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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By Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com), used with permission.
This Day in Track & Field–April 4
1959—Kansas Junior Bill Alley set an American Record in the Javelin, winning 270-1 ½ (82.33m) at the Texas Relays. His June NCAA Championships win helped propel the Jayhawks to the team title. He would win a 2nd NCAA title in 1960 and made the U.S. Olympic team that competed in Rome (didn’t make the final).
Alley threw 283-8 (86.46) in 1960, bettering Al Cantello’s World Record of 282-3 (86.04). However, the mark was never ratified because it was determined to be made on “sloping ground.”
Before transferring to Kansas, Alley won the 1956 IC4A title while competing for Syracuse.
A native of New Jersey, Alley, a prolific inventor, moved to Vermont in 1969 to open a Research Engineering Corporation. This company manufactures everything from T&F equipment to fishing poles to medical devices. Check the links below for much more on Alley’s accomplishments.
http://tinyurl.com/BillAlley300
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/78037
1964—Dallas Long set his fifth official Shot Put World Record with a toss of 65-11 ½ (20.10m) in Los Angeles.
WR Progression: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men’s_shot_put_world_record_progression
1964—Arizona State’s Henry Carr ran 20.2 on his home track in Tempe to equal his own-year-old World Record for 220 yards. Later in the year, he would win Olympic gold in the 200 and the 4×400 Relay in Tokyo.
1975–Competing in an ITA Professional indoor meet in Daly City, California, colorful Brian Oldfield, using the still-new spin technique (The “Oldfield Slingshot”), won the shot put with the longest throw in history, 72-6 1/2 (22.11), which was better than George Woods’ “Amateur” World Record of…
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