IC4A

The IC4A organization's university championships were traditionally contested at the end of May at Harvard University's track in Cambridge. The weather god threw rainy and rather chilly natural conditions over Greater Boston, so the track was a mud bath, especially on the final day of the competition. "The runners were so muddy that there was hardly a clean spot except under their tongues," quipped Harvard University coach Jaakko Mikkola in a story he submitted to a Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.

Amsterdam's 400-meter Olympic champion Ray Barbuti won both the 220 and 440-yard championships. In the one-lap race, it was significant that the Syracuse man defeated world record holder Emerson Spencer, who had bungled the Olympic trials and thus missed out on the individual race in Amsterdam. One can endlessly speculate whether Spencer could have beaten the Brooklyn lad in the five-ring games.

Other Amsterdam achievers were seen on the medal podiums in Cambridge. 800-meter Olympic bronze medalist Phil Edwards effortlessly secured the top spot in the two-lap race, Amsterdam winner Robert King in a nearly life-threatening height, and Sabin Carr in the pole vault. World record holder Lee Barnes jumped behind Carr to take second place in Cambridge.

In the long jump, Al Bates soared from the board to a world-class result of 7.57m (24-10). His success continued in the U.S. Olympic trials, where he blasted into second place and thus secured a spot on the ocean liner chugging to the Amsterdam Olympics.

Shot Put Got a Ride

In the running events, the IC4A's performance level was quite modest due to the muddy track, but the throwers were in good form. In the shot put, results were achieved that ranked among the top six in the world. Eric Krenz set a university record of 15.26m (50-1), and Harlow Rothert only one centimeter less. Krenz capped off a very successful weekend by also grabbing the discus victory with a result of 47.22m(154-11), knocking on the door of the world's top six.

Norwood Wright spun the hammer to 51.08 meters (167-7). Luck turned its back on him at the U.S. Olympic trials, where the Cornell University guy fell out of the final and lost his place on the Amsterdam team. That was no longer remembered 69 years later, when Wright was inducted into his university's track and field Hall of Fame.

The team competition was overwhelmingly won by Stanford University, for whom the victory was their second consecutive.