This Day in Observe & Area–February 5
1938--Glenn Cunningham gained his fifth Wanamaker Mile on the Millrose Video games in entrance of one other capability crowd of 16,000 in Madison Sq. Backyard, His time of 4:11.0 matched the Meet Report that he already shared with Joe Mangan. Cunningham, content material to sit down via a slowish ½-mile cut up of two:07, went on to win by 12 yards over Archie San Romani, who was adopted intently by future and previous winners of the race—Chuck Fenske(1940) and Gene Venzke(1932).
Sprinters and hurdlers needed to run 3 rounds, with World Information being set in each occasions.
After operating 6.2 in his warmth of the 60y, Columbia’s Ben Johnson matched the WR of 6.1 in his semi-final (a report he already shared with others, together with Jesse Owens), and took sole possession of the report when he ran 6-flat(6.0) within the closing.
Allan Tomlich tied the World Report of seven.4 within the 1st spherical of the 60y-Hurdles, and that point was matched by Forrest “Spec” Cities in his semi-final race. Cities, the 1936 Olympic gold medalist within the 110m-Hurdles, ran one other 7.4 within the closing, beating Tomlich, the 1937 U.S. Outside Champion(Cities was 3rd), by 4 toes.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/02/06/96796282.html?pageNumber=71
Outcomes: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1938/02/06/96796337.html?pageNumber=75
1944—Gil Dodds gained the Wanamaker Mile on the Millrose Video games in 4:10.6. He would win the race once more in 1947 & 1948.
A Battle Bond public sale was held throughout the meet, bringing in pledges amounting to $51,775.
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1944/02/06/96568078.html?pageNumber=102
1955–The Wanamaker Mile on the Millrose Video games produced a World Report, however many of the 16,000 followers in attendance didn’t see Denmark’s Gunnar Nielsen break the tape in 4:03.6. Their consideration was centered on the battle that was occurring behind him between two of the very best People, Wes Santee and Villanova’s Fred Dwyer.
The race is #3 on Howard Schmertz’s record of “My 10 Most Memorable Millrose Moments”, and right here is how he remembered that night time (Schmertz adopted his father Fred because the Millrose Director). “The 1955 Wanamaker Mile was a World Indoor Report race, which reality alone would make it a memorable one. However it’s my Most Memorable Millrose operating occasion, not due to the report, however as a result of it was a world report that only a few of the 16,000 spectators witnessed. One week earlier, Wes Santee, America’s prime miler, had defeated Gunnar Nielsen by 40 yards within the Boston A.A. Video games, making a World Indoor Report of 4:03.8. His time smashed the report of 4:05.3 set by Gil Dodds within the 1948 Wanamaker Mile. Within the 1955 Wanamaker, a quick early tempo indicated that Santee’s week-old report would possibly fall. With a half-lap to go, Santee led, trailed by Fred Dwyer and Nielsen. Out of the blue Nielsen charged previous Dwyer and Santee and set sail for dwelling.
On the finish of the again stretch, because the tiring Santee veered out in a useless try to carry off Nielsen, Dwyer, attempting to catch Nielsen, tried to go Santee on the within. As Dwyer got here abreast of Santee, Wes moved in, forcing Fred off the observe and into the infield. Dwyer, unable to regain the observe, ran the final flip within the infield and on the head of the stretch got here again on the observe forward of Santee. In frustration, Santee grabbed Dwyer’s shoulder and Dwyer wrapped his arms round Santee’s waist. To the amazement of the group, the 2 pirouetted down the homestretch. Nielsen, properly out in entrance and nearly unnoticed, broke the tape with a world report 4:03.6. Dwyer got here out of his clinch with Santee to complete second however was disqualified for operating within the infield. No wilder race has ever been seen within the Backyard.”
You possibly can catch a quick glimpse of the incident on this video: https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/250160/
SI Vault: https://vault.si.com/vault/1955/02/14/the-riotous-wanamaker-mile
http://villanovarunning.blogspot.com/2010/11/wes-santee-fred-dwyer-fight-for-1955.html
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1955/02/06/83351724.html?pageNumber=184
1982–Working by herself, as she typically did, Mary Decker (Slaney) gained the 3000-meters on the L.A. Instances meet in 8:47.3 to interrupt Grete Waitz’s 2-year outdated World Report of 8:50.8. Decker additionally bought credit score for an additional World Report when she handed 2000-meters in 5:53.4. The earlier mark of 5:55.2 was set by Francie Larrieu (Smith) the earlier yr.
In one other thrilling duel between former Villanova teammates, Don Paige beat Mark Belger over 1000-yards and his successful time of two:04.7 broke his personal year-old World Report by .2s. Belger completed 2nd in a private greatest time of two:05.8.
1983—Carl Lewis set an surprising World Report of 6.02 for 60-yards in Dallas, whereas Billy Olson was dissatisfied that his successful peak within the Pole Vault was “solely” 18-8 ¼ (5.70), a peak nobody else had ever cleared indoors.
Competing in entrance of dozens of relations and mates, the Texas native hoped for a repeat of his efficiency from the earlier night time in Toronto, when he turned the primary indoor 19-footer.
Clinton Davis (Metal Valley,PA) set a Nationwide H.S. Report of 55.65 for 500-yards.
Sports activities Illustrated Vault: https://vault.si.com/vault/1983/02/14/one-flies-high-one-just-flies
1988—Not surprisingly, the Mile was within the highlight at this yr’s Millrose Video games, with 5 separate races on the distance offering a collection of highlights.
Marcus O’Sullivan (3:56.89) broke open an in depth race with 2 laps to go, sprinting away from Nice Britain’s Peter Elliott (3:57.63) to win the twond of his 5 Wanamaker Miles.
Ending third within the Ladies’s Mile, Villanova’s Vicki Huber (Rudawsky) ran 4:28.31 to set a Collegiate Report (since damaged). The winner of the race was Romania’s Doina Melinte, who set a meet report of 4:21.45.
Mt.St.Mary’s Charles Cheruiyot gained the IC4A occasion with a fast time of three:57.95, with Windfall’s Frank Conway (4:00.61) ending 2nd forward of Cheruiyot’s MSM teammate, Peter Rono (4:03.58), who would go on to win Olympic gold within the 1500-meters in Seoul later within the yr!
Bob Kennedy (Westerville,OH), who would develop into certainly one of America’s biggest distance runners, gained the Jumbo Elliott H.S. race in a slowish 4:21.46.
A few of the legends of the game competed within the Masters Mile, a race gained by Net Loudat (4:20.04) over Albin Swenson (4:20.78), Frank Shorter (4:21.95), Barry Brown (4:22.08), Jim Ryun (4:29.60), Mike Manley (4:42.06), and Peter Snell (4:53.63)!
In different occasions, Jackie Joyner-Kersee (22-8 ½ [6.92]) gained the Lengthy Leap, France’s Thierry Vigneron beat Earl Bell on misses within the Pole Vault (each cleared 19-1/4 [5.81]), and Diane Dixon (52.48) beat Valerie Brisco (53.06) within the 440y.
Wanamaker Mile (w/commentary from Charlie Jones, Frank Shorter, Eamonn Coghlan):
https://www.runnerspace.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45365&do=movies&video_id=196340
Masters Mile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YysHj9iz2M
Different Movies; https://millrosegames.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=574&yr=1988&do=movies
1988—East Germany’s Thomas Schönlebe, the winner of the 400-Meters on the earlier yr’s World Outside Championships in Rome, ran 45.05 in Sindelfingen, Germany, breaking his personal 2-year outdated World Indoor Report of 45.41.
1993—Like many editions earlier than this one, there was an Irish aptitude to the Millrose Video games. The Irish Nationwide Anthem was performed, and lots of the 18,176 followers in attendance had been waving Irish flags. They had been hoping to encourage native son (and Backyard favourite) Eamonn Coghlan, a 7-time winner of the Wanamaker Mile, who hoped to develop into the primary 40-plus runner to run beneath 4-minutes within the Masters Mile. Whereas he fell in need of his objective, the 40-year outdated did decrease his Masters Report to 4:05.95.
After which there was Marcus O’Sullivan, like Coghlan, a former Villanova recruit from Eire. O’Sullivan had completed 2nd to Algeria’s Noureddine Morceli on the 1991 Millrose Video games earlier than successful his 5th Wanamaker Mile in 1992. He was up in opposition to Morceli once more, in addition to Spain’s Fermín Cacho, the 1992 Olympic Champion at 1500-Meters.
O’Sullivan took the lead from Morceli with ¼-mile to go, however the Algerian quickly went to the entrance once more, holding off many challenges from his rival earlier than successful in 3:55.06 (3:55.36 for O’Sullivan). Cacho, not accustomed to the Backyard observe, completed 5th in 4:01.75.
“I felt Morceli was susceptible tonight,” O’Sullivan stated. “I didn’t assume he was in the very best of form. I actually thought I had an opportunity to get him. My mistake was that the primary rule you be taught is you solely make one transfer. Tonight, I made two or three.”
1999–Mel Mueller set an American Report of 14-8 ¾ (4.49) within the Ladies’s Pole Vault on the Millrose Video games in Madison Sq. Backyard. Jeff Hartwig gained the Males’s occasion with a clearance of 19-1/4 (5.80).
Kenya’s William Tanui gained the Wanamaker Mile in 3:59.24.
Outcomes: https://hmrrc.com/View/PDFs/Outcomes/99milr.htm
Wanamaker Mile Winners: http://www.runningpast.com/wanamaker_mile.htm
2005—Syosset(NY) H.S., with a lineup of Adam Lampert (1:58.4), Chris Howell (1:54.6), and brothers Sean (1:52.1) and Dan (1:57.1) Tully set a Nationwide H.S. Report of seven:42.22 within the 4×800 relay on the Armory Invitational in NY (since damaged/nonetheless #10 All-Time Faculty). Syosset was pushed to the report by Shaker (NY) H.S., which ran 7:42.84, the threerd-fastest time in historical past on the time. The earlier Report of seven:42.67 was set by York H.S. (Elmhurst,IL) in 2002.
Mentioned Syosset coach Bart Sessa, “…solely time we ever ran that order! It was the day after Millrose at Madison Sq. Backyard the place we had run the 4×4 with out Howell within the lineup. Then on the Armory the following day, Howell ran a lifetime greatest and didn’t run sooner till his soph yr at Penn, and we wanted each tenth….Shaker was an amazing group”.
The group went on to win the 4×800 on the Indoor and Outside Nationwide Scholastics, in addition to on the Penn Relays.
2016—18-year outdated Vashti Cunningham, a senior at Bishop Gorman H.S. in Las Vegas, outdueled American Report holder Chaunté Lowe to win the Excessive Leap in Albuquerque, successful on fewer misses as each cleared 6-4 ¾ (1.95).
Cunningham first cleared 6-3 ½ (1.92) to interrupt the 32-year outdated Excessive Faculty Report of 6-3 (1.905?) that was set by Lisa Bernhagen (Wooden River,Idaho) in 1984 earlier than elevating the report to 6-4 ¾.
The daughter of former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham went on to win U.S. and World Indoor titles the next month, elevating her H.S. and American Junior Information to 6-6 ½ (1.99) on the U.S. Nationals.
She has since medaled on the 2018 World Indoor Championships (silver) and the 2019 World Outside Championships (bronze). She was 10th on the 2017 World Outside Championships, 6th on the 2021 Olympics, 11th on the 2023 Worlds, and 5th on the 2024 Olympics.
2022—When preps Alan Webb and Drew Hunter ran their first sub-4 minute miles at NY’s Armory, they completed behind extra skilled runners of their respective races. Not so with Colin Sahlman, the linchpin of California’s powerhouse Newbury Park group.
Competing within the open mile on the Dr.Sander Invitational on the Armory, he not solely broke 4-minutes for the primary time, operating 3:58.81, however he gained the race over the likes of Conor Holt (4:00.01), Jonah Koech (4:00.24), Ryan Hill (4:00.39), and Robby Andrews (4:01.17)!
Shifting into 3rd place with a ¼-mile to go, Sahlman took the lead heading into the ultimate flip and stormed away from the remainder of the sector down the homestretch, operating 27.8 for his closing 200-meters. He turned the 13th U.S. prep to interrupt 4 minutes and moved into 3rd place on the all-time indoor record, trailing solely Hobbs Kessler (3:57.66) and Hunter (3:57.81), with Webb (3:59.86) now sitting within the #4 place. 4 of the 5 indoor sub-4 prep occasions (Hunter additionally ran 3:58.25) have been run on the Armory!
Newbury Park’s unimaginable depth was additionally on show within the Invitation 3000, which occurred shortly earlier than the mile went off. Junior Lex Younger completed 4th with a time of seven:57.06, falling simply in need of the Nationwide H.S. Report of seven:56.97 that was set by his brother Nico in 2020. Ending 8th in 8:01.72 was one other junior, Aaron Sahlman, Colin’s youthful brother, who’s now #4 on the all-time H.S. Indoor record. (The race was gained by Binghamton College’s Dan Schaeffer in 7:53.74).
Outcomes: https://outcomes.armorytrack.com/meets/11201
Publish-Race Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEqJNmZDRQ0
Evaluation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLwXP_O2a2E
Vital Birthdays
Born On This Day*
Doris Lemngole-Kenya 23 (2002) 2024 NCAA Champion—Steeplechase, X-Nation/Alabama freshman)
Different NCAA placings: 2023 X-Nation (2nd), 2024 Indoor (3000-3rd, 5000-4th)
Set a Collegiate Report of 14:52.57 for 5000-meters at Boston College on December 7, 2024
PBs: 4:11.90 (2024), 4:36.80i (2025), 8:50.70 (2024), 14:52.57 (2025), 9:15.24sc (2024)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doris_Lemngole
https://rolltide.com/sports activities/xctrack/roster/doris-lemngole/12827
https://www.tfrrs.org/athletes/8614328/Alabama/Doris_Lemngole
Jenn Suhr 43 (1982) 2012 Olympic gold medalist—Pole Vault; 2008 Olympic silver medalist;
Struck by a virus on the 2016 Olympics, she completed 7th in Rio; didn’t make the ultimate on the 2017 World
Championships; 7th on the 2019 Worlds in Doha
2016 World Indoor Champion (2nd-2008); silver medalist-2013 World Outside Championships;
39 on the time, she got here shut to creating her 4th Olympic group in 2021—completed 5th on the U.S. Trials, clearing
15-1 (4.60), the identical peak as 3rd-placer Sandi Morris
World Indoor Report holder: 16-5 ½ (5.02/2013); Set the next American Indoor Report of
16-6 (5.03) in 2016, however the mark wasn’t ratified as a World Report as a result of the obligatory drug-
testing wasn’t finished inside the strict IAAF timeframe!
Set an out of doors private better of 16-2 (4.93) in 2018;
17-time U.S. Champion (seven indoors, ten open air)
World Rankngs:’06 (6), ’07 (8), ’08 (2), ’09 (8), ’11 (1), ’12 (1), ’13 (3), ’14 (3), ’15 (4), ’16 (3), ’18 (4)
(#1-American 9 occasions)
Was coached by her husband–Rick Suhr…couple had been married in January, 2010
First tried the occasion in 2002, whereas she was nonetheless in highschool. Coach instructed she strive it and he or she
“jumped” 9-feet. Gained the NY State Pentathlon title throughout her senior yr at Fredonia H.S. DIdn’t begin
coaching significantly for the Pole Vault till she was 22
Went to Roberts Wesleyan, then switched to the College of Buffalo to focus on observe. Switched
again to Roberts, the place she graduated as the varsity’s all-time main basketball scorer(a report since
damaged).
Introduced her retirement in June, 2022
At present teaching at her alma mater-Roberts Wesleyan—husband coached RW vaulter Brynn King, a switch from
Duke who competed within the qualifying spherical on the 2024 Olympics.
From her Fb web page:
“It’s official. The phrases will come to me quickly however my coronary heart and soul are prepared for the following part of my life. Pole
vault unlocked greater than I may have wished for and let me expertise greater than I may have dreamed of. I
began pole vaulting as a senior in faculty, unaware of the place this life would lead and supply for me. I’ll perpetually
be grateful. I say good bye, not with a heavy coronary heart, however with an enthusiasm I haven’t felt in a while. Thanks
in your infinite help and uplifting feedback. This small city woman is prepared for simply that, some small city dwelling.”
Rankings: http://trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/rankings
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenn_Suhr
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/114797
Trying again at her profession(2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cwaAyfNl0s
Astrid Kumbernuss-Germany 55 (1970) 1996 Olympic gold medalist—Shot Put (2000-bronze, 2004-Qual.)
3-time World Champion (1995, 1997, 1999); DT:218-6 (66.60/1988)
PB: 69-7 ½ (21.22/1997)
Ranked #1 on this planet 4 occasions (’95,’96,’97,’99)…made the top-10 a complete of 14 occasions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrid_Kumbernuss
https://trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/rankings
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/70041
Jack Yerman 86 (1939) 1960 Olympic gold medalist—4×400…group set a World Report of three:02.37
Jack Yerman-46.3, Earl Younger-45.5, Glenn Davis-45.3, Otis Davis-45.3
Gained the 400 on the 1960 U.S. Olympic Trials
All-American at Cal-Berkeley: NCAA-1958 (3rd), 1960 (6th)
“Your Time Will Come”– https://www.amazon.com/Your-Time-Will-Come-Unbelievable/dp/0557197651
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Yerman
https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/79222
https://www.chicoer.com/2022/02/22/the-victory-lap-jack-yermans-incredible-journey-the-biblio-file/
Gaston Roelants—Belgium 88 (1937) 4-time Olympian; 1964 gold medalist—steeplechase;
1960-4th/steeple, 1968-7th/steeple, 11th/marathon; 1972-DNF/marathon;
Set two World Information within the steeplechase: 8:29.6 (1963), 8:26.4 (1965)…additionally set World Information within the 20km
and the 1-hour run
PBs-8:26.4 (1965), 2:16:30 (1974)
http://www.racingpast.ca/john_contents.php?id=230
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston_Roelants
Olympic Stats: https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/65277
