Auburn’s Glance Made Them Look Twice

“Fast” and “young” came together in a big way at the 1976 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

Auburn freshman Harvey Glance was a sensation even before entering the meet, having twice tied the hand-timed world record of 9.9 in the 100 meters during the spring.

The 19-year-old was at his best in the NCAA 100 final, thanks to “a flawless start and fine early acceleration,” reported Bob Hersh for Track & Field News, who also noted that Glance showed second-half strength to pull away from Tennessee’s Reggie Jones, the last frosh to win the 100 in 1974.

Glance crossed the finish line in 10.16, the fastest time recorded by a collegian as automatic timing was just becoming common. His winning margin of 0.17 seconds has been bettered only twice in the event.

The Tiger came back a day later to win the 200, again over another former NCAA champ in James Gilkes of Southern California (Gilkes won the 1974 NCAA while at Fisk). This time the photo-finish equipment came in double handy, providing accurate times and helping to sort the order as both were timed in 20.74.

Glance’s sprint double was the first by a freshman in the meet since Buddy Young of Illinois in 1944, and when combined with his NCAA Indoor 60-yard win in March, made him the first athlete to sweep all three sprints in the same year.

The next month the native of Phenix City, Alabama (on its border with Georgia), earned a gold medal leading off the U.S. 4×100 team at the Montreal Olympics. Glance won the NCAA 100 again in 1977 and added third-place finishes in 1978 and 1979 to become the first man in meet history to score four straight years in the event.

As a post-collegian Glance won another major gold medal, running the third leg on the U.S. 4×100 team at the 1987 World Championships. He later served as head coach for his alma mater (1991-1996) as well as archrival Alabama (1997-2011).