This article is about the American pole vaulter. For the founder of the Lez Get Real website, see Lez Get Real.
William Noe Graber (January 21, 1911 – March 8, 1996) was an American pole vaulter. He broke the pole vault world record in 1932 and competed at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics, placing fourth and fifth, respectively.[1]
Graber studied at the University of Southern California (USC), where he was coached by Dean Cromwell.[2] As a sophomore in 1931 Graber won the pole vault at the IC4A championships[3] and tied for first at the NCAA championships,[4] helping the USC Trojans to team titles in both meets.[2][5] At the IC4A meet in Philadelphia men's pole vault was the last event and Graber's meeting record of 14 ft 1⁄2 in (4.28 m) secured the Trojans a narrow victory over Stanford University.[6] Graber was only the fifth athlete in the world to jump 14 feet or more in a competition, and the only one to do so that year.[7] Graber's NCAA jump of 13 ft 10+5⁄16 in (4.22 m) was also a meeting record; the Trojans won that team title by a much more comfortable margin, scoring a record 77+1⁄7 points and beating Ohio State by 46 points.[5]
Graber repeated as IC4A champion 1932, although this time he only tied for first.[3] He was unable to defend his NCAA title as the Trojans didn't compete in that meet.[4] The American team for the Olympics in Los Angeles was selected at the Olympic Trials in Palo Alto, with the top three qualifying. Both Graber and Stanford's Bill Miller cleared 14 ft 1+5⁄8 in (4.31 m), a fraction of an inch better than Lee Barnes's world record of 14 ft 1+1⁄2 in (4.30 m).[8] Graber then cleared 14 ft 4+3⁄8 in (4.37 m) to obliterate the record; he said afterwards "it was the first time this year that I have been able to follow one good vault with another."[8] The record established Graber as the leading favorite for the Olympics,[9][10] but he underperformed and only jumped 13 ft 7+1⁄4 in (4.15 m), placing fourth behind Miller, Japan's Shuhei Nishida and the other American entrant, George Jefferson.[1][11]
Graber won his third IC4A title in 1933 in a five-way tie for first place.[3][12] He also tied for first place at the NCAA meet, jumping 13 ft 11+1⁄16 in (4.24 m)[13] to break his own meeting record.[4] In 1934 he was national champion indoors[14] and tied for the title outdoors.[15] He almost broke his own world record in April 1935 at Santa Barbara, clearing a bar supposedly at 14 ft 5+5⁄8 in (4.41 m), but it was subsequently found that the take-off point had been two inches (5 cm) higher than the point of measurement and the record could not be ratified.[16]
Entering the Olympic year of 1936, Graber was considered a leading candidate for his second Olympic Games.[17] At the Olympic Trials at Randalls Island in New York City he cleared 14 ft 3 in (4.34 m), tying for first place with Bill Sefton and Earle Meadows.[18] Meadows and Sefton both being USC undergraduates, it was the first time in the history of the Trials that one university had claimed the top three.[18]George Varoff, who had been the favorite after breaking the world record the previous week, only cleared 14 ft (4.26 m) and didn't qualify for the team.[19]
Graber was again a leading Olympic favorite,[20] but again he failed to medal; at the Olympics he only managed 13 ft 7+1⁄4 in (4.15 m) and placed 5th.[1]
Referencesedit
^ abcd. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on October 13, 2013. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
^ abKirksey, George (June 3, 1931). "Trojans Didn't Win On Climate, Says Cromwell". Berkeley Daily Gazette. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
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This article is about the American pole vaulter For the founder of the Lez Get Real website see Lez Get Real William Noe Graber January 21 1911 March 8 1996 was an American pole vaulter He broke the pole vault world record in 1932 and competed at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics placing fourth and fifth respectively 1 Bill GraberGraber in 1934Personal informationBornJanuary 21 1911Ontario California U S DiedMarch 8 1996 aged 85 San Bernardino California U S Height188 cm 6 ft 2 in Weight81 kg 179 lb SportSportAthleticsEventPole vaultClubUSC Trojans Los AngelesAchievements and titlesPersonal best4 40 m 1935 1 Athletic career editGraber studied at the University of Southern California USC where he was coached by Dean Cromwell 2 As a sophomore in 1931 Graber won the pole vault at the IC4A championships 3 and tied for first at the NCAA championships 4 helping the USC Trojans to team titles in both meets 2 5 At the IC4A meet in Philadelphia men s pole vault was the last event and Graber s meeting record of 14 ft 1 2 in 4 28 m secured the Trojans a narrow victory over Stanford University 6 Graber was only the fifth athlete in the world to jump 14 feet or more in a competition and the only one to do so that year 7 Graber s NCAA jump of 13 ft 10 5 16 in 4 22 m was also a meeting record the Trojans won that team title by a much more comfortable margin scoring a record 77 1 7 points and beating Ohio State by 46 points 5 Graber repeated as IC4A champion 1932 although this time he only tied for first 3 He was unable to defend his NCAA title as the Trojans didn t compete in that meet 4 The American team for the Olympics in Los Angeles was selected at the Olympic Trials in Palo Alto with the top three qualifying Both Graber and Stanford s Bill Miller cleared 14 ft 1 5 8 in 4 31 m a fraction of an inch better than Lee Barnes s world record of 14 ft 1 1 2 in 4 30 m 8 Graber then cleared 14 ft 4 3 8 in 4 37 m to obliterate the record he said afterwards it was the first time this year that I have been able to follow one good vault with another 8 The record established Graber as the leading favorite for the Olympics 9 10 but he underperformed and only jumped 13 ft 7 1 4 in 4 15 m placing fourth behind Miller Japan s Shuhei Nishida and the other American entrant George Jefferson 1 11 Graber won his third IC4A title in 1933 in a five way tie for first place 3 12 He also tied for first place at the NCAA meet jumping 13 ft 11 1 16 in 4 24 m 13 to break his own meeting record 4 In 1934 he was national champion indoors 14 and tied for the title outdoors 15 He almost broke his own world record in April 1935 at Santa Barbara clearing a bar supposedly at 14 ft 5 5 8 in 4 41 m but it was subsequently found that the take off point had been two inches 5 cm higher than the point of measurement and the record could not be ratified 16 Entering the Olympic year of 1936 Graber was considered a leading candidate for his second Olympic Games 17 At the Olympic Trials at Randalls Island in New York City he cleared 14 ft 3 in 4 34 m tying for first place with Bill Sefton and Earle Meadows 18 Meadows and Sefton both being USC undergraduates it was the first time in the history of the Trials that one university had claimed the top three 18 George Varoff who had been the favorite after breaking the world record the previous week only cleared 14 ft 4 26 m and didn t qualify for the team 19 Graber was again a leading Olympic favorite 20 but again he failed to medal at the Olympics he only managed 13 ft 7 1 4 in 4 15 m and placed 5th 1 References edit a b c d Bill Graber Bio Stats and Results Sports Reference LLC Archived from the original on October 13 2013 Retrieved March 29 2014 a b Kirksey George June 3 1931 Trojans Didn t Win On Climate Says Cromwell Berkeley Daily Gazette Retrieved March 29 2014 a b c Squire Jesse IC4A CHAMPIONSHIPS 1876 1942 Athletics Weekly Retrieved 29 March 2014 a b c Hill E Garry All Time NCAA Men s Results POLE VAULT PDF Track amp Field News permanent dead link a b Dunkley Charles June 7 1931 TWO MARKS FALL AS TROJANS WIN The Milwaukee Sentinel Retrieved March 29 2014 Trojans Win AAAA Meet Records Fall The Milwaukee Sentinel May 31 1931 Archived from the original on January 9 2020 Retrieved March 29 2014 Dumas Gerard 14 FOOT ERA 4 26 7m Pole Vault Canada Retrieved March 29 2014 a b Hymans Richard The History of the United States Olympic Trials Track amp Field Track amp Field News Archived from the original PDF on May 24 2013 Retrieved March 29 2014 Gould Alan July 27 1932 U S NEARLY SURE TO WIN HIGH JUMP AND POLE VAULT The Tuscaloosa News Retrieved March 29 2014 Jukola Martti 1935 Huippu urheilun historia in Finnish Werner Soderstrom Osakeyhtio U S STARS PILE UP SEVEN FIRST PLACES The Palm Beach Post August 4 1932 Retrieved March 29 2014 West Coast Schools Hog Competition in College Track Meet San Antonio Express May 28 1933 Retrieved March 29 2014 1934 NCAA Championship Meet Start Lists PDF National Collegiate Athletic Association Retrieved December 16 2014 USA Indoor Track amp Field Champions USA Track amp Field Retrieved March 29 2014 Mallon Bill Buchanan Ian Track amp Field News A History Of The Results Of The National Track amp Field Championships Of The USA From 1876 Through 2011 Track amp Field News Archived from the original on April 7 2014 Retrieved March 29 2014 Brown Graber to Settle Pole Vault Feud June 15 Reading Eagle June 3 1935 Retrieved March 29 2014 Bill Graber Should Set New Record In Olympic Vault The Deseret News April 1 1936 Retrieved March 29 2014 a b Hymans Richard The History of the United States Olympic Trials Track amp Field USA Track amp Field Track amp Field News Archived from the original PDF on May 24 2013 Retrieved March 27 2014 Startling Array of Great Stars The Evening Independent July 13 1936 Retrieved March 29 2014 BERLIN GAMES YET TO PRODUCE ONE SURPRISE The Reading Eagle August 5 1936 Retrieved March 29 2014 External links editProfile Records Preceded by nbsp Charles Hoff professional nbsp Lee Barnes amateur Men s Pole Vault World Record HolderJuly 16 1932 June 1 1935 Succeeded by nbsp Keith Brown Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bill Graber amp oldid 1223488471, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
