A little humor, a little history

Stubborn vaulters: One medal equals two… In the 1936 Berlin Olympics Japanese pole vaulters, Shuhei Nishida and Sueo Oe, tied for second place. The athletes refused to compete in a jump-off to determine who finished second. They had a jeweler cut their Olympic medals in half and create two “new” medals-both half silver and half bronze.
–“Olympic Champions,” Sports Illustrated for Kids, 1996

Earl "the Pearl" McCulloch
Long Beach Poly HS/ Long Beach CC/ USC
five NCAA, AAU titles, led-off  world record relay 

                                                                              
 

  • McCulloch had an injury problem that hindered his freshman year at Long Beach CC.
  • At USC he became an All American receiver in football and then was NCAA Indoor 60HH champ in ’67 and the 1967 and 1968 NCAA 110 HH Champion. Earl was known for his lightning start and led-off the still standing USC world record 440-yard relay record team which included Fred Kuller (Santa Ana CC) and the more notable O.J. Simpson (San Francisco CC).
  • McCulloch also won the 60-yard indoor (6.9) and 120-yard outdoor (13.5) AAU/USA hurdle titles.
  • He was USC co-captain his senior year and left with EVERY dual meet record that he ran in the high hurdles.
  • McCulloch was inducted into the charter class of Long Beach City College’s Hall of Champions and was honored with a USC Heritage Award  He was also on Track & Field News April 1968 front   cover. He entered the NFL rather than pursue the 1968 Olympic team.  
  •  Coached by Joe Lanning at Long Beach CC.
    -Long     Beach     CC Athletics web page; USC media guide/ USATF, NCAA web pages
     
     

Dot Jones
high school?/ Modesto CC/ college?
First to throw over 50 in state meet
Back-to-back state titles

 
 Jones was the first woman to throw 50 feet or more-50-0 ½”- in the state meet. Her 1983 meet record held up until 1990. Jones won the 1983 and 1984 state shot put titles.
-2007 state meet program/ additional information requested-knuthfam@hotmail.com

                                                      


Hal Davis
“The California Comet”
 Morgan Hill HS/ Salinas JC-now Hartnell CC/ UC Berkeley
 

  • Sprinter Hal Davis of Salinas JC, now Hartnell, and high jumper Les Steers, College of San Mateo, were the first two community college athletes inducted into the USATF Hall of Fame charter class in 1974. A profile of Steers will run in May. Check out USATF.com (Hall of Fame).
  • World War II deprived Harold Davis of the international recognition that should have been his (there were no Olympics held in 1940 or 1944 due to WWII). During the early 1940s, Davis rightfully held the title “World’s Fastest Human,” winning just about every major sprint title over a four-year period. 
  • In June of 1941, Davis tied Jesse Owens’ world 100-meter dash record of 10.20 while a student at Salinas Junior College under USATF Hall of Fame Coach Bud Winter.   Davis also ran a 20.2, 200-meters world record that year.
  • At UC Berkeley Davis won the NCAA 100 and 220-yard titles in 1942 and 1943. Overall, he won the AAU 100 title three times and was a four-time champion in the AAU 220. Nicknamed the “California Comet,” he first came to national attention while in high school, where he ran the 100-yards in 9.7 and the 220 in 21.0.  
    –USATF web site/ “The Best I Ever Coached” by Bud Winter, California Relays Program-1954
     


Tom Moore-Modesto’s Man
1914-2002
Petaluma HS/ Sacramento CC/ UC Berkeley
 high hurdles: National JC and world record
60 years-starter, promoter, meet director of California Relays 

  • Tom Moore was a national treasure for our sport. For 60 years he brought Modesto’s California Relays from a small event to an internationally recognized event. 
    In the 1942 inaugural meet in Modesto Moore not only ran the hurdles, but he served as one of the starters. Three years later he was running the meet himself.
  •  By the late 50s open and collegiate competitors from all over the country included the California Relays in their “California calendar” that included Fresno’s West Coast Relays, the Coliseum Relays, and the Compton Invitational. The month in the west was  an annual “rite of preparation” before the NCAA and AAU nationals. From 1955-72 the California community colleges held their state championships during the staging of the relays, and always a sold-out crowd with well-run meets and great coverage by the media.
  • Moore competed in track at Petaluma High School, then as a hurdler at Sacramento CC where he set a national JC high hurdle record of 14.5. As a hurdler at UC Berkeley he tied the world high hurdle record of 14.2 at the 1935 West Coast Relays in Fresno. He also won the AAU Nationals 440-yard intermediate hurdles
    In 1935.
  • Moore was head of the USOC bid evaluation task force involved in choosing the U.S. city to be considered as host for the 2012 Olympic Games. In 1988 he was inducted into the USATF Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the California Community College T&F Hall of Fame.
              -“In Dedication” by Ron Morris, On Track 2005 catalogue/ USATF web site