NCAA

The first NCAA Championships in history were held in mid-June in 40C/104F degree heat on Stagg Field, owned by the University of Chicago. The best result of the meet was achieved by Canadian Olympic champion Earl Thomson of Dartmouth, who ran the 120-yard (109.73m) hurdles in 14.4 seconds despite a poor start and having to adjust his stride at the first hurdle. The result tied the man's year-old world record, although it was not officially recorded.

One lap was quite fast. Frank Shea from the University of Pittsburgh ran 440 yards in 49.0 seconds, which corresponds to 48.7 seconds for the metric distance. This earned him a tied sixth place in the season’s world rankings. Thus, Shea found some consolation from the Antwerp Olympics, where he narrowly missed out on medals in both the 400 meters and the long relay, finishing fourth. Shea's career ended in 1922 when he took a paid position as a coach at the University of Pittsburgh.

The two-mile race was a tough one. Penn State's John Romig, forthcoming fourth at Paris Olympics, led the entire way. Russell Wharton began to press him about 200 meters from the finish, but Romig hit the gas and managed to keep the Illinois fellow behind him. Wharton, however, ran himself into the ground so completely that he lay completely exhausted on the field for seven minutes after the race.

Pope Wins Two

Gus Pope became the only double winner of the games. The Washington powerhouse won both the shot put and discus events. With his winning discus throw of 43.34 (142-2), Pope fell about three meters short of the world record, which he had set a few weeks earlier.

A Finnish sports magazine provided a report from its correspondent on the Chicago games. Such treats are not often available these days. However, nowadays one can watch university competitions live online and as replays on YouTube. Cultural differences were evident in the report. The reserved Finnish reporter was irritated by the American audience’s habit of roaring and jumping to their feet whenever something happened or seemed to be happening on the track. It would have been better to sit still.

The first NCAA championship was won by the University of Illinois.

Results

• Almost complete (Track And Field News)

• 1-5 (Wikipedia)

Newspaper and Online Stories

• Lewiston Evening Journal, June 16, 1921

• AP, June 19, 1921

• Suomen Urheilulehti, July 14, 1921 (in Finnish) 

• Dartmouth Alumni Magazine August 1921

• NCAA, June 17, 2006

• NCAA Historical Statistics 2012 (NCAA)

• College Sports Journal 7.6.2021

• US Track & Field And Cross-Country Coaches Association