Villanova’s Delany Starred In NCAA 1500/Mile
A duel of collegiate miler greats was one of the features of the 1956 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Edwards Stadium on the campus of California at Berkeley.
The headliners were about as big as possible, pitting the first two collegians to break the 4-minute mile barrier with each having done so impressively.
Defending NCAA mile champ Jim Bailey of Oregon was the first sub-4 collegiate miler at 3:58.6, upsetting Australian countrymate and mile world record holder John Landy in early May with a ferocious last lap of 55.5. Bailey’s time was a PR by seven seconds.
A well-beaten third in that race was Villanova’s Ron Delany, but the sophomore showed amazing improvement a month later when he chopped nearly six seconds off his PR with a 3:59.0 to edge Denmark’s Gunnar Nielsen – a co-world record holder in the 1500 and indoor mile WR holder. Delany’s last 120 yards was clocked in 14.4 – then the fastest finish of any sub-4 miler.
With 1956 being an Olympic year, the NCAA held a 1500 meters instead of the then-normal mile.
Nobody was surprised that neither fast-finisher wanted the early lead, but no one else was extremely interested to lead so the pace dawdled – 2:06.6 for the first two laps with all 16 runners in the field bunched together.
At the bell lap, Don Bowden of the host Cal Golden Bears shot to the front and still led with half a lap to go, although Bailey was right with him and seemed well poised to unleash his kick.
However, Delany beat Bailey to the punch, emerging from the pack and going wide around the last curve to take the lead. Bailey followed as the two sprinted furiously, quickly separating themselves from the rest.
Delany held the lead all the way to the tape, winning by some five feet in a meet-record 3:47.3. Bailey (3:47.6) followed as the top five all bettered the previous 1500 meet record. Delany’s last lap was timed in 54.1, while Bailey’s was 54.6.
Delany would add global superiority in the fall, winning the Melbourne Olympics 1500 for his native Ireland. No other miler has ever won the 1500 or mile titles in the NCAA and Olympics in the same year.
Delany added three more career NCAA mile titles, winning the mile in 1957 and 1958 – the latter part of a double with the 880. During his senior season at Villanova he set the first of three career indoor mile world records.
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.
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