Stanford’s Rothert Starred In The Shot Put

Led by Harlow Rothert, Stanford dominated the shot put at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships from 1928 to 1930 like never seen before – or since.

Rothert won all three years, becoming the event’s first two-time winner in 1929 and three-time winner in 1930.

Each time, Rothert was followed by teammate Eric Krenz, forming a 1-2 combo that remains the event’s most successful in meet history. No other program has had even two 1-2 finishes in the shot, let alone three.

But Rothert wasn’t always the top shot putter on his own team.

Krenz came into the 1928 NCAA meet with the best mark at 50-1 (15.26m) – just a half-inch ahead of Rothert, which made Rothert’s NCAA win by just over 16 inches at 49-10¾ (15.20m) surprising. Krenz got a measure of revenge, winning the discus with a meet record of 149-2 (45.46m) while Rothert didn’t score.

The two sophomores went on to make that summer’s Olympic final in Amsterdam, Krenz finishing fourth ahead of Rothert’s seventh.

The improvements for both in 1929 and 1930 found Rothert becoming more dominant in the shot put, setting ensuing NCAA meet records of 50-3 (15.31m) and 51-1¾ (15.59m) and becoming the first collegian over 52-feet at 52-0¼ (15.85m).

Krenz also kept improving, but became even better in the discus, setting world records in 1929 and 1930, ultimately to 167-5 3/8 (51.03m).

Rothert’s career at Stanford is unmatched, at least as a multi-sport athlete. He remains the school’s only All-American in three sports (football and basketball were the others). He added an Olympic silver medal in the 1932 shot put before becoming a successful lawyer.

Unfortunately, Krenz didn’t reach another Olympics – he died in 1931 at age 25, drowning while swimming in Lake Tahoe.