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This Day in Track & Field/X-Country–March 18
1939—Bob Peoples set an American Record of 234-1 7/8 (71.37) in the Javelin in Long Beach, CA. Peoples, 18 at the time, finished 4th at the 1936 U.S. Olympic Trials shortly after completing his junior year at Classen H.S. in Oklahoma City, OK
Peoples, who set a U.S. High School Record of 220-1 (67.08?) in 1937 (for 20 years), was inducted into the National H.S. T&F Hall of Fame in 2020.
http://tinyurl.com/Bob-PeoplesJav
https://nationalscholastic.org/article/2472
1955- Wearing a new pair of shoes sent to him by George Eastment, his former coach at Manhattan College, Lou Jones set a World Record of 45.4 (45.68) to win the gold medal in the 400-meter at the Pan-American Games in Mexico City. U.S. teammate Jim Lea, 2nd in 45.6, was also under the previous mark of 45.8, which was set by Jamaica’s George Rhoden in 1950.
W.R. Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_400_metres_world_record_progression
N.Y. Times Obituary: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/sports/othersports/lou-jones-74-sprinting-star-dies.html
1962–New Zealand’s Peter Snell ran 1:49.9 in Tokyo to break his World Indoor Record for 880 yards.
1967–American Doris Brown (Heritage) won the first of her five consecutive “World” X-Country titles on a “shoe-sucking” muddy course in Barry, Wales. (Before the IAAF’s involvement in 1973, the meet was known as the “International.
X-Country Championships”). Brown-Heritage served as the head coach at Seattle Pacific before announcing her retirement prior to the 2008 x-country season.
Accompanying Brown on what seemed like a never-ending journey from Seattle to Barry was her coach, Ken Foreman, who guided her in her ascension to running royalty and would remain her coach throughout her career. Both are members of the National Hall of Fame.
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