Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, KS, April 19, 1930
The baton flew quickly around the track at the 8th annual Kansas Relays in Lawrence. The University of Illinois quartet clocked a world-leading time of 41.0 in the 4x100-yard relay, though it was not ratified as a world record.
The 100-yard dash saw a fierce duel between the Texas lads, Cy Leland and Claude Bracey. Leland won, and Bracey finished second. Future Olympic champion Eddie Tolan added some spice to the mix, but this time he had to watch the leading duo's heels from behind. Due to excessive tailwind, the times were not recorded in the official statistics. Leland also used starting blocks, which were forbidden at the time, making the unofficial nature of the time even more certain.
Freshman Lee Sentman of the University of Illinois crushed future Olympic champion George Saling in the 120-yard hurdles, though the difference was only an inch or two.
The jumping events at Kansas were contested at great heights. The relatively unknown Ted Shaw from Wisconsin cleared 1.986 (6-6¼) in the high jump, the fourth-best height of the year. This remained the best mark of his short career. Meanwhile, Northwestern University's Tom Warne used an aid—the pole—to clear 4.21 (13-9¾), also the fourth-highest mark of the season. Warne competed later that summer with the American team in europe, including the Eläintarha Grounds in Helsinki, Finland.
Native American Wilson Charles continued the honored tradition of Jim Thorpe and other Native American athletes in the decathlon. He scored a winning total of 7,547.420 points, placing him fifth in the 1930 world rankings, which were dominated by Akilles Järvinen and Paavo Yrjölä of Finland.
1–3 (Spalding’s NCAA Guide 1931)
Wilson Charles Profile (South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame)