Fuchs Went Back-To-Back In Shot Put

Celebrating A Century of NCAA Track & Field Championships

Fuchs Went Back-To-Back In Shot Put

Even on a bad day Jim Fuchs of Yale was hard to beat.

Fuchs was the world record holder in the shot put and riding a 12-month winning streak when he entered the 1950 NCAA Track & Field Championships.

But, after the trials, Fuchs found himself leading by only 1¾” (5cm) over Otis Chandler of Stanford, as both were superior to the NCAA meet record of 56-1½ (17.10m) Fuchs had set the year before.

The closeness of the competition caught many by surprise, despite the world-class caliber – Fuchs had set the WR of 58-5½ (17.81m) in April, while Chandler’s best of 57-4⅜ (17.48m) in May made him No. 3 on the all-time world (and collegiate) list.

After the trials, only Fuchs improved — albeit marginally to 56-11 (17.34m), another NCAA meet record. Chandler, though, finishing second at 56-5½ (17.20m), gave Fuchs the closest scare he would receive in a winning streak that would eventually stretch post-collegiately into 1951 at 88 meets – then the longest of any event in history.

Fuchs had become an innovator in the shot put, creating a technique he called the “Sideways Glide” to compensate for an injury. Parry O’Brien not only ended Fuchs’s win streak but would eventually set an even longer one of 116 meets using a modification called the “O’Brien Glide.”

posted: December 18, 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.

Memorable Moments
Hornbostel Left Mark As A Hoosier

Chuck Hornbostel of Indiana won three consecutive 800/880 titles between 1932 and 1934 and equaled the world record in the 880 yards in 1933.

LoJo Breaks Barriers, Records In Pole Vault

Lawrence Johnson of Tennessee won back-to-back pole vault titles at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships with some of the largest margins of victory in meet history.

Smith Set Records That Will Last Forever

Karin Smith of Cal Poly won the javelin crown at both the 1982 NCAA Division I & NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships with meet records that will never be broken.

Rollins Rewrites Hurdling History
June 8, 2013

Brianna Rollins capped an incredible senior season at the 2013 NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships with the two fastest times in collegiate history in the 100 Hurdles.