Anchors Aweigh! Navy Wins NCAA Team Title

Celebrating A Century of NCAA Track & Field Championships

Anchors Aweigh! Navy Wins NCAA Team Title

As today is Veterans Day, we focus on the 75th anniversary of the only service academy to win a team title at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships – Navy, in 1945.

World War II brought a lot of changes to the United States and that included the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 1944 and 1945, when Navy personnel were not allowed to be away from campus longer than 48 hours. NCAA meets in both years were thus held on one day instead of the then-normal two days.

Marquette Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, played host to the NCAA meet in each of those years and fuel rationing meant that many programs were unable to send athletes. In fact, even Navy didn’t send anyone in 1944, despite winning its first IC4A crown with a meet-record score.

The 1945 Navy team, however, was even better and proved it by beating defending NCAA champion Illinois in the meet’s closest-then tabulation by just 3⅕ points (If you’re wondering how a team got one-fifth of a point: There were several ties in field events on the 10-8-6-4-2-1 scale).

The Midshipmen had three champions – John Van Velzer in the 100 yards (10.1), Bill Kash in the 440 yards (49.8) and Robert Patton in the javelin (191-1). Patton led a 1-3-5 finish that would eventually only be surpassed by 1-2-3 sweeps in 1964 (Oregon) and 2019 (Mississippi State). Frank Kelley, who was third in the javelin, also scored in the pole vault, tying for fifth.

Not scoring any points for the Middies might have been the team’s best athlete, then known as Clyde L. Scott, who missed the NCAA meet for academic issues. Scott finished the year with the world’s second-fastest time in the 220 hurdles and three years later won the NCAA 110 hurdles title for Arkansas, gaining the name “Smackover” for his hometown in the same state.

Navy then had a famous athlete as its head coach – Earl Thomson, who won the 120-yard hurdles for Dartmouth in the very first NCAA Championships in 1921 in a world record after winning Olympic gold the previous year in Antwerp, Belgium.

posted: November 11, 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
Mikkola Set Javelin MR With Huge Win

Esko Mikkola was a two-time JT winner at the NCAA DI Outdoor T&F Championships. When Mikkola won in 1998, he set a MR of 81.86m (268‑7) and won by 17 feet!

Little Made Big 400H History
June 11, 2016

Shamier Little won three consecutive 400H titles at the NCAA DI Outdoor T&F Championships between 2014 & 2016. Little became the No. 2 performer in collegiate history with her 53.51 winner in 2016.

Ellerbe Won After Film Review In 1939

Mozelle Ellerbe won back-to-back 100-yard dash titles at the NCAA Outdoor T&F Championships in 1938 & 1939. His victory in the 2nd year was confirmed by a film review.

McCullouch Ran Legendary Times At NCAAs

Earl McCullouch of Southern California won back-to-back 120H titles at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships and was a member of a WR-setting quarter-mile relay team.

Walton Started It All In The 800

Delisa Walton won the first women’s 800 at the NCAA DI Outdoor T&F Championships in 1982. Walton is the mother of Ebonie Floyd, who finished 2nd in the 2007 100.

Gipson, Ugen Made Long Jump History

Whitney Gipson & Lorraine Ugen were the first teammates to win women’s long jump titles at the NCAA DI Outdoor T&F Championships in consecutive years (Gipson in 2012; Ugen in 2013).