November 12, 2022
I have no one to blame for this posting except myself and Walt Murphy. Every day I receive his newsletter This Day in X Country-Track and Field with info about our sport that happened on that day going back to the 19th century. Well today (November 12) there was a link to a site that talked about when DIII runners could qualify to run in the big show (DI cross country nationals). Some years they didn't even have to qualify, they just went. Those small schools traditionally ran their nationals on a Saturday and the big division had theirs two days later on Monday. With a travel day on Sunday, an ambitious runner and his or her coach could hop in the station wagon and drive from the DIII site and have another go next day. Often it was just a hop from Wheaton, IL to East Lansing, MI. And some of these small college runners did very well. Before there were big and large school divisions the small schools joined in at East Lansing. In fact, Quentin Brelsford of Ohio Wesleyan University won the race in 1948. In those days it was rare to see a school from west of the Mississippi or south of the Ohio rivers competing at the NCAA nationals.
Kirk Reynolds at Pomona-Pitzer College has developed a nice website with DIII history including results from 1973 to 1990 for DIII runners who went to the big show (Div I)
This link will give you a page with some of that history about how DIII individual runners (not teams) made the trek between the two races and how they placed. https://www.sagehens.com/sports/wxc/HistoriansReport/Div-III-at-Div-I-meet.htm
I recall going to Madison, WI in 1978 to see the Div I race and being very impressed by Dan Henderson, a runner from Wheaton College, placing very well in that race and going head to head with Alberto Salazar, Thom Hunt, Rudy Chapa, Michael Musyoki and even Henry Rono who had an off day. The other thing I recall about that weekend ride to Madison, Wisconsin was hearing the breaking news about the Jonestown, Guyana massacre.
What Kirk Reynolds' website does not show are the results from 1958 to 73 when there were no DI DII and DIII divisions but only 'College' and 'University' divisions. Fortuantely I was able to dig out those years from T&FN archives. As wiseacres might say, "It takes a certain mentality to go through old stats." I'm normally not one of those guys but today I have reason. Living up here on Vancouver Island, there's not much else to do in the winter. Actually that's not true. There is wood to chop and salmon to catch. The reason I did this is I got to know a fellow up here who won the college division race for the University of North Dakota in 1967 and two days later finished second in the University division at Laramie, WY not far behind Gerry Lindgren. His name was Arjan Gelling, a Dutch immigrant to Canada who came down south to go to college. Arjan passed away about five years ago, but I was able to meet him several times and develop a bond and wrote a piece about him for this blog.
Here is the link to that piece: https://onceuponatimeinthevest.blogspot.com/2015/06/v-5-no-55-arjan-gelling-dutch-canadian.html
Here then are those results of small school runners and how they did in their College Division race and then the University Division from 1958-1973. If you continue reading from this point you may have a lifetime subscription to this blog and also check in to the nearest TSA (Track Stats Anonymous) meeting room. You can talk your way through this with other track nuts. Also I've highlighted a few names that I recall went on to bigger and better things in the track and cross country world.
1958
College Div Place University Div Place Name School
3rd 3rd Ed Vander Heuvel Central Michigan
DNR 11th David Peele Beloit
DNR 41 Frank Finnerty Alfred
4th 45th Warren Hall Wabash
1959
5th 27th Warren Hall Wabash
DNR 23rd Larry Sweet Alfred
DNR 37th Frank Finnerty Alfred
DNR 41st Tom Ryan Lemoyne
1960
DNR 12th Larry Sweet Alfred
DNR 52nd Ron Reinhart Wabash
DNR 75th Joseph Di Camillo Alfred
Of note in 1960. It doesn't look as if Alfred College was even aware of the College Division race as they don't appear to go to it. Also two University Division runners caught my attention. Finishing 78th this year from the US Military Academy admittedly a University Division school was Ron Zinn who would represent the US in 1964 as a race walker and later die as an officer in Viet Nam. The other name that caught my attention from West Point was 69th placer Carl Chickendantz. Yes, really. With that name he had to be one of the toughest military men ever to walk the earth. I can only imagine the harassment he got going through the Point.
1961
4th 24th Les Hegedus Central State (OH)
6th 66th Tim Burns Buffalo State
DNR 17th Dennis Moore Abeline Christian
DNR 33rd John Lawler Abeline Christian
27th 99th Wm Keller Oberlin
41st 108th Wm Flynn Buffalo St.
1962
1st 7th Les Hegedus Central St. (OH)
8th 87th Wm Moore Central St. (OH)
DNR 114th Fred Kurz Chicago
1963
1st 2nd John Camien Emporia St.
6th 75th Wm Moore Central St (OH)
12th 104th Loren Wilkinson Wheaton
13th 65th Wm Wise Thiel
1964
2nd 46th Wm Moore Central St (OH)
6th 8th Robert Lally SUNY Cortland
9th 91st Dave Shuler West Liberty State
13th 101st Ernest Wilson North Dakota
17th 110st Robert Fitts SUNY Cortland
1965
1st 14th Gene Takle Luther
3rd 25th David Heffern South Dakota
4th 26th Donald Knox Kentucky St.
8th 35th Edw. Watt N.E. Louisiana
12th 85th Ronald Werling N.E. Missouri St.
13th 116th Kevin Keogh Western Illinois
1966
1st 9th Bob Fitts SUNY Cortland
2nd 6th Ambrose Burfoot Wesleyan
11th 51st Ronald Werling N.E. Missouri
12th 75th Peter Hildebrand Chicago
1967
1st 2nd Arjan Gelling North Dakota
DNR 6th Ambrose Burfoot Wesleyan
7th 72nd John Kerr Ball State
15th 32nd Bruce Sundet Luther
1968
DNR 4th Grant Colhour Eastern Kentucky
DNR 14th Ken Silvius Eastern Kentucky
3rd 35th Troy Roberts Western Illinois
5th 81st Arjan Gelling North Dakota'
1969
1st 41st Ron Stonitsch C.W. Post
2nd 49th John Cragg St. Johns (MN)
4th 160th Martin McIntire Eastern Illinois
5th 32nd Jerome Dirken St. Cloud St.
7th 114th Alan Taylor Illinois State
1970
1st 16th Mark Covert Cal St. Fullerton
2nd 21st John Cragg St. Johns (MN)
9th 55th Wm Ryan Cal Poly Pomona
1971
1st 3rd Mike Slack North Dakota
3rd 40th Mark Covert Cal St Fullerton
4th 22nd Daniel Moynihan Tufts
5th 17th John Casso Cal St Fullerton
7th 77th Randy Lussenden North Dakota
8th 86th Steve Podgajay Lockhaven
9th 131st Chris Hoffman Cal St Fullerton
1972
DNR 30th Jeff Lough Cal St LA
1st 40th Mike Slack North Dakota
2nd 85th Daniel Moynihan Tufts
4th 34th Garry Bentley South Dakota
12th 97th Tom Fleming Wm. Patterson
1973
2nd 112th Glenn Behnke North Central
4th 114th Francis Verdoliva SUNY Oswego
5th 105th Fernando Suarez SUNY Oswego
After 1973 the DI DII and DIII divisions were created, there were fewer openings for the smaller schools to attend the DI meet. That continued until 1990. I'm sure I've made some mistakes in this as schools moved up from College to University divisions during this period. Southern Illinois, Central Michigan, Ball State, Abilene Christian for example. So if you find errors or feel someone was left out, please let me know. I normally don't do things like this, but it was a slow news day. Hopefully in the near future I will be able to do something about the DIII women going to the big show.
. George Brose