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Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com), used with permission.
(c)Copyright 2025-all rights reserved. May not be reprinted or retransmitted without permission.
This Day in Track & Field–January 22
1966—John Pennel set a World Record of 16-9 ½ (5.12) in the Pole Vault before a crowd of more than 13,000 at the Los Angeles Invitational.
A 2nd record was set by Art Walker (53-8 ½ [16.37]), who became the first American to hold the World Record in the Triple Jump since Dan Ahearn set global marks in 1909 & 1910!
Kenya’s Kip Keino endeared himself to the L.A. fans by attempting an ambitious double in his debut on the U.S. indoor circuit.
First up was the Mile, where he was caught coming off the final turn by Jim Grelle (4:00.9-4:01.8). He had better luck when he came back 90 minutes later to win the 2-mile. Showing what would become his signature move late in a race, he tossed his orange baseball cap onto the infield (which he didn’t do in the mile) as he went after Kansas’ John Lawson (8:43.0), taking the lead on the final backstretch and holding on for a narrow win (8:42.6-8:43.0).
(From T&F News)
https://vault.si.com/vault/1966/01/31/a-kama-for-the-angelenos
1971–A sell-out crowd 13,185 was treated to an epic battle in the Shot Put at the All-American Invitational in San Francisco’s Cow Palace.
Al Feuerbach got the winning throw of 68-11 (21.00+) in the 2nd round, with Randy Matson finishing 2nd with a toss of 68-8 (20.93) as both bettered Matson’s previous World Indoor Record of 67-11 (20.70), which was set just a week earlier (Matson shared the record with Neil Steinhauer).
Jim Ryun, competing in his first race since walking off the track during the mile at the 1969 U.S. Outdoor Championships in Miami (19 months), received a standing ovation over the last 2 laps as he unleashed a 56.4 last ¼ to win the mile over a less-than-stellar field in 4:04.4.
After signing countless autographs for kids after the race, the fan in Ryun said, “You know, there was one disappointment tonight. I sure wish I could have seen that shot put record throw. But they made us stand out in the hall” (before his race).
https://vault.si.com/vault/1971/02/01/back-in-the-running
1982–Mary Decker (Slaney), embarking on yet another comeback, won the mile at the Sunkist Inv. in Los Angeles in 4:24.6 to smash Francie Larrieu’s 7-year-old World Record of 4:28.5. Larrieu finished a distant 2nd here in 4:36.4.
Another World Record fell to Stanley Floyd, who won the 50-yard dash in 5.22. Other significant performances: Canada’s Debbie Brill, with 5-month-old son Neil watching from the infield, won the women’s high jump (6-5/1.96m), Carl Lewis won the long jump (27-1 ¾ [8.27m]), Ray Flynn (3:57.1) celebrated his 25th birthday by edging surprising Frank Assumma (3:57.3) to win the men’s mile (with future USATF CEO Craig Masback finishing 4th (4:01.7), and Evelyn Ashford won the Women’s 60y in 6.78.
Sports Illustrated Vault:
https://vault.si.com/vault/1982/02/01/a-victory-for-domesticity
1983–Two national H.S. records were set at the first Yale Invitational, the first significant meet held on the Elis’ “tuned” 200m-flat synthetic track.
Three of the best middle-distance runners in NY prep history hooked up in the Boys 1000 meters. Miles Irish, a senior at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake H.S.), opened up a quick 6-yard lead on Mike Stahr (Carmel) in the first 200 (25.9) and still had a 4-yard edge at the 400 split (55.5) with Charlie Marsala (New Dorp) moving ahead of Stahr into 2nd. Irish kept pouring it on, passing 600m in 1:25.7 and 800m in 1:55+. Stahr was back in 2nd place with a lap to go but still trailed by about 12 yards as the Irish passed 1000 yards in 2:11.1.
The race seemed to be over, but Stahr never gave up, and his furious kick left him just short of catching Irish as both broke the previous National Record of 2:26.32 (2:24.1-2:24.2). Marsala was also under the old mark with his 3rd-place time of 2:25.9.
And who knows how things would have turned out if the race had included another New York star, Jeff Van Wie (Suffern), who won the 800 with a State Record of 1:52.4!
The second record was set by Ridgewood (NJ), which ran 11:56.5 in the Girl’s metric-distance medley with a lineup of Beth Pringle (2:21.0), Margaret Scutro (64.1), and the Mileski twins, Mary Ellen (3:35.7) and Patti (4:55.7).
Irish, Stahr, and Marsala are among the top 26 performers on the all-time prep 1000m list. After spending a year at Arizona State, Stahr became Irish’s teammate at Georgetown, and the two have been close friends ever since.
All-Time H.S. Indoor List—Boys 1000m (Courtesy of Jack Shepard’s High School Track)
2:22.28 Robby Andrews (Manalapan,NJ) 2009
2:22.77 Rheinhardt Harrison (Nease,FL) 2022
2:23.46 Matthew Payamps (St.Anthony’s, NY) 2019
2:23.56 * Ben Malone Pascack Valley, NJ 2012
2:23.68 Alan Webb (South Lakes, Va) 2001
2:23.85 George Kersh (Pearl, MS) 1987
2:23.88 Steven Hergenrother (Eidgefield,CT) 2024
2:24.06 Matt Rizzo (Bronxville, NY) 2019
2:24.1 Miles Irish (Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, NY) 1983
(10 performers, 10 performances)
2:24.13 Brandon McGorty Chantilly, Va 2017
2:24.18 ** Marcus Reilly Northbridge, MA 2022
2:24.2 Mike Stahr (Carmel,NY) 1983
2:24.42 Paul Vandegrift (Arch.Kennedy,Pa) 1987
2:24.43 Myles Marshall (Kingwood, TX) 2015
2:24.53 Luis Peralta (Passaic,NJ) 2019
2:24.64 Josh Joey (Bishop Shanahan,Pa) 2018
2:25.14 Said Ahmed (Boston English, Ma) 2001
2:25.30 Dalton Hengst (McDonogh School,MD) 2018
2:25.39 Sean Dolan (Hopewell Valley, NJ) 2019
2:25.45 Gabe Montague (Newton North, MA) 2014
(20 Performers)
2:25.55 Henry Wynne (Staples, CT) 2013
2:25.68 Tinoda Matsatsa (St.Andrews Episcopal, MD) 2023
2:25.77 Alfred Chawanza (St.Benedict’s Prep, NJ) 2019
2:25.80 Liam Purdy (North Rockland, NY) 2014
2:25.86 James Asselmeyer (Arlington,NY) 2015
2:25.9 Charles Marsala (New Dorp, NY) 1983
(26 performers)
1989–Russia’s Rodion Gataullin became the first man to clear 6 meters (19-8 1/4) indoors in the Pole Vault
(St.Petersburg). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radion_Gataullin
1994—In a prelude to the official celebration in May of the 40th Anniversary of Roger Bannister’s historic 3:59.4 mile in 1954, some of the greatest milers in history met in a Legends race in conjunction with the American Airlines Miami Mile.
Based on each athlete’s current fitness, the starts were staggered, with Bannister firing the starting pistol. Tying for first were old rivals Kip Keino (54) and Marty Liquori (44), followed by Peter Snell (55), who was given a 2:05 head-start, and Steve Cram (33), the youngest man in the field. Next were Wilson Waigwa (44), Rod Dixon (43), Frank Shorter (46), and Jim Ryun (46)!
“For me, this race was great,” Liquori said. “We had two guys sprinting to the finish. Basically, Kip and I were sprinting as hard as we could. We weren’t playing around that last 100 yards. I was thinking, however, that age goes before beauty, and I wanted Kip to take that extra step. (Actually), I was a little embarrassed to be sprinting so hard and not be able to drop somebody 10 years older than me.”
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1994-01-23-9401230173-story.html
2011–Duke senior Kate Van Buskirk set a Collegiate Record 2:41.00 for 1000 meters at Virginia Tech (since broken).
Representing her native Canada, Van Buskirk was a semi-finalist in the 1500-meters at the 2015 World
Championships in Beijing.
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Van_Buskirk
2022—For the 2nd week, Will Sumner (Woodstock, GA) took away a U.S. High School Indoor Record from Strymar Livingston. Sumner ran 1:15.58 for 600 meters at the CYUP Misfits Inv. in Chicago to take a full 2 seconds off the previous mark of 1:17.58!
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5FLjSZpLp0
It’s a Family Thing: https://wingfoot.atlantatrackclub.org/blog/when-speed-runs-in-the-family
https://trackandfieldnews.com/2-national-records-for-high-schooler-will-sumner/
Significant Birthdays
Born On This Day*
Pierce LePage—Canada 29 (1996) 2023 World Champion—Decathlon…2022-silver medalist
5th at the 2019 World Championships and 2021 Olympics
Silver medalist at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
Bronze medalist at the 2019 Pan-American Games
A herniated disc kept him out of the 2024 Olympics (he had surgery in August
PB: 8909 (2023/#7 All-Time)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierce_LePage
WC Report
WC Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4W4q-qzT9E
Olympic Disappointment
Lisa Bernhagen-Ramos 59 (1966) 1987 NCAA Indoor Champion—High Jump (Stanford); 1988-4th, 1989-2nd
4th NCAA Outdoors in 1986, =2nd in 1988
Set a Collegiate Indoor Record of 6-5 ½ (1.97) in 1987 (since broken, now =#3 All-Time).
Former U.S. High School Outdoor Record holder in the High Jump (6-2 ¾ [1.90/1983/now =#4 All-Time]; held
the Indoor Record for 32 years! (6-3/1.93+/ 1984-2016/now #3 All-time) (Wood River, ID);
Looking Back (2020) Stanford Hall of Fame
Greg Duplantis 63 (1962) Made the U.S. top-10 rankings in the Pole Vault six times (3rd-‘94) PB:19-1/4 (5.80, ‘93)
5th at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials—cleared the same height as the 3rd-place finisher, 18-8 ¼ (5.70), but lost out on
misses.
Coaches his son Mondo, who re-wrote the High School record books in the Pole Vault and is now the World Record
holder and reigning Olympic (2-time) and World (2-time) Champion.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/sports/meet-greg-duplantis-pole-vault-coach-father-american-athlete/article/503871
Ray Flynn 68 (1957) Fastest Irish miler—3:49.77 (1982);
Ran 89 sub-4 minute miles during his career and anchored the Irish team that set the World Record in the
4-mile relay: 15:49.08–(Eamonn Coghlan 4:00.2, Marcus O’Sullivan 3:55.3, Frank O’Mara 3:55.6, Ray Flynn
3:57.0);
2-time Olympian-1980 (1500/1st round), 1984 (5000/11th); Semi-finalist in the 1500 at the 1983 World
Championships
All-American at East Tennessee State…was a close 2nd to UC Irvine’s Steve Scott in the 1500-meter at the
1978 NCAA Championships (3:37.58-3:37.68). Next in an all-star final was Wisconsin’s Steve Lacy
(3:37.78), Villanova’s Don Paige (3:38.86) and Sydney Maree (3:39.08), and Oregon’s Matt Centrowitz
(3:39.29). Still lives in Johnson City, TN
PBS:
1:48.30 (‘80), 2:18.96 (‘81), 3:33.5 (‘82), 3:49.77 (‘82), 3:51.20i (‘83), 4:59.40 (‘82), 7:41.60 (’84),
13:19.52 (’84)
Currently one of the world’s leading athlete managers and has been the Director of the Millrose Games
since it moved to the Armory in 2012
Hometown Hero:
http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Local/2015/03/16/Johnson-City-may-be-home-to-world-s-fastest-Irishman.html
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Flynn_(athlete)
http://www.flynnsports.com/
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/71531
Deceased
Galina Zybina–Russia 93 (1931-August 10, 2024) 4-time Olympian (Soviet Union) in the Shot Put—won a complete set of
medals-Gold (1952), Silver (1956), Bronze (1964)…7th in 1960. Also 4th in the Javelin in 1952.
Set 8 World Records between 1952 and 1956…also had 6 “world bests” that were never ratified.
When she passed away on August 10, 2024, she had been the oldest living female Olympic gold medalist in track &
field
PBs: 57-5 (17.50/1964), 159-6dt (48.62/1955), 180-4jt (54.98/1958)
World Record Progression
49-03 ½ (15.02) Anna Andreyeva (URS) 9 November 1950 Ploiești, Romania
50-01 ¾ (15.28) Galina Zybina (URS) 26 July 1952 Helsinki, Finlan
50-05 ¼ (15.37) Galina Zybina (URS) 20 September 1952 Frunze, Soviet Union
50-07 ¼ (15.42) Galina Zybina (URS) 1 October 1952 Frunze, Soviet Union
53-01 ¾ (16.20) Galina Zybina (URS) 9 October 1953 Malmö, Sweden
53-05 (16.28) Galina Zybina (URS) 14 September 1954 Kiev, Soviet Union
53-05 (16.28) Galina Zybina (URS) 5 September 1955 Leningrad, Soviet Union
54-08 ¼ (16.67) Galina Zybina (URS) 15 November 1955 Tbilisi, Soviet Union
55-0 (16.76) Galina Zybina (URS) 13 October 1956 Tashkent, Soviet Union
56-07 ¼ (17.25) Tamara Press (URS) 26 April 1959 Nalchik, Soviet Union
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/77336
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galina_Zybina
WR Progression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_shot_put_world_record_progression
Conversion Calculator: http://legacy.usatf.org/statistics/calculators/markConversions/index.asp
Dan Kinsey 68 (1902-June 27,1970) 1924 Olympic gold medalist—110m-Hurdles
1924 Big-10 Indoor (60y) & Outdoor (120y) hurdles champion (Illinois/no NCAA meet in 1924)
Also competed in football at Illinois…one of his teammates was the legendary Red Grange.
He taught and coached at Oberlin College for 31 years. The school hosts a meet bearing his name.
http://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78654
OG Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxqYvTviA2A
Illini Legend
