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.
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This Day in Track & Field–April 1
1933—Ben Eastman set a World Record of 1:09.2 for 600-yards at the PTA Sports Carnival in San Francisco.
1973—The first Cherry Blossom Invitational Run was held in Washington, D.C. 129 runners finished the race, including winners Sam Bair (51:22) and Kathrine Switzer (1:11:19).
1977—An Arizona State lineup of Gary Burl, Tony Darden, Gerald Burl, and Herman Frazier won the 4x220y at the Texas Relays in 1:21.7, equaling the World Record that was set by Tennessee in 1976
1978—As George Grenier wrote in T&F News, “William Snoddy, getting help from one of the bigger winds since the one that carried Dorothy from Kansas to Oz, bolted to history’s fastest 100 meters.” Oklahoma soph Snoddy, the 1977 NCAA Champion at 200 meters, ‘s time at the Dallas Invitational was 9.87, well under Jim Hines’ World Record of 9.95, and the wind reading was +11.2 meters per second (25mph)!
1979—Julie Shea set a World Record of 1:14.08 for 20-kilometers in Atlanta
2000—Linda Lypson-Blutreich set an American Record of 188-5 (57.42) in the Javelin at the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh,NC.
2010—Oregon’s Ashton Eaton and Brianne Theisen, still in the early stages of their careers (and long before they got married), won the Decathlon (8310w/PB) and Heptathlon (5942w), respectively, at the Texas Relays.
Ashton went on to win two Olympic (2012,2016) and two World (2013,2015) titles (and set two World Records), while Brianne, representing her native Canada, was a bronze medalist at the 2016 Olympics and a 2-time silver medalist at the World Championships (2013,2015). She also won 6 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor titles.
https://www.si.com/edge/2017/04/25/ashton-eaton-brianne-theisen-eaton-retired-life-after-track
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