February 11

1965 -- Just 4 months after finishing 5th in the 1964 Olympic 800 final in Tokyo, St.John's grad Tom Farrell used front-running tactics at the NYAC Games to beat favored Bill Crothers in the 1/2-mile and set a world record of 1:49.8. The previous mark of 1:49.9 was held by New Zealand's Peter Snell, the suprise winner of the 800 in Tokyo. Farrell, who splits his time between his home in California and New York, where he is a volunteer assistant coach at his alma mater during the indoor and outdoor seasons, went on to win the bronze medal in the 800- meters at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

2000 -- The Stanford men's "A" team set the American record for the indoor distance medley relay at the Tyson Invititational in Fayetteville, Arkansas with their clocking of 9:30.83. However, Stanford would go on to break their own record later in the indoor season when the same foursome of Gabe Jennings, Evan Kelty, Michael Stember and Jonathon Riley clocked 9:28.83 on the same track at the NCAA D-I Indoor Championships. That record still stands. (Thanks to David Monti)

February 12

1966 -- Martin McGrady, an unheralded 19-year old sophomore at Central State, ran 1:09.0 on the spacious 220-yard track at the Mason- Dixon Games in Louisville (the track of choice for world record attempts in those days) to set a world record for 600-yards. According to McGrady, he was only in the race to act as a "rabbit" so that Ollan Cassell could get the record. In fact, meet organizers had already inscribed Cassell's name on the "winner's" trophy and had to mail a corrected one to McGrady. Cassell, the future head of T&F in the U.S., ran 1:09.1 in second place as both bettered Wendell Mottley's previous mark of 1:09.2.

February 13

1964 -- Jim Beatty fired the gun to start the mile at the NYAC Games in Madison Square Garden, then watched Tom O'Hara run 3:56.6 to smash his (Beatty's) world record by a full two seconds. At the same meet, Bob Hayes won the 60-yard dash in 6.0, tying the world record for the 4th time that season.

February 15

1964 -- 17-year old Gerry Lindgren, a senior at Rogers H.S. (Spokane,WA), stole the show with his front-running battle against Australia's Ron Clarke in the 2-miles at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Clarke won the race in 8:36.9, while Lindgren, who would make the U.S. Olympic team in the 10,000-meters later in the year, ran an amazing 8:40.0 to establish the still-standing U.S. High School record.

1975 -- Jumping in Oklahoma City at the USTFF (U.S. Track&Field Federation) Championships, Dwight Stones jumped 7-5 1/2 to break his own world record in the high jump by 1/4". It was the most unlikely record of his career, as Dwight explains below.

February 17

1974 -- North Carolina's Tony Waldrop continued his dominance of the mile during the 1974 indoor season, running 3:55.0 in San Diego to shatter the previous world record of 3:56.4, which was shared by Tom O'Hara and Jim Ryun. Waldrop's mark still holds up as the current collegiate record. In the very next race, Steve Prefontaine ran 8:20.4 to better better his own American Record in the 2-mile.