a little history, a little humor

Different world-today’s T&F coaches have it easy on meet days…

Getting the fast all clay track ready for Fresno’s West Coast Relays was not a quick fix. Someone had to use a tractor and pull a metal drag to scrape the track smooth. Then it had to be hand watered and that took awhile with two or three people using hoses around the oval. Then a group had to pull the multi-lane hand liner to apply lime- to outline the lanes around the track. Then several others had to use hand liners to apply the start and finish lines, the staggers, and relay zone lines. And after all that, the whole process was repeated again between the afternoon and the evening invitational sections of the meet. This era’s all-weather track coaches have it easy. –Joe Herzog (El Camino/Fresno State), Larry Knuth (Fulleton/ Fresno State)… former Fresno State Bulldogs who did the above work.

She has had NO equal!

Valerie Brisco…400, 1600 relay gold medals

LA Locke HS / CS Northridge / Long Beach CC

Three Olympic gold medals; present American 400 record-holder

First sprinter, male or female, to win Olympic 400-200 double

First woman to break 50 seconds; fastest-ever relay leg-48.44

LA Locke HS-1978: PRs: 11.57, 23.77(USA prep rankings-3^rd), 53.70

CS Northridge-1979: UCLA/Pepsi Invite 100m-7^th 11.7, 200-5^th 23.83;

AIAW National Women’s Championships-1^st 200m-23.61(23.23 in semis);

Brooks Invite-1^st 200 23.16 (8^th USA all-time); AAU Nationals 200-2nd 22.53w;

Pan Am Games (San Juan, Puerto Rico): 200-4^th 22.84w, 400 relay-1^st43.30;

Season PR: 400-52:08 (9^th all-time USA), 200-23.16

1980-Did not compete

Long Beach CC-1981: State meet 400 title 53.53 *meet record;

200-1^st 23.49 *state meet, national record; LBCC PRs: 11.56, 23.49, 52.62

1982-Did not compete

1983: PRs-11.39, 23.10, 53.61

1984: Cal St. LA Invite100-1^st 11.24; Mt. SAC Relays-1^st 200-23.13;

UCLA/Pepsi 200-1^st 22.64; Southrn Pacific TAC 400-1^st 51.70;

TAC Nationals-1^st 49.83 *American record; PR: 200-21.81 *American record

*Olympic preview meet (Mt. SAC): Brisco runs the fastest-ever 400 leg-48.7 as USA team sets an *American record 3:19.60 (The old mark was 3:22.81 for the silver medal in the 1976 Montreal Olympiad.)

1984 Olympic Trials: 400-2^nd 49.79 (heat-51.67, quarters-51.77, semis-50.70);

200-1^st 22.16 (22.47 quarter-finals)

1984 LA Olympics: 400-1^st 48.83 *Olympic, USA record (semis-1^st 51.14, heat-1^st 51.42); 200-1^st 21.81*Olympic record (semis-22.28, quarters-22.78, heat-23.30)

*Brisco becomes the first American, male or female, to win the 400-200 in the Olympics. The ’84 Olympic 1600-meter relay team broke both the *Olympic, American record with a 3:18.29 effort. Brisco’s third leg was 49.23.

1987 World Championships: 1600 relay-3^rd 3:21.04 (Briscoe-49.97)

1988 Olympic Trials: 400-3^rd 50.53, semis-2^nd 51.13, quarters-2^nd 52.11, heat-2^nd 51.61

1988 Seoul Olympics: *World, American record-1600 meter relay 3:15.51

(Briscoe, 3^rd leg 48.44)

USA Rankings: 1979-8^th; 1984-86 1^st; 1987-2^nd; 1988-3^rd

World Rankings: 1984-4^th; 1985-3^rd; 1986-3^rd; 1987-6^th; 1988-9^th

Honors: Brisco was inducted into the USATF Hall of Fame in 1995;

Long Beach City College’s Hall of Fame-charter class;

Track & Field News front cover, May 1986.