28.6 in the Steeplechase at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia. It was the 2nd of McCluskey’s three wins in the event at Penn (1931-1933).  He would lower the mark to 9:14.5 in July.

A 9-time U.S. Champion in the steeple, McCluskey won the bronze medal at the 1932 Olympics (after being forced to run an extra lap when officials misjudged the finish), and remained active in Masters competition (in many events) until the age of 85. (I used to watch him practicing for the long jump at my local track in Forest Park-Queens!). He was elected to the National Hall of Fame in 1996.

Manhattan College won for the first time at Penn, setting an American record of 10:14.0 in the Distance Medley with a lineup of Bill McGeogh (50.6), Joe Burns (1:54.4), Jackie Ryan (3:09.8), and Frank Crowley (4:19.2).

Bill Carr’s 48.2 anchor split helped Penn smash the previous Relays Record of 3:18.0 in the Mile Relay, a record set by another Penn squad 17 years earlier, with its winning time of 3:15.4. Carr had run the lead-off leg on Penn’s winning team in 1931. He would win the gold medal in the 400-meters (and set a World Record of 46.2) at the L.A. Olympics later in the year. He was named to the National Hall of Fame in 2008.

Penn’s George Munger won the Decathlon (7324.599) and went on to have a Hall-of-Fame career as Penn’s football coach. The annual College Football Coach of the Year Award bears Munger’s name.

For Subscribers: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1932/04/30/100726376.html

Results

McCluskey

Hall of Fame Bio(1996): https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/joe-mccluskey

Wiki Bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_McCluskey

NY Times Obituary(2002): http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/01/sports/joe-mccluskey-91-track-medalist-dies.html

HOF Bio-Carr(2008): https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/bill-carr

Munger: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Munger_(American_football)

 

1938—Led by the Rideout twins, Wayne and Blaine, North Texas State became the first team to break 10-minutes in the Distance Medley (9:59.4) at the Penn Relays.

Pittsburgh’s John Woodruff, the 1936 Olympic Champion at 800-meters, showed his versatility by anchoring the Panthers to wins in the 880y (1:26.6/=Relays Record), Mile (3:17.8), and Sprint Medley (3:24.5/RR) Relays.

Columbia’s Ben Johnson led the Lions to a win in the 440-Relay (41.7) and won the 100-yard dash (9.8).

Virginia State’s John Borican won the 400m-Hurdles (1 turn) in 53.6. The versatile Borican won U.S. titles in the 800-meters AND the Decathlon(!) and was inducted into the National Hall-of-Fame in 2000.

Ohio State’s Dave Albritton, the silver medalist at the 1936 Olympics,  won his 2nd title in the High Jump (also won in 1936).

For Subscribers: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/05/01/99541361.html?pageNumber=73

Results

Borican: https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/john-borican

 

Woodruff: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Woodruff_(athlete)

Albritton: http://oldserver.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=4

Rideouts: https://www.chroniclingillinois.org/items/show/29455

 

1949–-Led by the Ashenfelter brothers (Bill, Don, and Horace), Penn State  won the 4-mile relay (17:35.4) for the 3rd year in a row at the Penn Relays.

Detroit’s Wayne State swept the 440y (41.7) and 880y (1:26.0) relays. NYU was also a double champion, winning the Mile Relay (3:15.6) and the Sprint Medley(3:24.9).

http://www.runningpast.com/horace_ashenfelter.htm

http://www.garycohenrunning.com/Interviews/Ashenfelter.aspx

For Subscribers:  NY Times Coverage

 

1955–Villanova, whose men’s team has now won a record total of 97 Championship Relays at Penn (through 2025),  won its first two, taking the Sprint Medley and Mile Relay (3:17.6). In the latter race, soph Charlie Jenkins, who also anchored  the SMR, brought the Wildcats from 4th to 1st with his 46.5 anchor. (Villanova women have won 43 titles at Penn)

The Villanova men would win at least one Championship Relay for 28 consecutive years (1955-1982).

Manhattan won the 880y (1:26.6) and 4-Mile (17:41.2) Relays and, with Shot Putter Ken Bantum running the 2nd leg, the Shuttle Hurdles (60.7). Bantum would win the SP at Penn in 1956 and 1957.

The winner of the Shot Put this year was Penn State’s Roosevelt “Rosey” Grier, who went on to NFL fame as a member of NY Giants and the Los Angeles Rams’ “Fearsome Foursome”.

From his Wiki Bio: “…he worked as a bodyguard for Senator Robert Kennedy during the 1968 presidential campaign. Grier was guarding Ethel Kennedy when Senator Kennedy was shot. Although unable to prevent the assassination, Grier took control of the gun and subdued the shooter, Sirhan Sirhan.”

For Subscribers: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1955/05/01/92633534.html?pageNumber=234

Results

Grier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosey_Grier

 

1960—Boston University sophomore John Thomas, already the Indoor World Record holder in the High Jump (7-2  ½ [2.197]) took hold of the Outdoor mark when he cleared 7-1  ½ (ratified at 2.17) at the Penn Relays.

In Olympic Development races, Ray Norton won the 100 (10.5) and 200 (20.6/=World Record), with Dave Sime finishing 2nd in both races (Bobby Morrow, the 1956 Olympic Champion in both sprints, finished 3rd in the 100, 4th in the 200); Past and future Olympic champions met in the 110-meter hurdles, with Hayes Jones (13.6) beating Lee Calhoun, who went on to win his 2nd Olympic gold medal at the Rome Olympics later in the year. Jones won bronze in Rome and gold 4 years later in Tokyo; Tom Murphy won the 800m for his 2nd 2-lap win in a row (1:51.4/won the 880y in 1959).

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a decent runner in his youth, anchored Brooklyn’s James Madison High School’s distance medley relay!

For Subscribers: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1960/05/01/99946630.html?pageNumber=261

Results

Sports Illustrated Vault: https://vault.si.com/vault/1960/05/09/the-fastest-of-the-fastest

 

1966—Maryland’s Frank Costello, the 1965 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Champion,  won the High Jump (6-9 [2.06]) at the Penn Relays for the 2nd year in a row. He was the head coach at his alma mater from 1975-1980.

Three of the greatest preps to come out of the Northeast in the 1960s hooked up on the anchor leg of the High School Distance Medley(4-29).

Junior Marty Liquori (Essex Catholic,NJ) had a decent lead when he received the baton, but senior Art Dulong (Randolph,MA) and junior Jim Jackson (Boys High-Brooklyn,NY) were right on his heels with a lap to go.

Just as Dulong (4:14.3) was trying to pass Liquori (4:20.2), Jackson (4:14.4) bolted into the lead and pulled away from his two challengers on the backstretch, bringing his team home in first place with a time of 10:09.8 and breaking the previous Relays Record by a whopping 14-seconds. Liquori held on to give Essex Catholic 2nd place in 10:12.4, with Dulong, bringing in Randolph close behind in 10:13.2, as both teams were also well under the old Record of 10:23.8.

Jackson was one of the top prep ½-milers in the U.S. in 1966 & 1967, Dulong ran 4:04.5 for the Mile in 1966 (and 9:00.8 for 2-miles in 1965), and Liquori became the 3rd prep to break 4-minutes for the mile when he ran 3:59.8 in 1967

For Subscribers: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/04/30/83530449.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0

Results

 

1977–Arizona State topped off a great day of racing by setting a Penn Relays (and Collegiate) Record of 3:01.9 in the 4×400 relay. The Relays Record stood for 33 years until Florida ran 3:01.10 in 2010. The Sun Devils ran with a lineup of Clifton McKenzie (46.2), Gerald Burl (45.2), and Philadelphia-area natives Tony Darden (45.2) and Herman Frazier (45.3).

Burl, Darden, and Frazier had earlier run on the 4×100 team that won in 39.57 and the 4×200 squad that set a World Record of 1:21.4. They were joined in the 4×100 by Steven Williams (not THE Steve Williams) and in the 4×200 by Gary Burl, Gerald’s brother. (The 4×200 mark fell short of the Collegiate Record of 1:20.7, which was set at 880-yards by USC’s mixed-nation team in 1972).

Said long-time (and successful) Arizona State coach Baldy Castillo, “This is the greatest thrill I’ve had in coaching”.

The Sun Devils lost a 4th title when their “winning” Shuttle Hurdles team was disqualified when officials ruled that anchorman Gary Burl had left too early.

Mark Belger won three of his eventual record total of 10 Relays watches as Villanova matched Arizona State’s 3 wins by finishing first in the 4×800 (7:16.3), Sprint Medley (3:15.3), and Distance Medley (9:28.5).  Belger ran 800 splits of 1:47.6 and 1:46.2 and his 1200 split of 2:50.1 was the fastest ever run at Penn at the time.

Belger and Frazier, who had won Olympic bronze (400) and gold (4×400) in Montreal the previous year, shared billing as the Relays’ Outstanding Performer.

Fully Automatic timing made its debut at this year’s Relays.

NY Times Coverage   Results

H.S. Coverage

 

1977–Unheralded Randy Wilson (1:46.1), a junior at Oklahoma (and an Iowa native), upset veterans Mike Boit (1:46.1) and Rick Wohlhuter (1:46.2) to win the 800-meters at the Drake Relays. He also anchored the Sooners to a win in the Sprint Medley (3:18.3). Wilson was selected as the meet’s Outstanding Performer for his efforts.

Another upset occurred in the Men’s 100-meters, which had been billed as a matchup between Texas’ Johnny “Lam” Jones and Auburn’s Harvey Glance. The winner was Florida State hurdler Mike Roberson, who ran 10.53 into a strong headwind (-5.8). Jones (10.58) edged Glance (10.61) to finish 2nd.

On the women’s side,  Peg Neppel set an American record of 15:52.27 in the 5000-meters.

This was the final year of imperial distances at Drake, which would go fully metric in 1978.

Sports Illustrated Vault:

https://vault.si.com/vault/1977/05/09/a-new-generation-of-blues-fans

 

1983—Carl Lewis set a Penn Relays Record of 10.09 in the Olympic Development 100-meters. Finishing 4th was Steve Riddick, an eventual 6-time winner of the event (1977-1980, 1982, 1984).  Lewis now shares the Event Record with the Netherlands’ Churandy Martina (2007).

Villanova’s amazing 28-year streak of winning at least one Championship Relay at Penn came to an end (see 1955). The Wildcats were 2nd to Arkansas in the 4×1500 (15:15.73-15:18.42) and the Sprint Medley (3:15.22-3:15.98), with Stanley Redwine (1:46.0) getting the better of John Marshall (1:47.8) on the anchor leg.

Results

 

1988—The women stole the show at this year’s Penn Relays, with Texas (3:41.96) and Villanova (10:48.38) setting “World Records” in the Sprint (4-29) and Distance (4-28) medleys, respectively.

Texas-Barbara Flowers (52.9), Mary Bolden, Carlette Guidry, Karol Davidson (2:02.8).

Villanova-Kathy Franey (3:20.9), Michelle Bennett (52.8), Celeste Halliday (2:04.7), Vicki Huber (4:29.9)

Just as their male counterparts had done in 1977, Arizona State’s women swept the 3 sprint relays—4×100 (44.46), 4×200 (1:33.03-Collegiate Record), 4×400 (3:31.60).

Arkansas’ Joe Falcon (3:38.9) outdueled Georgetown’s Mike Stahr (3:39.8) on the anchor leg to give the Razorbacks the win in the 4×1500 at the Penn Relays (14:57.87-14:58.61). Finishing a close 3rd in 14:49.56 was Indiana, as all 3 teams broke into the all-time top-10 list at Penn. (The event replaced the 4xmile relay from 1976-1997).

Falcon also anchored Arkansas to a win the previous day’s Distance Medley (9:29.4), while Stahr finished off Georgetown’s win in the 4×800 (7:21.60).

NY Times Coverage

Results

 

2004—Stanford’s Alicia Craig ran 32:19.97 for 10,000-Meters at the Cardinal Inv. at Stanford, breaking the Collegiate Record of 32:22.97 that was set by Villanova’s Carole Zajac in 1992.

 

2005—It couldn’t have been any sweeter for the University of Michigan and coach Ron Warhurst. The Wolverines had taken a lot of grief in Fayetteville at the NCAA Indoor Championships after their protest resulted in the disqualification of host team Arkansas’ Distance Medley when officials agreed that the Razorbacks’ Said Ahmed had interfered with Michigan’s Nate Brannen right at the finish of the race.

With a lot of pride on the line, the two teams hooked up in the 3 longest men’s relays of the weekend, and Michigan beat Arkansas in all three-the Distance Medley on Friday, and the 4xmile and 4×800 on Saturday. To add icing on the cake, they also broke Arkansas’ Collegiate Record in the 4xMile with their winning time of 16:04.54, and their 3 wins moved them ahead of Arkansas on Penn’s All-Time Men’s Championships list

(at the time)

1.Villanova 88

2.Penn      54-1/2

3.Michigan 42

4.Arkansas 41

NY Times Coverage

Results

 

2006–Alan Webb, making his debut at the distance, won the 10,000-meters at Stanford in 27:34.72. Dathan Ritzenhein, who had shared pacing duties with Webb throughout the last half of the race, finished 2nd with a personal best time of 27:35.65.

“(Ritzenhein)…revealed that he had been bearing an emotional burden throughout the competition, as he learned shortly before traveling to California that a close boyhood friend had died in Iraq on Thursday after suffering more than five months in a hospital after a roadside attack late last year in Baghdad. “Matthew Weber was one of my closest friends,” noted Ritzenhein, gazing downward at the track.  “I just kept thinking ‘Matt, Matt, Matt’ during those final laps.  It was the best thing I could do in his memory, to run a good race.”

Back To The Future: Webb – Ritz 10K Duel 2006 (With Video)

IAAF Report: https://www.worldathletics.org/news/news/webb-debuts-with-273472-victory-at-stanford

 

2016— With senior Tommy Awad (4:00.3) coming from 4th to 1st on the last lap, host Penn won the 4-mile relay (16:26.30) at the Penn Relays, its first win in the event since 1950, and its first overall win at the Relays since they won the Shuttle Hurdles in 1974. Preceding Awad were Keaton Naff (4:08.0), Chris Hatler (4:06.7), and Nick Tuck (4:11.3).

Awad (4:01.5) had anchored Penn to a 3rd-place finish in Friday’s Distance Medley (4-29), with their time of 9:37.25 breaking a 44-year old school record. On hand to congratulate the team, all working as officials, were 3 members of the team that set the previous record of 9:42.2 at the 1972 Relays-Julio Piazza, Karl Thornton, and Elton (Denis) Fikes.

Said Penn coach Steve Dolan after the 4-mile win, “Well it’s a real honor. I couldn’t be more proud of these guys.

They’ve worked so hard and we’ve talked about it for years, but to be in a Penn uniform and to win on this stage at the Penn Relays is about as good as it gets. It was a magical moment out there for all of us and I couldn’t be more excited about what they’ve done and how they competed today.

Sanya Richards-Ross (52.6) competed at the Relays for the final time, anchoring the U.S. to a win in the 4×400 relay. It was the 7th time she had run on a winning 4×400 in the USA vs the World series. She also anchored Texas to a win (and a Meet Record of 3:27.64) in the College Women’s 4×400 in 2003.

“This is my last season competing, and it’s been great to reflect on how blessed I’ve been. My teammates gave me an amazing lead and it felt almost like I was running a victory lap. It’s a little bit emotional, and I wanted to take in the moment warming up. It’s been a blessing to compete with my teammates and to be a part of team USA.”

Aware of the significance of the  moment, the  native of Jamaica received a warm reception from American and Jamaican fans alike.

4-Mile Relay: http://pennrelaysonline.com/History/results.aspx?en=459&cy=2016

Results: http://pennrelaysonline.com/History/schedule.aspx?cy=2016

 

2022—After a 2-year hiatus due to Covid, the Penn Relays returned in fine style under the leadership of the new Director-Steve Dolan, the head coach at Penn. Dolan took over from the retired Dave Johnson.

The Women’s 4×1500 was a classic, with Arkansas (16:53.87) and NC State (16:55.19) both running well below the previous Collegiate Record of 17:08.34 that was set by Tennessee at the 2009 Relays.

NC State had a decent lead through the first two legs, but the placings were reversed after Lauren Gregory put Arkansas into the lead with her 4:12.5 split on the 3rd leg. Katelyn Tuohy put the Wolfpack back in front with 2 laps to go on the anchor leg, but Krissy Gear went by Tuohy on the final backstretch and maintained her lead through the finish line to give the Razorbacks the historic win. The splits by Tuohy (4:09.8/#3) and Gear (4:10.7/#6) were among the fastest ever run at Penn.

Full lineups

Arkansas (Isabel Van Camp 4:16.8, Logan Jolly 4:13.9, Lauren Gregory 4:12.5, Krissy Gear 4:10.7);

NC State (Anna Vess 4:17.4, Samantha Bush 4:10.9, Savannah Shaw 4:17.1, Katelyn Tuohy 4:09.8);

Spain’s Mario Garcia Romo’ anchored Ole Miss to wins in the Men’s 4×800 (7:13.71) and Distance Medley (9:29.45) Relays.

Athing Mu won the Invitational 600 in 1:22.74, the 4th fastest time in history. American Record holder Ajee’ Wilson finished 6th in 1:25.87.

Windy conditions prevented Gary Martin (Wood,PA) form reaching his goal of becoming the 1st prep to break 4-minutes for the Mile at Penn, but he still managed to set a Relays Record of 4:01.04.

Results: https://pennrelaysonline.com/History/schedule.aspx?cy=2022

FloTrack’s Stylized Look at the 4×1500: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtUSeC1ejQ0

Videos: https://www.flotrack.org/events/7138044-2022-penn-relays-presented-by-toyota

https://pa.milesplit.com/meets/445494-the-penn-relays-carnival-2022/coverage

https://www.dyestat.com/gprofile.php?do=view_event&event_id=633&mgroup_id=44531&year=2022

 

2022—18-year old Erriyon Knighton, a senior at Hillsborough H.S. in Tampa, Florida, ran 19.49 for 200-meters in Baton Rouge,LA, smashing his previous World and American Junior/Under-20 Record of 19.84

 

Born On This Day*

 

JuVaughn  Harrison 26 (1999)  6-time NCAA Champion while at LSU…won the High Jump and Long Jump at the 2019

NCAA Championships, and again at the 2021 NCAA Indoor & Outdoor Championships

Winning distance at the 2021 NCAA Indoor meet was  27-8  ¾ (8.45/=#9 All-Time World, =#3 U.S., #3 College)

Won both events at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials—finished 7th in the HJ, 5th in the LJ, at the Tokyo Olympics

…became the 1st American since Jim Thorpe (1912) to compete in both events at the Olympics

Didn’t make the final in the High Jump at the 2024 Olympics

Silver medalist in the High Jump at the 2023 World Championships

2023 U.S. Champion—High Jump;

2022 U.S. Indoor Champion—High Jump; 9th at the 2022 World Outdoor Championships

Bronze medalist in the High Jump at the 2018 World Junior (Under-20) Championships

PBs: 7-7  1/4i (2.32/2022), 7-8  ¾ (2.36/2021); 27-8  ¾i (8.45/2021), 27-9  ½ (8.47/2021);

2024 SB: 7-8 (2.34),  25-10  ¼ (7.88); 2025 SB: 7-3  ¾ (2.23)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JuVaughn_Harrison

Road to Track Town: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2NYp9ZFKWo

https://lsusports.net/news/2019/6/24/211805742.aspx

https://www.tfrrs.org/athletes/6551772/LSU/Harrison_JuVaughn

Andra Manson 41 (1984) 2-time NCAA Champion (Texas)—High Jump (2nd-2006,2007)

2004 NCAA Indoor Champion (2nd-2005,2006).

Bronze medalist at the 2008 World Indoor Championships

2008 U.S. Olympian (qual.round), 9th at the 2009 World Championships

3-time Penn Relays Champion (2004,2006,2007)

Set the current U.S. High School Record of 7-7 (2.31) while winning the gold medal at the 2002 World Junior

Championships…Jesse Williams, who finished 4th at the World Juniors, posted this series of jumps from the meet

at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvRZqW7sDII

T&F News H.S. Athlete of the Year in 2002

PBs: 7-8  ½ (2.35/2009), 7-7  3/4i (2.33/2007)

Al Toon 62 (1963) Virginia state champion in the Triple Jump (Menchville H.S.). Had a best of 49-5  ¾ (50-1  3/4w)

Had an All-American football career at Wisconsin

      Became one of the most popular NY Jets after a successful 8-year run as a wide receiver with the team.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Toon

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/T/ToonAl00.htm

www.newyorkjets.com/photos/happy-birthday-to-jets-legend-al-toon#c64e52ed-5458-47f6-88e7-1957467f1655

Deceased

 

Iris Davis 71 (1950) 2-time U.S. Champion—100y (1971,1973)

2-time U.S. Indoor Champion-60y (1972,1973)

1972 U.S. Olympian—100 (4th), 4×100 (4th)

1971 Pan-American Games champion-100m, 4×100

Was a Tennessee State Tigerbelle

https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/77800