Stanford Romped To National Title in 1928
How good was Stanford’s 1928 NCAA championship team?
The Cardinal’s 72 points more than doubled the total of its closest challenger.
Stanford also had five different athletes win individual titles: That’s a combination no other program has yet matched in the same meet.
Adding to the impressiveness, all five of the Cardinal’s individual champions that year were (or would become) world record setters and/or Olympic medalists, and no points were scored by a sixth athlete with that same illustrious distinction.
Bud Spencer was captain of the squad and scored Stanford’s only points on the track, winning the 440 yards in a meet record 47.7. Spencer, who had broken the 400-meter world record at 47.0 a month earlier, had the fastest split on the U.S. 4×400 quartet that won gold with a world record in the 1928 Olympics later that summer.
Also setting a meet record – two, in fact – was pole vaulter Ward Edmonds with a final height of 13-6½ (4.13m). Earlier in the year, Edmonds had equaled the world record and became history’s third-ever 14-footer. Edmonds, who in 1929 became the first repeat NCAA vault champion with a co-title (and another MR at 13-8¾ or 4.18m), died suddenly in 1930 from polio at age 22.
Robert King won the high jump at 6-4½ (1.94m) and afterward was allowed to continue jumping, scaling a PR 6-6½ (1.99m). A month later, King would only need just 6-4¼ to earn the gold medal at the Olympics in Amsterdam.
Stanford could have won the meet just in the throwing events, where they earned 34 points (team runner-up Ohio State had 31), led by sophomore Eric Krenz with 18.
It was Krenz who actually got Stanford’s celebration started early, setting a meet record in the discus qualifying on the first day. His MR 149-2 (45.48m) carried over the next day to win the final and he added a runner-up effort in the shot put, losing to teammate Harlow Rothert.
For Rothert, another sophomore, it was the first of three-straight shot put titles to become the meet’s first three-time champion in a field event (Krenz was second each time). Both throwers were Olympians, though only Rothert would earn a medal – silver in the shot put in 1932, by which time teammate Krenz – a three-time world record setter in the discus – had died in a boating accident at age 25.
Not even scoring for Stanford was Ross Nichols, who finished sixth in the 120-yard hurdles but was disqualified for knocking over a hurdle. A month later, Nichols earned a similar DQ in the Olympic Trials 110-meter hurdles, in which he equaled the world record of 14.8 in the semifinals without knocking over any barriers.
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.
Cal’s Hudson Wins Epic Triple Jump With World’s Best
On this day in 1987, Sheila Hudson of California set world best in Women’s Triple Jump at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships when she bounded 13.78m (45-2½).
Track. Field. Houston’s Lewis Does It All!
On this day in 1981, Carl Lewis of Houston became the first athlete since Jesse Owens to win a track event and field event at the same NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
UCLA Men’s 4×400 Clocks NCAA’s First Sub-3
On this day in 1988, the UCLA men’s 4×400 relay team became the first collegiate quartet to break three minutes, clocking 2:59.91 with Steve Lewis, Kevin Young, Danny Everett and Henry Thomas.
LSU’s Sowell Dominates 1989 NCAA Championships
On this day in 1989, Dawn Sowell of LSU culminated one of the most dominant performances in the history of the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Givens’ Quad Leads Florida State to Team Title
On this day in 1984, Randy Givens of Florida State completed a remarkable – and still, unmatched – feat, winning a quadruple set of titles at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore.
Rono Rolls Into The Record Books
On this day in 1978, Henry Rono of Washington State became the first (and still only) man to set two different NCAA Championships meet records in distance races on the same day.
Jackie Joyner Doubles Down On Multi Crowns
On this day in 1983, Jackie Joyner of UCLA became the first woman to win an event twice at the NCAA Championships, claiming her second consecutive crown in the heptathlon with a then-collegiate-record-setting score of 6390 points.
Connect Four: Prefontaine Makes History
Steve Prefontaine of Oregon became the first athlete to win titles in the same outdoor event four times, claiming the 3-mile/5000m from 1970-73.
Ralph Metcalfe Is Mr. Triple-Double
Ralph Metcalfe, who was born on this day (May 29) in 1910, won three consecutive 100 and 200 titles while at Marquette from 1932-34, becoming the first athlete to win three NCAA titles in two separate events.
Georgia’s Orji Jump-Starts Record-Breaking Career
On this day in 2016, Keturah Orji of Georgia set her first collegiate record in the triple jump of 14.29m (46-10¾) at the NCAA Division I East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Florida.