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.
This Day in Track & Field-June 16
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By Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service (wmurphy25@aol.com), used with permission
This Day in Track & Field–June 16
1909–Jim Thorpe makes his pro baseball pitching debut for the Rocky Mount Railroaders of the Class D Eastern Carolina League with a 4-2 win. It was later learned that Thorpe earned $15-$25 per week during his 2-year stint with the team, leading Olympic officials to strip him of his amateur standing and the gold medals he won in the Pentathlon and Decathlon at the 1912 Games in Sweden. (The medals were eventually returned). http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/07/09/jim.thorpe/
1923 –Michigan’s DeHart Hubbard (25-2 [7.67]) won the first of his two Long Jump titles at the 3rd NCAA Championships at Stagg Field in Chicago. Hall-of-Famer Hubbard, who helped Michigan win the team title, went on to win the gold medal at the 1924 Olympics.
Another 1924 gold medalist-to-be was Bowdoin’s Fred Tootell, who won the Hammer with a throw of 175-1 (53.36)
Penn State had a pair of winners in Alan Helffrich (880- 1:56.5) and Schuyler Enck (Mile-4:27.4). Enck would win the bronze medal in the 800-meters at the 1924 Olympics.
Results: https://trackandfieldnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/1923.pdf
NY Times: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1923/06/17/105918409.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0
HOF Bio(Hubbard): https://www.usatf.org/athlete-bios/dehart-hubbard
Tootell (’24 Olympics): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4YcwYiUVGY
1934—Two World Records were set within 10 minutes of each other at the inaugural Princeton Invitational, held in front of 25,000 cheering fans at Palmer Stadium. It was the beginning of a seven-year stretch for what would become one of the premier meets in the U.S.
Ben Eastman won the 880y in 1:49.8, which also matched the best time for 800 meters (he was timed en route unofficially in 1:49.1). Then Kansas star Glenn Cunningham won the Mile in…
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