IC4A

A Real Humdinger of a Quarter-Mile – Williams Ties the World Mark

Franklin Field, Philadelphia, PA | May 29–30, 1931

Eastman Takes the Bitter with the Sweet

The cream of the crop among the quarter-milers locked horns once more at the IC4A collegiate championships, paying no mind to the sweltering, dead-calm air as the mercury hit 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit) in the shade. This time around, it was USC’s own Victor Williams who put the squeeze on Stanford’s Ben Eastman. Up in Philly, the quarter-mile kicked off with the first 220 yards straightaway. Eastman shot to the front on the bend, the whole gang bunching up toward the inside rail. Williams uncorked a fierce drive from fourth place, reeled Eastman in, and blew right past him down the homestretch some 70 yards from the tape. Talk about pouring on the coal in your own backyard! The sturdy, bull-necked Williams stopped the ticker at 47.4, tying the 440-yard world record that Ted Meredith had first slapped on the board a full 15 years back.

Eastman crossed the stripe in 47.7—the fourth-fastest clocking in the world for the season. USC’s Art Woessner was carded at 47.8 (3rd in the race, 5th in the world), Pennsylvania’s Horace Steel—who had been chewing up the wind all the way to 200 meters—at 47.9 (4th and 7th), Colgate’s Horace Whitney at 48.0 (5th and 9th), and Syracuse’s Ted Graham at 48.0 (6th and 9th). Philadelphians witnessed what was hands down the fastest 400-meter or 440-yard tilt of the season, and perhaps of all time. Of course, on a two-bend track, those figures would’ve been a couple of ticks slower.

With a couple of Stanford’s headliners laid up in dry dock, head coach Dink Templeton had to pull a fast one and work Eastman to the bone, even though he would’ve preferred to wrap his golden boy in cotton. But needs must when the devil drives—they couldn't give USC an inch. Eastman went out and collared the 880-yard crown as well, though he didn't dare bust his boiler out there. He laid back with the pack, worked his way up by degrees, and snatched the bacon down the stretch. His winning time of 1:54.4 was still his second-best ever and good for 18th in the global list.

A Scrappy Stretch Drive

The mile race came down to a ding-dong battle in the homestretch. Harvard’s 21-year-old banker’s son, Norwood Hallowell, uncorked a whale of a kick to leave Pennsylvania’s Carl Coan sucking wind. Up in the stands, Harvard track brass and former head coach of the Finnish Olympic squad Jaakko Mikkola was probably grinning fit to bust. Meanwhile, New York’s George Bullwinkle, who had been eating up the turf with long strides, paid dearly for a hare-brained pace: he tore through the opening circuit in 58 seconds flat before the piper came calling for his coin.

The century dash (100y) world-record holder, Frank Wykoff of USC, nipped future Olympic kingpin Eddie Tolan out of Michigan in his pet event. Both were clocked at 9.6 flat, with barely a hair—or about a foot—between them at the wire. Tolan bounced back the next day to corral the 220-yard title. Stanford’s 22-year-old Les Hables trailed by four-tenths of a second, while Wykoff steered clear of the event he can't abide.

In the high hurdles, Harvard’s 21-year-old Eugene Record scampered home the victor with a personal best of 14.6—the 11th-snappiest timber-topping act of the campaign. The day before, Record had copped the silver in the 220-yard low hurdles.

USC’s Richard Barber snatched top honors in the broad jump, kicking up a storm of sawdust 7.71 (25-3½) out from the take-off board. It was a personal high-water mark and the 12th-longest leap in track annals. Pennsylvania’s Lamoine Boyle didn't roll over easy on his home grounds, launching one out to 7.65 (25-1).

Heaving Heavy Iron

The discus was really singing. Season newcomer Robert Jones, standing 1.83 (6-0)  and tipping the scales at 89 kg (196 lb), slung the platter a winning, career-best 48.52 (159-2)—the 17th-heftiest heave ever recorded. The Stanford phenom spinned like a top in the ring.

The Yanks were finally getting the hang of slinging the spear. Relying on Finnish timber, University of California’s Kenneth Churchill kept sticking the javelin out around the 64- and 65-meter markers. His Sunday punch landed at a personal-best 67.34 (214-4), bagging him the blue ribbon. Even so, Finnish and Estonian aces Eino Penttilä, Gustav Sule, and Matti Järvinen cranked out 11 superior heaves worldwide during the 1931 circuit.

The Pole Vault Settles the Score

Los Angeles Olympic fourth-placer Bill Graber was sweating bullets in the final event to wrap up the meet, and it wasn't the weather. The Trojan flyer had already rattled the crossbar twice at 4.27 (14-0). He simply had to clear it, or Stanford would swipe the team trophy right out from under them in this 55th renewal of the IC4A shindig. Graber heaved his carcass over on his final try, locking up the team bacon for USC. When the dust settled, only world-record holder Lee Barnes (4.30) sat ahead of him in the all-time charts. Decathlon ace Bernard Berlinger soared to second place on his home track. The vaulting crown stayed firmly planted in Yankee territory, with a full seven lads clearing the 4.00 (13-1) mark.

Graber’s ice-water-in-his-veins leap tickled a lot more folks than just the Trojan rooters. One Philly scribe piped up and dubbed Graber’s stunt "the most colossal feat in the history of collegiate track."

Guided by head coach Dean Cromwell, the University of Southern California copped the team title for the fourth time. They still had a long row to hoe to catch the all-time leaderboard leader, though—Harvard had hauled the big cup home 13 times between 1880 and 1909.

The 1931 IC4A powwow also went down in the history books as the very first time they brought out the wind gauges.

Results

• Complete (IC4A)

Newspaper Stories

• AP, May 30, 1931

• AP, May 31, 1931

• Uusi Suomi, June 18, 1931 (Tahko Pihkala’s dispatch, in Finnish))

• Helsingin Sanomat, June 21, 1931 (Jaakko Mikkola’s dispatch, in Finnish)

Footage

• Film (220y & 100y)

Radio Broadcast

• Via the CBS network, 3:40 PM – 4:15 PM New York Time.