Oregon’s Burleson Races To Meet’s First Sub-4 Mile

Celebrating A Century of NCAA Track & Field Championships

Oregon’s Burleson Races To Meet’s First Sub-4 Mile

June 16, 1962

Eight years after Roger Bannister proved it to be possible, period, Dyrol Burleson became the first collegian to clock a sub-4 minute mile at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Burleson, who competed for Oregon, won the NCAA mile title in 3:59.8 at Hayward Field on this day back in 1962. That was Burleson’s third consecutive 1500/mile title with a third consecutive meet record, a combined feat that hasn’t been matched in 58 years (Burleson is also one of just four men to win three straight crowns).

It was a special day for Burleson and the Men of Oregon in other ways, too. The Ducks won their first national track & field championship, while Hayward Field hosted its first of a record 16 NCAA outdoor meets. The site was also just 20 miles north of Burleson’s hometown of Cottage Grove, Oregon, and he entered as the American record holder in the event (3:57.6).

Though it would end up as the meet’s first sub-4 race it didn’t start like it, as Burly (as he was known) went to the lead and slowed the pace. He used a last lap 55.2 to win, with most of his powerful kick coming on the homestretch to overtake Bill Cornell of Southern Illinois, 3:59.8 to 4:00.5.

“No, I wasn’t surprised when (Bill) Cornell challenged me on the backstretch of the last lap,” Burleson was quoted in Track & Field News. “The pace for three laps was slow so there was bound to be fellows with something left. I just waited for someone to move and moved with him. It happened to be Cornell.”

posted: June 16, 2020
1921-2021
The NCAA's First Championships

The NCAA and collegiate track & field will mark a momentous milestone in the spring of 2021 -- the 100th anniversary of the NCAA Championships and with that, the NCAA Track & Field Championships. In June 1921, the University of Chicago hosted the first track & field championships in NCAA history.

This point can’t be emphasized enough: Not only was the event the first for NCAA track & field, but the first championships for any sport under the sponsorship of the NCAA.

To celebrate, over each of the next 365 days, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) will celebrate moments, student-athletes, and coaches that have made a century’s worth of championships special. From humble beginnings to important historical milestones to the modern-day, collegiate track & field has evolved with the American society.

The 2021 edition of the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships begin with preliminary round action on May 27-29 in Jacksonville, Fla., and College Station, Texas. The championships final site and culmination of the celebration is slated for June 9-12, 2021 at the newly rebuilt Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

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Dick Fosbury, creator of the “Fosbury Flop,” won back-to-back high jump titles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 1968 and 1969 with meet records in both years.

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