Schenley Oval, Pittsburgh, PA, May 21, 1921
In the strong American event, records were in jeopardy when Olympian and three-time U.S. champion in the 440-yard dash, Frank Shea, took to the track at his home field in Pittsburgh. He dashed to a world-leading time of 48.0 seconds at the Western Pennsylvania University Championships, which corresponds to a 47.7 for the metric distance. However, he didn’t quite reach his record, having previously clocked 47.6 seconds in the 440 yards back in 1918.
Positions 1-3 (Spalding’s Athletic Almanac)