IC4A

The IC4A championships in 1923 were held in Philadelphia. About ten thousand spectators watched the competitions from the stands, and the weather, with its refreshing breezes, was favorable.

The chain ball flew to impressive distances at Franklin Field.  Future Olympic champion Fred Tootell of Bowdoin threw the hammer in the qualifying round with a world-leading result of 55.33m (181-6). He was also strongest in the final. 

Another top performance of 1923 was created in the 440 yards, when 200-meter Olympic champion Allen Woodring (Syracuse) ran 48.2, which corresponds to a time of 47.9 in the metric distance. The mark of Woodring was equaled in Ann Arbor a few days later by Paul Sweet. 

The 400-meter lap was hotly contested in Philadelphia, as the runner-up, J. Coard Taylor of Princeton, also clocked a time of 48.4 seconds (48.1), which was good for third place in the world rankings. As the final stretch began, the man was 15 meters behind Woodring. A furious chase ensued but started just a bit too late, as Woodring reached the tape 1-2 meters ahead.

Taylor is remembered for the 400 meters at the Paris Olympics, where he injured his leg before the finish line but crawled across with incredible determination. 

Leroy Brown of Dartmouth repeated his high jump victory from the previous year with a leap of 1.92 (6-4). William Comins from Yale jumped to second place in the world rankings with a result of 7.41 (24-4). Later, at the Paris Olympics, Brown won silver, but Comins performed poorly and did not record a mark. 

Javelin Throw Nears Scandinavian Marks

Yale's Cleveland Storrs threw the javelin 60.68 meters (198-12), nearly reaching Scandinavian marks, although he did not earn style points from the Finnish Helsingin Sanomat reporter: 

"All his throws were power throws, he seemed to have little knowledge of technique."

The University of California, whose representatives had traveled across the continent from Berkeley to Philadelphia, won the team competition. Head coach Walter Christie was able to lift the winner's trophy for the third consecutive time. The decisive victories once again came in the throwing events. William Neufeld, of Ukrainian-German descent, scored 11 points in the throwing events for his alma mater, Berkeley.