Michigan men's track and field athletes have won 47 NCAA individual event championships,[2] 14 Olympic gold medals,[3] 57 Big Ten Conference team championships (31 outdoor, 26 indoor),[4] and one NCAA team championship.[5][6]
The team has had 13 coaches in 122 years from 1901 to 2022. The team is currently coached by head coach Kevin Sullivan.
Michigan's first track coach was the famous trainer Keene Fitzpatrick (1864–1944). Fitzpatrick was a track coach, athletic trainer, professor of physical training and gymnasium director for 42 years at Yale (1890–1891, 1896–1898), Michigan (1894–1895, 1898–1910), and Princeton (1910–1932).[7] He was considered "one of the pioneers of intercollegiate sport."[8] Fitzpatrick was first hired by Michigan in 1894 as the trainer for the school's football team.[9][10][11] He continued to be the trainer of Michigan's football teams through 1910, and was credited by many with the success of Fielding H. Yost's "Point-a-Minute" football teams of the early 1900s.[12][13][14]
Fitzpatrick became Michigan's first track coach in 1900 and continued to serve in that role through 1910. During those years, Fitzpatrick's teams compiled a 24–2–1 record in dual meets and won Western Conference track championships in 1900,[15] 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, and 1906.[4] In 1907, Michigan sent its track team east to compete for their inaugural Inter-Collegiate Association of Amateur Athletics of America ("IC4A") meet, and Fitzpatrick's team came away with 29 points and a second-place finish.[16]
Michigan's first track coach, Keene Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick's athletes excelled in four Olympiads during his tenure as track coach, bringing home 7 gold medals out of 15.[citation needed]
In 1900, funds were solicited from faculty, students, alumni and Ann Arbor businessmen to send Fitzpatrick and four Michigan track athletes to the 1900 Paris Summer Olympics. John McLean won a silver medal in the high hurdles. Michigan's champion pole-vaulter, Charles Dvorak and other Americans faced a quandary: finals of some events were scheduled on Sunday, including the pole vault. Several American university teams agreed they could not violate the Sabbath.[15] Dvorak was reportedly told that the final had been rescheduled, but Dvorak and another American left. Several special competitions were conducted later to accommodate the Americans, when Dvorak win a silver medal.[15]
One of the highlights for Michigan athletics during the Fitzpatrick years came at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri, which have sometimes been referred to as the "Michigan Olympics."[17] Five University of Michigan track and field athletes won nine medals: six gold, two silver, and one bronze.[17] The Michigan medal winners at the 1904 Olympics were:
Michigan's first track and field star Archie Hahn won four Olympic gold medals
Archie Hahn – gold medals in the 60 meters, 100 meters, and 200 meters;
Ralph Rose – gold medal in the shot put, silver medal in the discus, and bronze medal in the hammer throw;
Archie Hahn became a major star, and Fitzpatrick was credited with developing his unusual running style. Shortly before the 1904 Olympics, a Wisconsin sports writer described the style this way:
"Hahn has a new style of running. Nobody at Michigan understands the style, except that Keene Fitzpatrick invented it, and that Hahn steps differently than ever before. Even to see Hahn's new stride is not to analyze how he manages to lift his feet so high in front. The new stride suggests that he is trying to climb a hill. The little man has toughened every muscle in his body and trained it to be a spring."[18]
With three medals, Ralph Rose also became a star. In December 1904, the New York Evening Sun wrote that Rose was "the first perfect physique ever seen at the University of Michigan" as measured by Fitzpatrick's anthropometric charts.[19] At 6 feet, 3 inches, 246 pounds, a 29.9-inch right thigh, and a 47.6-inch expanded chest, he was the school's first "perfect physique."[19]
Fitzpatrick said Ralph Craig was the best sprinter he ever turned out.
At the 1906 Summer Olympics in Athens, Archie Hahn successfully defended his gold medal standing in the 100-meter, adding it to his three others.[20] And at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, Michigan athlete Ralph Rose repeated as the gold medalist in the shot put, and John Garrels won a silver medal in the 110-meter hurdles and a bronze in the shot put.[21]
Fitzpatrick also coached Ralph Craig. Following Fitzpatrick's departure from Michigan, Craig went on to win gold medals in the 100 metres and 200 metres at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. In 1932, Fitzpatrick said that Craig was the best sprinter he ever turned out, though Johnny Garrels was the best all-around athlete he ever handled.[22] Fitzpatrick's pupils, Hahn and Craig, were the only Olympic double sprint winners prior to another Michigan athlete, Eddie Tolan, accomplishing the feat at the 1932 Summer Olympics.[7]
Kraenzlein era (1911–12)
When Fitzpatrick left Michigan to become a trainer and coach at Princeton, Michigan hired Alvin Kraenzlein, one of the most accomplished athletes in the county, as his replacement. Kraenzlein won four gold medals for the United States at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, winning the gold in the 60-meter sprint, the 110-meter hurdles, the 200-meter hurdles, and the long jump.[23] In Kraenzlein's two years as coach, the team finished third at the IC4A meet both years.[16]
Farrell era (1913–29)
Stephen Farrell led Michigan to the NCAA track and field championship in 1923.
Michigan's third track coach, Stephen Farrell (1863–1933) raced with hook and ladder teams in the 1880s and became known as "the greatest professional footracer this country has ever known."[24] He was the first American to be a two-time winner of England's Sheffield Cup and competed in races from 100 yards to one mile. Seeking new challenges, he performed with the Barnum & Bailey Circus for several years racing against a horse, and losing only a half dozen times.
In September 1912, Farrell was hired as the athletic trainer at the University of Michigan and noted at the time that the Ann Arbor institution "is the only western college that is thought much of down east."[25] He served as the school's track coach until his retirement in 1930, and he was also the trainer to Fielding H. Yost's football teams from 1912 to 1919.
In 1915, a series of newspaper articles touted Farrell as an innovator in track coaching, noting his innovations in the following areas:
In February 1915, The New York Times reported on Farrell's novel plan to instill "enthusiasm and vim" in his athletes by having them train to the accompaniment of music played by the Varsity band. Farrell noted that his athletes had been taking more interest in dancing competitions than athletic training. Farrell planned to have the musicians "render tunes a trifle faster than the natural stride" of Michigan's best performer in each event. "It is expected that the inspiration of the music and the natural efforts of the dancers to get in time should make the Michigan men exert themselves more willingly than they are at present doing."[26]
In January 1915, Farrell introduced rope skipping as a training method for his long-distance runners. Farrell noted, "It is a great form of exercise to develop the body, especially making men long winded and strong in the legs. It also has a tendency in making them quick and alert on their toes."[27]
Farrell instituted "the espionage system of discovering budding athletes" by stationing "a force of spies" in the college gymnasium watching for men of sufficient prowess to compete on the track team. The "new detective method of locating possible athletes" was begun after a freshman student was seen completing a high jump of six feet — six inches higher than any member of the track team.[28]
When Michigan rejoined the Big Ten Conference in 1918, Farrell's Michigan track teams promptly won the indoor and outdoor track championships in both 1918 and 1919.[29] Between 1918 and 1930, Farrell's teams won ten Big Ten Conference championships.[29][30] His teams had a 50–16–1 record in dual meets, and his athletes won 76 Big Ten individual event titles and 11 NCAA individual event titles.[4] Michigan also won its only NCAA team track championship in 1923 under Farrell.[4]
During the Farrell era, Michigan's star athletes included:
Walter Eckersall later wrote that, beyond coaching stars, Farrell was "a stickler for balance and depended more upon the ability of athletes to win third, fourth and fifth places than those who were picked to win."[35] He won many meets by focusing on team power and placing athletes where they could score points.[35]
When Farrell announced his retirement, the noted sports columnist Grantland Rice paid tribute to Farrell's talent in training sprinters.
"As long as Farrell is active he will continue to turn out championship sprinters. The 'Steve start' is about the fastest thing uncovered. Michigan sprinters are in the lead at ten yards. They're out in front here, even when they're occasionally whipped. There is no finer influence on college athletes in America than that which Steve exerts at Michigan ..."[36]
Hoyt era (1930–39)
Michigan's fourth track coach was Charles B. Hoyt, a native of Iowa won intercollegiate championships in both the 100-yard and 220-yard runs before turning to coaching.[37]
Hoyt was hired by the University of Michigan in 1923 as the assistant to Stephen Farrell and trainer of the football team.[37] In 1930, he took over the head coaching post when Farrell retired. In Hoyt's ten years as Michigan's head coach, Michigan track teams won 14 of a possible 20 Big Ten Conference indoor and outdoor titles, including six straight indoor championships from 1934 to 1939.[4][37] With Hoyt as head coach, Michigan was 40-6-0 in dual meets.[4] His Michigan athletes also won five individual NCAA championships and 63 individual Big Ten championships (27 indoor and 33 outdoor).[4] The athletes Hoyt coached at Michigan include:
Sam Stoller – one of two Jews on the American track team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics; a controversy was sparked when he was pulled from the 4 x 100 meter relay event.[38][39][40][41][42][43]
William Watson – won 12 individual Big Ten Conference championships, including three consecutive championships (1937–1939) in the long jump, discus and shot put; first African-American to win the AAU decathlon championship in 1940 [44][pageneeded][45][46][47]
Elmer Gedeon – tied a world record in the high hurdles in 1938; shot down and killed while piloting a B-26 bomber on a mission over France in April 1944.[48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55]
Willis Ward – collegiate champion in the high jump, long jump, 100-yard dash, and 400-yard dash; finished second in voting for AP Big Ten Athlete of the Year in 1933; second African-American to letter in football at Michigan.[56][57][58][59]
Bob Osgood – set a world record in the 120-yard high hurdles in May 1937; won Big Ten Conference championship in the event in both 1936 and 1937.[60][61][62][63]
Doherty era (1940–48)
Michigan's fifth track coach, Ken Doherty (1905–1996), was an American decathlon champion before he turned to coaching. He won the American decathlon championship in 1928 and 1929 while a student at the University of Michigan; he also won the bronze medal in the event at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam.[64][65][66][67][68]
Doherty, described as "a lean, quiet Scot,"[69] was hired as an assistant track coach at Michigan in 1930, by the University of Michigan as its assistant track coach serving under the Wolverines' new head coach, Charles B. Hoyt.[70] He remained Hoyt's assistant for nine years and took over as Michigan's head track coach in 1939 when Hoyt accepted a job at Yale. Doherty served nine years as Michigan's head coach, leading Michigan to seven Big Ten Conference championships (four indoor and three outdoor).[4] In his nine years as head coach at Michigan, he coached some of the schools all-time great athletes, including the following:
William Watson – won 12 individual Big Ten Conference championships, including three consecutive championships (1937–1939) in the long jump, discus and shot put; first African-American to win the AAU decathlon championship in 1940
Robert H. Hume and H. Ross Hume – the "dead heat twins" who were champions in the mile and regularly finished their races holding hands in dead heat victories.
Bob Ufer – set the world indoor record in the 440 yards and later the radio voice of Michigan football
Don Canham – All-America who won the 1940 NCAA title in the high jump and was both the indoor and outdoor Big Ten Conference champion in both 1940 and 1941; succeeded Doherty as Michigan's track coach and became a school legend as its athletic director from 1968 to 1988
Charlie Fonville – NCAA shot put champion in 1947 and 1948; set world record in 1948
Canham era (1950–68)
Don Canham took over as Michigan's track and field coach in 1950. He remained the head coach from 1950 to 1968. Canham was a Michigan graduate who won the NCAA high jump championship in 1940.[2] During Canham's 19 years as Michigan's head coach, the track and field team compiled a record of 52–13–2 in dual meets and won seven Big Ten team championships—four indoor and three outdoor.[4]
Outstanding individual performers during the Canham era include the following:
Charlie Fonville – won three Big Ten championships in the shot put and set a new world record in the event
Don McEwen – won six Big Ten individual titles and two NCAA individual titles in the two-mile race
Tom Robinson – represented the Bahamas as a sprinter in four Summer Olympics from 1956 to 1968; gold medalist in the 100-meter race at the 1962 Central American and Caribbean Games
Ergas Lep – won nine Big Ten individual championships in middle-distance events; competed for Canada on the 1960 and 1964 Olympic teams
Dave Martin was Michigan's head coach from 1969 to 1971. Martin began with the Michigan track team as an All-American runner and Big Ten steeplechase champion. After graduating from Michigan in 1961, he became an assistant coach under Don Canham. Martin took over as head coach in 1969, and coached six All-Americans in his three years with Michigan. Martin's 1969 team finished 11th in the NCAA indoor championships.[71]
Farmer era (1972–74)
Dixon Farmer was Michigan's head coach from 1972 to 1974. Farmer was an NCAA champion in the 440-yard hurdles before becoming a coach. In three years at Michigan, he coached six All-Americans including Jamaican hurdler Godfrey Murray and Kim Rowe. Farmer's 1973 team finished eighth at the NCAA Indoor Championships.[71]
Jack Harvey served as head coach of the Michigan track team for 25 years from 1975 to 1999—longer than any other head coach in the history of the program. Harvey was a University of Michigan track team member in the 1960s, an All-American and Big Ten shot put champion. He served as an assistant coach at the school before taking over as head coach in 1975. Harvey coached 93 All-Americans and six Olympians in his 25 years as head coach. His track teams placed in the top ten at the NCAA championships on five occasions and won 10 Big Ten championships—four indoor and six outdoor.[71]
Outstanding individual performers during the Harvey era include the following:
Greg Meyer – was a Big Ten champion distance runner and an All-American in the steeplechase while competing for Michigan from 1974 to 1977; won the Boston Marathon in 1983
Mike Lattany – won three Big Ten individual championships in the high jump while competing for Michigan from 1979 to 1982
Andrew Bruce – won eight Big Ten individual championships as a sprinter for Michigan from 1979 to 1982; competed in the 1980 Summer Olympics
Brian Diemer – competed for Michigan in the steeplechase from 1980 to 1983; won NCAA 3000m steeplechase in 1983; and participated in three Olympiads (1984–1992), winning his inaugural Olympic bronze medal in 1984
Thomas Wilcher – won an NCAA individual championship as a hurdler while competing for Michigan in the mid-1980s; was a three-time All-American
John Scherer – won three NCAA individual championships and four Big Ten individual championships as a distance runner for Michigan from 1986 to 1989
Warhurst era (2000–08)
Ron Warhurst was Michigan's head track coach for nine years from 2000 to 2008. Warhurst had been a member of the cross country teams at Western Michigan that won consecutive NCAA championships in 1964 and 1965.[71] From 1968 to 1970, Warhurst served in the U.S. Marine Corps and was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Navy Commendation Medal for service in Vietnam.[72] He became the University of Michigan's cross country coach in 1974, a position he has held for more than 35 years. He served as assistant coach of the men's track and field team for 26 years.[72] In 2000, Warhurst took over as head coach of the track team. Warhurst has coached 44 All-Americans and 12 Olympians at Michigan. His 2004 team finished fifth at the NCAA indoor championship.[71] In 2008, Warhurst's team won the school's first Big Ten outdoor championship since 1983.[73] Michigan won six individual Big Ten event championships in 2008,[73] and Warhurst was named Big Ten Coach of the Year and Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year.[72]
During the Warhurst era, Michigan's middle-distance runners excelled. In 2003, Canadian runner Nate Brannen won the NCAA indoor championship in the 800-meter run. In 2005, New Zealand middle-distance runner Nick Willis won the NCAA indoor championship in the mile run. A third middle-distance runner, Andrew Ellerton won the NCAA outdoor championship in the 800-meter run in 2007. Michigan also dominated the distance medley event in the mid-2000s, winning the NCAA indoor championship in 2004 (with a team of DarNell Talbert, Ellerton, Willis, and Brannen) and again in 2005 (with a team of Rondell Ruff, Stan Waithe, Ellerton, and Brannen).
Nicholas 'Nick' Willis is one of Ron Warhurst's biggest coaching success stories. He is a 4-time Olympiad and 2-time Olympics medallist. His inaugural Olympiad was the 2004 Athens Summer Olympic, competing for New Zealand in the 1500 meters. Three Michigan middle-distance runners all qualified for the 1500 meters race at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing—Nick Willis for New Zealand, and Kevin Sullivan and fellow Canadian Nate Brannen for Canada. Willis won his inaugural Olympic medal (silver) at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics in the 1500 meters. He also competed in the 2012 London Summer Olympics, and again in the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 winning his second Olympic medal, Bronze in the 1500 meters.[74] Willis also won the gold medal in the 1500 meters race at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and bronze medals in the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games 1500 meters.[75] Warhurst remained as head coach up until 2008, and in 2009 he then became an associate head coach for the track and field team under current head coach Fred LaPlante. He has coached Nick Willis since he entered the University of Michigan as a freshman collegiate runner on the MU Track and Field team in 2003, and ever since then as Willis has pursued a successful professional running career. They have one of the most successful coach/athlete partnerships in the history of Wolverine track and field to date, spanning 14 years, with Warhurst having guided Willis through 4 Olympiads and 3 Commonwealth Games culminating in a total of 5 medals in Willis's specialty the 1500M. In 2015 Ron Warhurst, Nick Willis, and former team-mate Nate Brannen were inducted into the Michigan Track and Field Hall of Fame.[76]
Michigan's sprinters and hurdlers also excelled in the late 2000s. In 2007, Jeff Porter won the NCAA indoor championship in the 60-meter hurdles. Sprinter Adam Harris was named the 2008 Big Ten Track Athlete of the Year after winning Big Ten event championships in the 60 meters (indoors), 200 meters and 4×100 meter relay. Harris ran a personal best 20.68 seconds in the 200-meter race at the NCAA Mideast Regional and qualified to compete for Guyana in that event at the 2008 Olympics.[74][72]
LaPlante era (2009–13)
Fred LaPlante took over as the head coach of Michigan's track and field team in 2009. LaPlante is a native of Toledo, Ohio and a graduate of Eastern Michigan University where he was an NCAA champion in the 1,500 meters race.[77] He has been a track coach since the 1970s, including women's head track and field coach at San Diego State from 1979 to 1983 followed by head coach of the University of Southern California women's track and field team for several years in the 1980s.[77] LaPlante was later head coach of the Lehigh University Mountainhawks track and cross country teams in the mid-1990s, where he succeeded nationally renowned coach John Covert. He was the assistant coach at Michigan from 1997 to 2008 and was named the 2008 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Assistant Coach of the Year in 2008. That year, the Wolverines won six Big Ten sprint titles and had All-Americans in the 60-meters (Adam Harris) and the 4×400-meter relay (Andre Barnes, Andrew Wechter, Dan Harmsen and Stann Waithe).[77]
In LaPlante's first season as head coach, sprinter Adam Harris was named the 2009 Big Ten track athlete of the year (indoor). In 2009, Harris set University of Michigan records in the 60-meter dash (6.60) and the 100-meter dash (10.09). He was also named a 2009 All-American in the 60-meter and 100-meter dashes. Harris won eight Big Ten championships at Michigan—four in 2008 and two in 2009. After graduating in 2009, Harris became a volunteer assistant coach with the Michigan track and field team.[78]
Junior hurdler Carl Buchanon, sophomore distance runner Craig Forys, and junior multi-event performer Frank Shotwell have been named co-captains of the Michigan track and field team for the 2010 season.[79]
Clayton era (2014–2021)
Jerry Clayton was hired from Auburn to begin what would be the 2014 season. During his first four seasons at Michigan coach the men's indoor and outdoor teams in track and field. Starting with 2018 season the coaching staffs of the men's and women's teams were combined, with Clayton and James Henry serving as coaches of both teams.
Michigan's best national finish under him was in 2016, where they finished 13th in the NCAA Men's Outdoor Championships. It is only the Wolverines second top-15 finish since 1961 and first since 1997.[80]
Sullivan era (2022–present)
Prior to the 2022 season, it was announced that current Michigan cross country coach and assistant track coach Kevin Sullivan would be promoted to also run the track and field program. [81]
University of Michigan Track & Field Hall of Fame
In 2006, the University of Michigan track and field staff established the University of Michigan Track and Field Hall of Fame. Eleven individuals have been inducted into the Hall of Fame each year since 2006.[82]
Olympic silver medal (1908 hurdles); Olympic bronze medal (1908 shot put); Six-time Big Ten individual champion; Three-time Penn Relays discus champion
Head coach of Men's Cross Country and Track & Field
1974-2009
2015
No
Coached at 26 NCAA Championship meets in Cross Country; Won 7 Big Ten Team titles; Won 2008 Big Ten Team title in Men's Outdoor Track & Field; 4-time Big Ten Coach of the year
2003 Big Ten Freshman of the year (Indoor&Outdoor); 6 time Big Ten champion; 2005 Indoor Mile champion; 5-time Olympian (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2021); 2008 Beijing Olympic Silver Medallist (1500m); 2016 Rio Olympic Bronze Medallist (1500m)
NCAA individual event champions
Michigan track and field athletes have won 47 NCAA individual event championships.[2] (All championships are outdoor unless otherwise noted.)
Sam Stoller – pulled from the gold medal-winning 4x100 meter relay team; controversy ensued over allegations that Stoller, who was Jewish, was pulled to appease the Olympic hosts
Alvin Christian "Al" Kraenzlein was an American track-and-field athlete known as "the father of the modern hurdling technique". He was the first sportsman in the history of the Olympic games to win four individual gold medals in a single discipline at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. As of 2016, Alvin Kraenzlein is the only track-and-field athlete who has won four individual titles at one Olympics. Kraenzlein is also known for developing a pioneering technique of straight-leg hurdling, which allowed him to set two world hurdle records. He is an Olympic Hall of Fame (1984) and National Track and Field Hall of Fame (1974) inductee.
Roger Kingdom is an American former sprint hurdler who was twice Olympic champion in the 110 meters. Kingdom set a world record of 12.92 in 1989. He is now an athletics coach and strength and conditioning coach who currently works as a speed and conditioning coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL.
Frederick William Schule was an American track and field athlete, football player, athletic coach, teacher, bacteriologist, and engineer. He competed for the track and field teams at the University of Wisconsin from 1900 to 1901 and at the University of Michigan in 1904. He was also a member of the undefeated 1903 Michigan Wolverines football team that outscored its opponents 565 to 6.
Perdita Felicien is a Canadian retired hurdler. Felicien is the 2003 World champion in the 100 metres hurdles and 2004 World indoor champion in the 60 metres hurdles. She also won silver medals at the 2007 World Championships, the 2010 World Indoor Championships, and twice at the Pan American Games. Her best time for the 100 metres hurdles of 12.46 secs from 2004 still stands as the Canadian record.
The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisional Collegiate Water Polo Association. Team colors are maize and blue, though these are different shades of "maize" and "blue" from those used by the university at large. The winged helmet is a recognized icon of Michigan Athletics.
Andrew Rock is an American sprinter who specializes in the 400 meter dash.
Francis Xavier Cretzmeyer, Jr. was the greatest track and field coach at the University of Iowa in the 20th century, leading their team the Hawkeyes to multiple Big Ten team titles. Before being a coach, he was a superb track and field athlete, but prevented from claiming individual titles by having the misfortune of being a contemporary of the legendary Jesse Owens, which meant that Cretzmeyer regularly came in second to Owens at Big Ten track meets.
Willis Franklin Ward was a track and field athlete and American football player who was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1981.
Iowa State Cyclones track and field represents Iowa State University (ISU) and competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I. The team is coached by Martin Smith, he is currently in his 4th year at Iowa State. Originally, the men's and women's teams were considered separate; but beginning in the 2007 season the two teams were combined and are now operated as one single sport at the university. The Cyclones host their home indoor meets at Lied Recreational Facility and their home outdoor meets at the Cyclone Sports Complex, both are located on Iowa State's campus.
Geena Gall, is an Olympic American mid-distance runner who ran for the University of Michigan. Gall's achievements include back to back NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 800m in 2008 and 2009, representing the USA at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany in the 800m. She also competed at the North American Central American Caribbean Championships in San Salvador, El Salvador in 2007 and Toluca, Mexico in 2008. Gall was a member of the "Fab Four" who set two collegiate records at the 2007 Penn Relays, a ten-time NCAA All-American, owning two Big Ten 800 meter records and two DMR records, 10 Big Ten championships, numerous U of M school records, and at Grand Blanc High School she was a three-time national champion.
Charles B. Hoyt was an American track athlete and coach.
Stephen J. Farrell was an American professional track athlete, circus performer and track coach.
John Kenneth Doherty was an American decathlon champion, college track and field coach, author and longtime director of the Penn Relays. While a student at the University of Michigan, Doherty won the American decathlon championship in 1928 and 1929 and won the bronze medal in the event at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. He later served as a track coach at Princeton University (1929–1930), the University of Michigan (1930–1948), and the University of Pennsylvania (1948–1957). He was also the meet director for the Penn Relays from 1956 to 1969 and of the first dual track meet between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1959. He was also a published author of works on track coaching, and his Track & Field Omnibook was regarded as "the track coach's bible" from the 1970s through the 1990s. Doherty has been inducted into at least six athletic halls of fame, including the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and athletic halls of fame at the University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, and Wayne State University.
Ashton James Eaton is a retired American decathlete and two-time Olympic champion, who holds the world record in the indoor heptathlon event. Eaton was the second decathlete to break the 9,000-point barrier in the decathlon, with 9,039 points, a score he bettered on August 29, 2015, when he beat his own world record with a score of 9,045 points, and remains the only person to exceed 9000 points twice. His world record was broken by Frenchman Kevin Mayer on September 16, 2018, with a total of 9,126 points, who became the third man to pass the 9,000-point barrier.
Don McEwen is a former track and field athlete. He was a two-time NCAA champion in the two-mile run.
Philip M. Northrup was an American track and field athlete. He won the NCAA javelin championship in 1925 and 1926 and tied for the NCAA championship in the pole vault in 1925.
Fritz Roland Nilsson was an athlete who was a member of the Swedish Olympic teams in 1948 and 1952. He was also a member of the Michigan Wolverines men's track and field team. He won six Big Ten Conference championships in the shot put and five event championships at the Penn Relays.
Ron Warhurst is an American track and field coach. He was the head coach of the University of Michigan's men's track and field team from 2000 to 2008. Warhurst was also a member of the cross country teams at Western Michigan that won consecutive NCAA championships in 1964 and 1965.
Jeffrey Issack Porter is an American track and field athlete who competes in the 110-meter hurdles. He has a personal best of 13.08 seconds for the event. He gained a spot on the American Olympic team by coming third at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials. He repeated his third place at the 2016 United States Olympic Trials to make his second Olympic team. On June 25, 2017, he announced his retirement from track and field.
The South Florida Bulls track and field program represents the University of South Florida in the sport of track and field. The program consists of separate men's and women's teams and competes in the American Athletic Conference within NCAA Division I. Both of the Bulls track and field teams are coached by Erik Jenkins, who also coaches the USF cross country teams. The teams practice and host outdoor meets at the USF Track and Field Stadium. While the university sponsors indoor teams as well, the university does not have an indoor track facility suitable to host meets. There is an indoor track in the Campus Recreation Center which the teams use for practice, but it has no space for indoor field events or spectators.
↑ "FIRST HONORS WON BY MICHIGAN TEAM: Seventeen Wolverines Scoop Up the Championship Track and Field Crown in the Big Meet On Stagg Field". Sunday State Journal (Associated Press story). 1923-06-17.
↑ "Univ. of Michigan Closes Successful Athletic Year: All Teams at University Meet With Success The Football Team Went Through Undefeated". The Atlanta Constitution. 1923-06-24.
1 2 "Tiger Trainer Is To Retire: Keene Fitzpatrick, Developer of Many Champions, Will Hang Up Tools This Year". Morning Herald. 1932-10-22.
↑ "Aged Athletic Coach, Trainer at Yale Quits: Keene Fitzpatrick, 42 Years in Business, Desires 'Less Strenuous Mode of Life'; Had Stagg as Pupil in 1890". Titusville Herald. 1932-10-22.
↑ "Ann Arbor's Probable Eleven: Men Who Traine Fitzpatrick Thinks Will Be on Team". The Daily Inter Ocean. 1895-09-17.
↑ "They Are Money Makers: Heads of Athletics at Michigan Assist in Making Finances Grow". Ft. Wayne News. 1903-12-12.
↑ "Michigan Pays Yost More Than Teachers; These Athletic Instructors Draw Princely Salaries; Their Annual Compensation Over Double That of United States Senators, but Each Conceded to be Worth All He Gets". Los Angeles Times. 1903-12-20.
↑ William H. Edwards (1916). Football Days: Memories of the Game and of the Men Behind the Ball, pp. 321-322. Moffat, Yard & Co.
↑ Walter S. Trumbull (1932-10-27). "Athletes Lack Stamina: Retiring Princeton Coach Claims Present-Day Runners Lack Vim and Vigor of Past Stars; Durability Went Out When Automobiles Came In". Los Angeles Times.
↑ Walter Eckersall (1918-06-23). "Steve Farrell Once Noted as Keen Sprinter: Track Coach Learns Tricks of Trade in Old School". The Anaconda Standard. Los Angeles Times.
↑ "New Michigan Trainer Lenient as to Diet: Is Pleased with Place". The Grand Forks Daily Herald. 1912-09-15.
↑ "To Train With Music: Steve Farrell's Plan to Induce Michigan's Athletes to Better Efforts". The New York Times. 1915-02-14.
↑ "Rope Skipping for Distance Runners". New Castle News. 1915-01-26.
↑ "Spies on Lookout for Good Athletes: Michigan Coach's System Beats Baseball Scouting All Hollow". Naugatuck Daily News. 1915-01-04.
1 2 Bruce Madej; Rob Toonkel; Mike Pearson; Greg Kinney (1997). Michigan: Champions of the West. Sports Publishing LLC. p.41. ISBN1-57167-115-3.
↑ "Steve Farrell Quits". Salt Lake Tribune. 1929-09-13.
1 2 3 "Steve Farrell, Michigan Track Mentor, Is Dead: Retired Coach of Champion Cinder Teams Dies of Heart Attack". Waterloo Daily Courier. 1933-10-18.
1 2 Walter Eckersall (1930-01-20). "Retirement of Steve Farrell, Veteran Michigan Track Coach: Hoyt Succeeds Great Runner; Has Coached Wolverine Teams Since 1912; Won Many Races as Pro Way Back in '90's; Eckersall Relates Stories of Man's Prowess". Los Angeles Times.
↑ "Yank Sprinter Hurls Charge of 'Politics': Glickman, Bitter After Being Left Off Sprint Team, Declares Favoritism Practiced". Los Angeles Times. 1936-08-09.
↑ "Jesse Owens Returns to Competition; Leads Relay Team in Trials; U.S. Quartet Wins; Leaving of Two Jewish Boys Out of 400 Race Brings Repercussions". Salt Lake Tribune. 1936-08-09.
↑ Braven Dyer (1936-08-10). "The Sports Parade: Lawson Robertson Panned for Leaving Marty Glickman and Stoller Off Relay Team". Los Angeles Times.
↑ "Internal Strife Mars Return of Olympics Squad: Officials Still at Odds Over Suspension of Eleanor Jarrett and Two Other Athletes". Jefferson City Post-Tribune. 1936-08-28.
↑ Bruce Madej; Rob Toonkel; Mike Pearson; Greg Kinney (1997). Michigan: Champions of the West. Sports Publishing LLC. ISBN1-57167-115-3.
↑ "Michigan Captures Third Title in Row: Bill Watson Wins Three First Places and Chalks Up New Record in Discus". San Antonio Express (Associated Press wire article). 1939-05-21.
↑ Charles Dunkley (1939-06-15). "Practice on Minor Details Makes Watson Track Star". Jefferson City Post-Tribune.
↑ "Watson Cops Decathlon: Sets Two New Records as Scott Loses". Mansfield News-Journal. 1940-06-17.
↑ Jerry Brondfield (1937-12-23). "Track Marks Broken By College Stars in '37: Record Made by 5 Athletes Lauded Highly". Daily Capital News.
↑ "Osgood's Hurdle Mark Set In Abominable Conditions". Lowell Sun. 1937-06-01.
↑ Herbert A. Hall (1929-07-14). "Decathlon Champ Fought for Title: Long Preparation Marks His Entrance Into Track Meet". Charleston Gazette (AP wire story).
↑ Paul Lowry (1929-07-21). "Rabbit Punches: Ken Doherty's Record". Los Angeles Times.
↑ "U.S. Natators Pass Prelims for Olympics: Finn Annexes Decathlon Title With Doherty, American, in Third Place". Mason City Globe-Gazette. 1928-08-04.
↑ "Michigan Shatters Own Record in Walk-Away". The Herald Press (St. Joseph, Mich.). 1944-03-13.
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