Gophers’ Gordien Golden With The Disc

Did Minnesota have a shot at the team title in the 1948 NCAA Outdoor Championships?

The hosts were only fourth in the Big Ten Championships, but after first-day qualifying a title looked possible after advancing six to the finals. Two of those spots were courtesy of Fortune Gordien, the Gophers’ high-point man from 1947 when Minnesota finished third as a team.

The first final for Gordien – pronounced “GORE-dean” – was the shot put, and a 52-7¼ (16.03m) effort moved him up from fourth in qualifying to a career-best second place in the event, worth eight points in team scoring.

That left only the discus for Gordien, who had won the last two NCAA titles in the event. What figured to be an easy 10 points became a nail-biting 10 points as Gordien won by just three inches at 164-6 (50.14m). Individually, Gordien made history as the event’s first four-time scorer – his third-straight title was preceded by a runner-up finish in 1943 before spending two years in the Navy.

Still, team points-wise, Minnesota needed more to win. The Gophers were at 36, while Southern California was sitting at 35½. As the meet wound down to a close each squad had only one opportunity for points, and both were in events rarely contested in those days – the 400-meter hurdles and the triple jump.

The Trojans moved up to 41½ after the last track event. Meanwhile, Minnesota had Lloyd LaMois in a very competitive triple jump. LaMois – competing in the then-named hop, skip and jump for the second time in his life – came through as a hero, winning at 45-10 (13.97m) to put the Gophers at 46 points and claim the school’s first – and still only – NCAA track & field team title.