NCAA

Wykoff Fastest in the 100 Yards Once More

Stagg Field, Chicago, IL, June 6–7, 1930

The Ninth Annual NCAA Track and Field Championships got off to a rousing start. In the opening event, the 120-yard high hurdles, Steve Anderson of the University of Washington bested the season's sensation, Lee Sentman of the University of Illinois. His winning time clocked in at 14.4 seconds—the very same figures Olympic champion Earl Thomson had put on the board back in 1920. Nevertheless, Anderson's mark was still not officially ratified as a world record.

Sentman, who had kept pressure on Anderson until the final two barriers but unfortunately collided with the timber, was timed at estimated 14.6. Future Olympic champion George Saling, however, tumbled over every single hurdle at the start of the race and, apparently quite amused, threw in the towel before the halfway mark.

Reginald “Pete” Bowen of Pittsburgh, who had toured Europe in the summer of 1929, motored to victory in the 440 with 47.7. At the moment of execution, this was the world’s leading performance for the year. Later that summer, Australia’s George Golding managed to pare a tenth of a second off that time.

Wykoff Wipes Out Simpson

The season’s three top sprinters clashed in the NCAA 100-yard final. However, the quickest start belonged to 20-year-old Emmett Toppino of Loyola University. He was overhauled at the halfway mark by the fresh world-record holder and peer, Frank Wykoff. George Simpson, who exploded out of the blocks last (in eighth place), sped up the closing straightaway with fire in his heels but couldn't quite nail Wykoff, who sizzled across the line in 9.4. This result, however, was not officially accepted as having equaled Wykoff’s own world record. Future Olympic champion Eddie Tolan eased up at the finish line, allowing the fast-starting Toppino to swoop past for second place.

Simpson was steaming with anger after the race, claiming the starter had held the athletes in the "set" position for far too long. However, as a fair competitor, he conceded that Wykoff was simply the better man in this contest, and that was that.

Wykoff declined to run the 220 yards, a distance he reportedly abhorred, clearing the way for Simpson to sprint to victory in a relatively quick time of 20.7  (straight track). This placed the Ohio State athlete's mark third on the all-time list.

In the Mile run, Joseph Sivak of Butler unleashed a formidable kick down the final stretch to seize the victory. Sixth place went to Ralph Hill, the athlete who would famously wrangle for the lead with Finland’s Lauri Lehtinen in the 5000 Olympic final at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum two years later.

Northwestern’s Tom Warne solidified his standing as the world's best pole vaulter in the year of grace 1930. The crossbar remained in place at a height of 4.21 (13-9¾) during the NCAA competition.

Chastised Gordon is Best in the Long Jump

The long jump pitted future Olympic champion Ed Gordon of the University of Iowa against the defending five-ring winner, the quick-footed jumping prodigy Ed Hamm of Georgia. Gordon sprang from the board to a personal best and the third-longest leap of the season, 7.62 (25-0), winning the whole shebang. Hamm settled for second place with 7.48 (24-6½). The victory must have tasted sweet for Gordon. He had been in a dispute with his team's coach and was thus forced to travel to the meet at his own expense. His points were not counted toward the University of Iowa's total.

Levi Casey, who had snatched the silver medal away at Amsterdam 1928, proceeded to hop, step, and jump his way to the NCAA championship. His winning mark of 15.18 (49-9¾) ranked as the third-longest in the world for the season, a list dominated by Willem Peters of the Netherlands.

The 6-foot-6 (1.98m) behemoth Paul Jessup, a future world-record holder from the University of Washington, perhaps surprisingly crushed the reigning world-record holder, Eric Krenz, in the discus. Jessup flung the saucer a seventh-best arc of the season at 49.00 (160-9), while Krenz also managed a respectable 48.32 (158-6).

The University of Southern California claimed the team competition victory for the second time in the history of the NCAA Championships. The winning trophy had previously been ferried back to the USC office in 1926.

Results

• Near-Complete (Track And Field News)

• 1st–6th  (USC)

Newspaper Stories

• AP, June 7, 1930

• AP, June 8, 1930

• AP, June 8, 1930