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.
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.
Texas’ Hooker High Jumped To NCAA Glory
Destinee Hooker won three career high jump titles at the NCAA DI Outdoor T&F Championships, including a massive victory in 2009 by more than two inches.
De Grasse Sprinted To Otherworldly Double
Andre De Grasse completed the 100-200 double at the 2015 NCAA DI Outdoor T&F Championships with scorching times: 9.75 (+2.7) in the 100; 19.58 (+2.4) in the 200.
Merritt Broke Long-Standing 110H MR In 2006
Aries Merritt broke a 28-year-old meet record in the 110H when he won the crown at the 2006 NCAA DI Outdoor T&F Championships in 13.21.
UGA’s Torrence Made NCAA History With Double
Gwen Torrence completed the 100-200 double at the 1987 NCAA DI Outdoor T&F Championships. Torrence was also the first woman to finish top-8 four times in the 100.
Bayer Gave It His All For NCAA 1500 Title
Andrew Bayer won the 1500 at the 2012 NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships in one of the closest finishes in meet history – 0.01 seconds.
Tipton Led 1-2-3 Oregon Finish In 1964 JT
Les Tipton led the first podium sweep of any event in the history of the NCAA Outdoor T&F Championships. Tipton and his Oregon teammates went 1-2-3 in the 1964 javelin.
K-State’s Jones Captured Heptathlon Crown In 2015
Akela Jones won the heptathlon at the 2015 NCAA DI Outdoor T&F Championships with 6371 points. That is the fourth-best score in both collegiate history & meet history.
Same Athletes, Same Result For LSU At NCAAs
The LSU foursome of Bennie Brazell, Pete Coley, Robert Parham, Kelly Willie swept the 4×100 & 4×400 crowns at the 2003 NCAA DI Outdoor T&F Championships.
Martin Won Distance Titles For Two Programs
Francis (Frank) Martin made history twice in the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
FSU’s Williams Soared To Jumps Double In 2009
Kim Williams swept the horizontal jumps at the 2009 NCAA DI Outdoor T&F Championships. Williams was particularly dominant in the TJ, winning at 14.38m (47-2¼) & by nearly 2 feet.