This Day in Track & Field, March 17, Marshall Brooks becomes first man over 1.83m/6 feet (1876), Sergey Bubka breaks his own WR 0f 5.97m (1987), by Walt Murphy

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

This Day in Track & Field–March  17—Happy St.Patrick’s Day

1876–Oxford University’s Marshall Brooks became the first man to clear 6-feet (1.83m) in the High Jump. Brooks would raise his record to 6-2  ½ (1.89) 3 weeks later.

Brooks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Brooks

History of the High Jump: http://www.iaaf.org/disciplines/jumps/high-jump

1925—The seemingly unbeatable Paavo Nurmi fell victim to an unlikely competitor in the 5000-Meters at the NY Knights of Columbus meet.  After setting en-route Records at 4000-yards, 4000-meters, and 2-1/2 Miles (yes, they kept records for those distances at the time), Nurmi stopped running with 4 laps to go, clutching his stomach in obvious distress. He gamely tried to keep going after being passed by fellow Finn Ville “Willie” Ritola, but stopped for good before heading off to the dressing room. It was determined that Nurmi was feeling the effects of having a hefty veal dinner just 3 hours before the race!

Joie Ray won the Mile and matched Nurmi’s 10-day old World Record of 4:12.0, and Penn State’s Alan Helffrich set a new standard of 1:11.6 in the 600y.

An overflow crowd of more than 12,000 fans had jammed into the 2^nd version of Madison Square Garden for the final meet to be held before the building would be demolished.

https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1925/03/18/101649931.html?pageNumber=15

1968—The International Cross Country Championships were held in Tunis, Tunisia, at the Hippodrome de Kassar-Said. Tunisia’s Mohammed Gammoudi (35:25.4) edged Great Britain’s Ron Hill (35:26.8)  for the Men’s title.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_International_Cross_Country_Championships

1972–The U.S. and the Soviet Union had met in ten previous dual-meets, but this was the first one to be held indoors. The setting was Richmond, Virginia (11-lap banked track), and the U.S., thanks to a surprise victory by a women’s team loaded with teenagers, was the overall winner (131-112) for only the 3rd time in the series. It didn’t hurt that the Soviet team might have been tired after their long trip to the U.S.

            16-year old Debbie Heald, a junior at Neff H.S. in LaMirada,CA, pulled off the biggest upset of the meet by winning the Women’s Mile in 4:38.5. Her time broke the American Record of 4:40.4, set in 1967 by Doris Brown, who finished 3rd here, and was also under her own record…