This Day in Track & Field–September 21
1895—Future Hall-of-Famer Bernie Wefers equaled the pre-IAAF World Records of 9.8 (9-4/5) in the 100y and 21.6
(21-3/5) in the 220y in front of 10,000 fans at a dual meet at Manhattan Field in New York between the N.Y. Athletic Club and the London A.C., considered the leading T&F club in the world at the time.
Dartmouth’s Stephen Chase, the 1895 IC4A Champion, tied his own WR of 15-2/5 in the 120y-Hurdles. The mark wasn’t accepted as an American Record because he knocked over a hurdle during the race!
Michael Sweeney bettered his own mark in the High Jump with his 3rd-attempt clearance of 6-5 5/8 (1.97). Said Sweeney, “The next thing I remember was Teddy Roosevelt picking me out of the pit. He was (New York) Police Commissioner in those days, and was an official in the games”.
The NYAC won all 11 events on the day, leading the New York Sun to write, “We not only beat the British; we beat the world”.
Wefers, considered by many to be the “World’s Fastest Man” during the 1890s, won the 100y-220y double 3 years in a row at the U.S. Championships (1895-1897) and was a 3-time IC4A Champion while at Georgetown (1896-100y,220y); 1897-220y). After his retirement from competition, he became the coach at the NYAC for 45 years. During his time at the NYAC, he would take the train from New York to New Brunswick,NJ, to coach the Rutgers team!
Wefers
HOF(2008): https://www.usatf.
1901—Harry Gill set a pre-IAAF World Record of 122-4 (37.29) in the Discus in Toronto.
Gill became the head coach at Illinois, which won the first NCAA team title in 1921—a meet he organized! (It was
the first NCAA Championship in any sport)
He founded Gill Athletics, which became the leading supplier of T&F equipment in the U.S.
Inducted into the National Hall of Fame in 2015
https://www.usatf.org/athlete-
Gill Athletics: https://www.
1907—Two pre-IAAF World Records were set by two Irish-American “Whales” at the Canadian Championships in Montreal.
Ralph Rose upped his own record in the Shot Put to 49-7 ¼ (15.12), and Matt McGrath won the Hammer Throw with a toss of 173-7 (52.90).
Whales: https://en.wikipedia.
1955—Great Britain’s Diane Leather won the Mile at London’s White City Stadium in 4:45.0 to take almost six seconds off her…
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