Simpson Sprints To All-Time Mark In 1929

George Simpson of Ohio State was ahead of his time.

In 1929, Simpson used starting blocks – then a recent innovation – in the final of the 100 yards at the NCAA Track & Field Championships. To wit, the starting blocks hadn’t be around all that long, as the invention was credited to Australian Charlie Booth and his father earlier that year.

Simpson, then a junior for the Buckeyes, scorched the cinder in 9.4 seconds to not only win one of his three career NCAA titles, but set an apparent world record in the process. And while the NCAA allowed the use of starting blocks, the world and U.S. governing bodies did not at the time. Therefore, his 9.4 was never ratified as a world record (It was eventually recognized as the American record 15 years later in 1944).

The final field of the 100 yards was loaded, featuring four men who had equaled the existing world record of 9.5. The others, in order of finish: defending champ Claude Bracey of Rice, Eddie Tolan of Michigan and Cy Leland of TCU. Tolan and Simpson, in fact, equaled the 9.5 WR in prelims.

Simpson was a double winner in 1929, adding a 220-yard victory to help lead Ohio State to its first (and still only) team title at this meet. The Buckeyes won the meet with just four athletes – the smallest winning team until USC (1943) and Arkansas (1996) would match them. Amazingly, Ohio State could have won with just three athletes as the trio of Simpson (20 points), hurdler Richard Rockaway (18) and discus thrower Pete Rasmus (10) accounted for 48 of the Buckeyes’ 50 points (Runner-up Washington had 42).