Soldiers Field, Cambridge, MA, May 28–29, 1926
At the IC4A (Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America) championships, the fiercest battle for victory was fought in the 440 yards. On the Soldiers Field track, the race was run similarly to modern indoor 400-meter races: soon after the starting shot cracked, 16 runners rushed towards the inside lane so that the ground thundered.
Syracuse University's sturdy African-American, Cecil Cooke, battled to victory with a final surge in a time of 48.8, which tied for fourth place in the season's world rankings. James Burgess, who had stormed through a fierce anchor leg in the 4x440 relay at Penn the previous year, lost by only a tenth of a second, and Oliver Proudlock by two tenths. The quality of the race is indicated by the fact that Howard Paulsen, who held the world-leading time before the competition, finished fourth in 49.0 seconds, a time that ranked 12th in the world rankings. His placing might have improved if he hadn't been boxed in at the back early in the race.
Leighton Dye, who had shown excellent form early in the season, took the victory in the 120 yards hurdles. His winning time of 14.7 seconds was the seventh-fastest in the world that season. The windy and somewhat cool weather might have shaved a tenth, perhaps even two, off the time.
Robert King of Stanford University, who had already won the high jump at the Pacific Coast Conference, continued his strong performances. The IC4A title came with 1.975 (6-5¾), the season's fourth-best result. (Note: Contemporary reports often list the winning height as 6-4 aka 1.93)
Two Olympic pole vault champions faced off in this event demanding skill, strength, and speed. Future Amsterdam (1928) winner Sabin Carr of Yale vaulted 4.01 (13-2) and defeated Lee Barnes, who had won Olympic gold in Paris 1924, whose attempts were hampered by the windy conditions.
World record holder Bud Houser still managed to participate in the collegiate championships before graduating as a dentist in the summer of 1926. As he had at the Paris Olympics, he won the shot put (15.23, 50-0, the season's sixth-longest throw in the world) and the discus (46.11, 151-3).
Cornell University's Henry Russell followed Houser's example and sped to victory in the 100 and 220 yards. Finishing third in the 220 yards was Bayes Norton, who later in life distinguished himself as an advisor to the Manhattan Project.
The University of Southern California (USC) from Los Angeles won the team competition at the 50th IC4A Championships, well ahead of Stanford University. The victory was USC's second consecutive win.
Helsingin Sanomat, June 17, 1926 (report by Harvard coach Jaakko Mikkola, in Finnish)