Walt Murphy’s News and Results Service ([email protected])
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This Day in Track & Field—April 12
1941—Cornelius “Dutch” Warmerdam jumped 15-2 5/8 (4.64) at Stanford to better his own World Record in the Pole Vault (15-1 1/8 [4.60]), but the mark wasn’t ratified as a WR since the IAAF hadn’t received the necessary paperwork before they had already OK’d his subsequent clearance of 15-5 ¼ (4.72) in June.
1958–Glenn Davis, the 1956 Olympic Champion in the 400-meter hurdles, was the star of the show at the Quantico Relays in Virginia. On Friday (4-11), he won the yards version of his specialty (51.8) and the Long Jump (22-1 [6.73]), then came back on Saturday to win the 120-yard hurdles (14.3) and anchor Ohio State to wins in the Shuttle Hurdles and Mile relays. Hall-of-Famer Davis went on to win his 2nd Olympic hurdles title in 1960.
1958—San Jose State’s Ray Norton ran 9.3 for 100-yards at the Armed Forces Day meet on his home track to equal the World Record that was shared by 7 others, including Mel Patton, Dave Sime, and Bobby Morrow.
1974—Francie Larrieu-Smith ran 4:37.88 for the Mile at the Texas Relays, breaking her own American Record of 4:38.7.
1976—Kathy McMillan (Hoke County,NC) long-jumped 21-7 ½ (6.59) in Raeford,NC. That mark was not only a National H.S. Record, it also matched Martha Watson’s American Record. She would improve the AR three times that season, finishing with a best of 22-3 (6.78), which was her winning mark at the U.S. Championships! That final mark lasted for 39 years as the High School Record, with Kate Hall (Lake Region,ME) jumping 22-5 (6.83) in 2015! McMillan still has 4 of the all-time top-10 marks by a prep (indoors/outdoors). Later in the year, McMillan went on to win the silver medal at the Montreal Olympics.
She was a member of the inaugural class that was inducted into the National H.S. T&F Hall of Fame in 2018
H.S. Hall of Fame Acceptance Speech
1980— The U.S. Olympic Committee’s House of Delegates, in the face of intense pressure from the Federal government, voted in agreement with President Jimmy Carter’s demand for a U.S. boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow (in protest of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan). Mike Moran, the chief spokesman for the USOC at the time, gives an inside look at that fateful decision and its aftermath in this edition of Rich Perelman’s The Sports Examiner.
(WM-While most of the athletes who had qualified for the Olympics in their respective sports disagreed with the decision, there were some who supported it)
1986—Joe Dial jumped 19-2 ¾ (5./86) in Norman, Oklahoma, to set the 3rd of his 8 American Records in the Pole Vault.
Dial, the first high school vaulter to clear 18-feet (1981), was considered too short for the event (he grew to 5’-9”/1.75!). His son Tommy cleared 17-1 ¾ (5.22+) in 2015
2014—Georgia freshman Kendell Williams set an American Junior Record of 6018 points in the Heptathlon at the Spec Towns Inv. in Athens, GA.
Williams, who had won the Pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor Championships a month earlier, went on to become a 4-time champion in the event (’14-’17) and a 3-time NCAA champion in the Heptathlon (’14, ’16, ’17).
She has represented the U.S. at the 2014 World Junior Championships (1st), the 2016 (6th), 2018 (9th), and 2022 (Bronze) World Indoor Championships, the 2016 (17th) and 2021 (5th) Olympics, and the 2017 (12th), 2019 (5th), and 2022 (DNF) World Outdoor Championships.
PB:6683 (2021)
2014—Senior Raven Saunders (Burke,SC), who switched from the “glide” to the “spin” technique after her junior year, threw the shot 56-8 ¼ (17.27+) at the Taco Bell Classic in Charleston,SC, to smash the National H.S. Record of 54-10 ¾ (16.73), set by future Olympic Champion Michelle Carter in 2003. (Saunders’ mark was broken by Alyssa Wilson in 2017).
Saunders, who would later win the silver medal at the 2021 Olympics, went on to win 4 NCAA titles (Indoors-’15,’17, Outdoors-’15,’16) before ending her collegiate career at Ole Miss in 2018 for health reasons (she was on the brink of suicide—see link). (She won her 2015 NCAA titles at Southern Illinois before transferring to Ole Miss).
She learned the spin technique by watching videos of the legendary Brian Oldfield!
2025-Taking advantage of the ever-present strong winds in Ramona, Oklahoma, Valarie Allman (now Sion), added almost 7 feet to her American Record in the Discus (234-5) with her winning throw of 241-2 (73.25). Lagi Tausaga, who upset Allman to win at the 2023 World Championships, threw a personal best of 232-0 (70.72) to move to #2 on the
All-Time U.S. list.
2025-Senior Jane Hedengren (Timpview,UT) won the Girls 2-mile at the Arcadia (CA) Inv. in 9:34.12, breaking the “absolute U.S. High School Record of 9:38.68 that was set by Mary Cain (Bronxville,NY) in 2013. Hedengren went for the record from the gun, quickly moving to the front of the huge field, which included more than 30 runners! She would improve the record to an amazing 9:17.75 at the Brooks PR meet in June!
Born On This Day*
Sam Ruthe-New Zealand 17 (2009) Teen sensation has already produced a remarkable string of performances in 2026!
1-03 1000-2:17.82 Tauranga World Youth Record
1-17 800-1:45.86 Hastings
1-24 Mile-3:53.83 Wanganui
3-07 1500-3:41.43 Auckland National Championships
U.S. Indoor Tour
1-31 Mile-3:48.88 Boston #13 All-Time…World Youth Record…broke the New Zealand of 3:49.08 that was
set by the legendary John Walker in 1982
2-14 Mile-3:52.46 Winston-Salem
2-22 3000-7:43.16 Boston
Became the youngest runner to break 4-minutes for the mile when he ran 3:58.35 in Auckland in 2025 when he
was still only 15 years old.
Trains with fellow Kiwi Sam Tanner, who has a mile best of 3:49.51
3:48.88 (race starts at 4:28 mark):
Nadia Battocletti—Italy 26 (2000) 2026 World Indoor Champion-3000m
2024 Olympic silver medalist—10,000m; 4th in the 5000; 2021-5000 (7th)
Bronze medalist in the 5000m at the 2025 World Championships, silver medalist in the 10,000m
5-time European champion-2024: 5000, 10,000, X-Country; 2025-10,000, X-Country
2021 European Under-23 Champion: 5000
Coached by her father Giuliano, who was one of Italy’s best distance runners during his own career
PBs: 2:10.53 (2018), 3:58.15 (2025), 8:26.27 (2025NR), 8:26.44i (2026NR), 9:32.99/2m (2022NR),
14:23.15 (2025NR), 30:38.23 (2025NR)
Ted Ginn 41 (1985) 2-time National Scholastic Champion—110h (2003,2004)
Ran the 2nd leg on the Glenville(OH) team that won the High School 4×100 at the 2004 Penn Relays
Concentrated on football at Ohio State. After a shaky start, he went on to have a successful 14-year career in the
NFL
Ginn vs Bolt?
(The race Ginn refers to in the above article could be a heat of the High School 4×100 at the 2003 Penn
Relays, when Usain Bolt ran for William Knibb H.S.)
Comeback:
Saints:
Wiki Bio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Ginn_Jr.
Luke Kibet-Kenya 43 (1983) 2007 World Champion-Marathon
DNF at the 2008 Olympics
Completed 44 marathons from 2004-2024!
PBs: 14:08.13 (2004), 28:15.0h (2007), 8:25.4sc (2004), 1:00:00 (2004), 2:08:52 (2005)
(not to be confused with Luke Kibet Cheruiyot)
Yuriy Borzakovskiy—Russia 45 (1981) 2004 Olympic gold medalist—800m (5th w/100m to go);
2001 World Indoor Champion
4-time medalist—World Championships—silver in ’03, ’05; bronze-’07,’11.
Russian record holder–1:42.57 (2001)
Kevin Robinzine 60 (1966) 1988 Olympic gold medalist—4×400…team equaled World Record of 2:56.16, set by a U.S.
team at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
Danny Everett (43.8), Steve Lewis (43.7), Kevin Robinzine (44.8), Butch Reynolds (43.9)
1986 NCAA Champion—4×400 (SMU/44.5 anchor); 3-time NCAA Indoor Champion—4×400
NCAA-400 (1986-3rd, 1987-4th/2nd Indoors); PB: 44.61 (1988)
Klaus Tafelmeier—Germany 68 (1958) Set the first ratified World Record with the “new” javelin in 1986 (281-3/85.74)
1986 European Champion
8th at the 1983 World Championships (old model)
4th at the 1988 Olympics
PB: 284-3 (86.64/1987/New); 300-0 (91.44/1983/old)
Deceased
John Landy—Australia 91 (1930-February 24, 2022) 1956 Olympic bronze medalist—1500m
Former World Record holder—1500m/3:41.8, Mile/3:58.0(1954)– 2nd man to break 4-minutes
for the mile
2nd to Roger Bannister in the Miracle Mile—1954
Daniel Ahearn 53 (1888-Dec.20, 1942) 1920 U.S. Olympian—Triple Jump (6th)
Native of Ireland was an 8-time U.S. Champion (1910-1911, 1913-1918)…also a 3-time U.S. Indoor Champion (1909-1910,
1916)
Set the 1st IAAF-ratified World Record of 50-11 (15.52) in 1911
Older brother Tim Ahearne won the Triple Jump at the 1908 Olympics
Gary Schwartz 78 (1944-April 3, 2023) was an assistant coach at Ohio University, Massachusetts, Army, and Penn State
before becoming Penn State’s head women’s cross country and track coach in 1979, a position he held for five
years. He then was the coach at Tennessee for four years (1984-88) and Kansas for 12 (1988-2000).
All-American at Kansas-Discus (1964 NCAA-7th); PB:190-7 (58.09/1967)
He was the first president of the United States Track Coaches Association (USTCA), the predecessor to the U.S. Track & Field
and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Retired after serving as coordinator of events for Arkansas athletics.