The King ts D ead, Long Live the Ki ngs
LastOf Jim Tharpe'sRecordsFalls by ROBERT A. WHITT, JR., '51 When Allen Saville raced to a 4 :21.8 mile on April 17 in a meet with East Carolina, the last of Lester E. "Jim" Tharpe 's three longstanding marks was erased from the track records of University of Richmond . On May 23, 1925, forty-two years ago, Tharpe had set the record, winning the South Atlantic Championships mile in 4:22. 6. Tharpe, undoubtedly the Spiders' greatest trackman, set records for the 440, 880, and mile while winning 44 of 48 dual meet races and seven of eight South Atlantic Meet events during his career from 1924 to 1927. He was undefeated as a junior and senior and was beaten in only one meet by an opponent - edged by Joe Enslow of Maryland in 1925' in both the 440 and 880. Three times he finished second to teammates. H is 51 wins in 56 outdoor races are the most ever posted by a Spider. In his 4 year carrer he also won several South Atl antic A.A .U . Championship titles . In setting the mile record Tharpe whipped a field of competitors from ten colleges, winning by 75 yards: He likely would have lowered it if he could have concentrated on the event but ran the mile in only three dual meets, being more valuable to the
team doubling in the quarter and half. Tharpe's half -mile record of 1 :56.8 was also set in 1925, in a meet with Virginia Tech. His 440 mark was 49.8 against Johns Hopkins in 1926 . All three of the records withstood the challenges of Spider runners for over three decades, even though the holder had offered a beautiful silver cup to the man breaking any of the marks. The 440 was the first to fall when Ted Masters won the 1958 Big Six race in 49.2 (lowered to 49 .1 by ace sprinter Bob Crute this year) . (Masters is now teacher principal at Woodrow Wilson School in Portsmouth.) Saville, co-captain with Crute, broke the 880 standard in 1965- 1 :55 .8 in SC Meet trials. He has lowered the mark three times, holding the record now at 1 :53.0 . No one threatened the half-mile record until Saville came along, but Spider distance stars Bill Lumpkin, '37, Owen Gwathmey, '42, and Warren Chukinas, '58, came close to the mile mark. Lumpkin still holds the indoor two-mile school record (9:30.4 in 1937 SC Indoor Meet) . Saville, like Tharpe, probably would have lowered the mile record even more if he could have competed in the event regularly.
THE LASTTHARPERECORDFALLS.When Allen Saville (right) edged Charles Hudson of East Carolina in 4:21.8 in the mile, he erased the great Lester E. (Jim) Thorpe's University of Richmond mark of 4:22.6 that had stood since 1925. Saville also lowered Thorpe's record in the half-mile, set in a dua l meet with Johns Hopkins' (below).
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He ran it in only five dual meets, winning each time but conserving his energy to double up in the half . In addition to the races in which he set records Saville says, "Winning the mile relay in this year's Southern Conference Meet stands out. " He anchored the quartet which lowered the meet record more than two seconds with a 3: 16.3 clocking. "Jim" Tharpe, a native of Luray, Va., almost didn't get a chance to go to college, dropping out of high school after one year to go to work during World War I. After the war he entered Fork Union Military Academy and was started on his brilliant career by Mac Pitt , then coach at the Academy. Pitt clearly recalls, "The headmaster suggested that I give young Tharpe an opportunity to make the team. The track was laid out around the flag pole- his practice times were almost unbelievable, even under those makeshift conditions ." Pitt took him to big time schoolboy meets where he won the indoor 600 and 880 at Baltimore and the 1000 yard run at Washington, and scored a point in the National AAU meet 880 at Chicago. ( Conti nued on page 17)
