William Healy Sefton (January 21, 1915 – May 2, 1982) was an American pole vaulter. Sefton broke the pole vault world record several times in 1937 and placed fourth in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
Bill Sefton
Bill Sefton in 1935
Personal information
Born
January 21, 1915 Los Angeles, California, United States
Sefton was a good pole vaulter already in 1932, while still at Polytechnic High School. He vaulted 13 ft 5+1⁄4 in (4.09 m) for a national high school record[1][2] and shared first place in the California interscholastic championship meet.[3] In 1934 he vaulted at least 14 ft (4.26 m) on four occasions, clearing 14 ft 1⁄2 in (4.28 m) at Santa Barbara on April 28,[4] and tied for first at the national junior championships with a new meeting record of 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m).[5]
Sefton and Meadows tied at the NCAA meet again in 1936, this time vaulting 14 ft 1+3⁄4 in (4.31 m) to improve their meeting record by a fraction of an inch.[7][10] At the national championships George Varoff won with a new world record of 14 ft 6+1⁄2 in (4.43 m) while Sefton vaulted 14 ft (4.26 m) for third.[9] However, the Olympic trials were held separately the following week and there Varoff only placed fourth and was left off the team, while Sefton, Meadows and returning Olympian and USC graduate Bill Graber all cleared 14 ft 3 in (4.34 m) to tie for first.[11] It was the first time one university had swept the three Olympic spots at the trials.[11]
Sefton almost failed to qualify for the Olympic final, missing twice at 3.80 m (12 ft 5+5⁄8 in) in qualifying but clearing cleanly on his third attempt.[12] In the final Meadows won with an Olympic record of 4.35 m (14 ft 3+1⁄4 in) while Sefton and two Japanese vaulters, Shuhei Nishida and Sueo Ōe, all cleared 4.25 m (13 ft 11+3⁄8 in) and had an extra vault as a tie-breaker.[13][14] Sefton lost the jump-off and thus finished out of the medals in fourth place.[14]
1937edit
Sefton broke the world record several times in 1937. He first improved it in Los Angeles on April 10, clearing 14 ft 7+3⁄8 in (4.45 m) to beat Varoff's mark from the previous year.[15] A month later in San Francisco he cleared 14 ft 8+1⁄2 (4.48 m) in a dual meet against Stanford, but Meadows equaled that height later in the same competition.[16] Finally, in the conference meet on May 29, again in Los Angeles, Sefton vaulted 14 ft 11 in (4.54 m), clearing that height on his first attempt.[17] Meadows, despite missing on his first two attempts, again tied the new record on his third and final try.[17] The two were not able to attempt 15 ft (4.57 m) that day as the standards maxed out at 14 ft 11 in and the bar couldn't be raised any higher.[17][18] Only these last records were officially ratified by the IAAF.[19]
Sefton finally won outright at the NCAA championships, clearing 14 ft 8+7⁄8 in (4.49 m) for a meeting record and beating both Varoff and Meadows.[7] It was only in 1951 that Don Laz of Illinois broke that record.[7][20] Sefton also won the 1937 national title with a leap of 14 ft 7+5⁄8 in (4.46 m), another meeting record; Dutch Warmerdam, Meadows and Varoff all cleared the same height but missed out on countback.[9][21]
Referencesedit
^"Olympics Beckon High School Stars". The Milwaukee Journal. June 27, 1932. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
^"Polytechnic Student Yearbook". 1932. p. 126. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
^"Previous CIF Champions" (PDF). California Interscholastic Federation; DyeStat. p. 14.
^Dumas, Gerard. "14-FOOT ERA (4.26,7m)". Pole Vault Canada. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
^Kirksey, George (June 30, 1934). "Far Westerners Score 24 Points; Big Meet Today". Nevada State Journal. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
^. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
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This article is about the American athlete For the British politician see William Sefton Baron Sefton of Garston William Healy Sefton January 21 1915 May 2 1982 was an American pole vaulter Sefton broke the pole vault world record several times in 1937 and placed fourth in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin Bill SeftonBill Sefton in 1935Personal informationBornJanuary 21 1915Los Angeles California United StatesDiedMay 2 1982 aged 67 Plano Texas United StatesHeight1 90 m 6 ft 3 in Weight82 kg 181 lb SportSportPole vaultClubUSC Trojans Los AngelesAchievements and titlesOlympic finals1936 Contents 1 Athletic career 1 1 Early career 1 2 1936 1 3 1937 2 References 3 External linksAthletic career editEarly career edit Sefton was a good pole vaulter already in 1932 while still at Polytechnic High School He vaulted 13 ft 5 1 4 in 4 09 m for a national high school record 1 2 and shared first place in the California interscholastic championship meet 3 In 1934 he vaulted at least 14 ft 4 26 m on four occasions clearing 14 ft 1 2 in 4 28 m at Santa Barbara on April 28 4 and tied for first at the national junior championships with a new meeting record of 13 ft 6 in 4 11 m 5 Sefton and Earle Meadows were teammates at the University of Southern California and collectively known as the Heavenly Twins 6 The two tied for first at the 1935 NCAA championship meet both vaulting 14 ft 1 1 8 in 4 29 m for a new meeting record as USC won the team title 7 8 They also tied at the national championships both clearing 13 ft 10 3 8 in 4 22 m to share first place 9 1936 edit Sefton and Meadows tied at the NCAA meet again in 1936 this time vaulting 14 ft 1 3 4 in 4 31 m to improve their meeting record by a fraction of an inch 7 10 At the national championships George Varoff won with a new world record of 14 ft 6 1 2 in 4 43 m while Sefton vaulted 14 ft 4 26 m for third 9 However the Olympic trials were held separately the following week and there Varoff only placed fourth and was left off the team while Sefton Meadows and returning Olympian and USC graduate Bill Graber all cleared 14 ft 3 in 4 34 m to tie for first 11 It was the first time one university had swept the three Olympic spots at the trials 11 Sefton almost failed to qualify for the Olympic final missing twice at 3 80 m 12 ft 5 5 8 in in qualifying but clearing cleanly on his third attempt 12 In the final Meadows won with an Olympic record of 4 35 m 14 ft 3 1 4 in while Sefton and two Japanese vaulters Shuhei Nishida and Sueo Ōe all cleared 4 25 m 13 ft 11 3 8 in and had an extra vault as a tie breaker 13 14 Sefton lost the jump off and thus finished out of the medals in fourth place 14 1937 edit Sefton broke the world record several times in 1937 He first improved it in Los Angeles on April 10 clearing 14 ft 7 3 8 in 4 45 m to beat Varoff s mark from the previous year 15 A month later in San Francisco he cleared 14 ft 8 1 2 4 48 m in a dual meet against Stanford but Meadows equaled that height later in the same competition 16 Finally in the conference meet on May 29 again in Los Angeles Sefton vaulted 14 ft 11 in 4 54 m clearing that height on his first attempt 17 Meadows despite missing on his first two attempts again tied the new record on his third and final try 17 The two were not able to attempt 15 ft 4 57 m that day as the standards maxed out at 14 ft 11 in and the bar couldn t be raised any higher 17 18 Only these last records were officially ratified by the IAAF 19 Sefton finally won outright at the NCAA championships clearing 14 ft 8 7 8 in 4 49 m for a meeting record and beating both Varoff and Meadows 7 It was only in 1951 that Don Laz of Illinois broke that record 7 20 Sefton also won the 1937 national title with a leap of 14 ft 7 5 8 in 4 46 m another meeting record Dutch Warmerdam Meadows and Varoff all cleared the same height but missed out on countback 9 21 References edit Olympics Beckon High School Stars The Milwaukee Journal June 27 1932 Retrieved March 27 2014 Polytechnic Student Yearbook 1932 p 126 Retrieved March 27 2014 Previous CIF Champions PDF California Interscholastic Federation DyeStat p 14 Dumas Gerard 14 FOOT ERA 4 26 7m Pole Vault Canada Retrieved March 27 2014 Kirksey George June 30 1934 Far Westerners Score 24 Points Big Meet Today Nevada State Journal Retrieved March 27 2014 Earle Meadows Bio Stats and Results Sports Reference LLC Archived from the original on April 17 2020 Retrieved March 27 2014 a b c d Hill E Garry All Time NCAA Men s Results POLE VAULT PDF Track amp Field News permanent dead link Three New Marks for N C 4 A Meet Lawrence Journal World June 24 1935 Retrieved March 27 2014 a b c 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 25 2014 Trojan Star to Appear in Meet Here The Milwaukee Journal June 24 1936 Retrieved March 27 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 SEFTON QUALIFIES IN POLE VAULT The Telegraph August 5 1936 Retrieved March 27 2014 Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games Men s Pole Vault Sports Reference LLC Archived from the original on April 17 2020 Retrieved March 27 2014 a b Meadows Breaks Vault Record The Milwaukee Journal August 5 1936 Sefton Sets Vault Mark The Pittsburgh Press April 11 1937 Retrieved March 27 2014 Meadows Sefton Vault 14 Feet 8 The Day May 10 1937 Retrieved March 27 2014 a b c California Duo Sets Unofficial Record In Meet St Petersburg Times May 30 1937 Retrieved March 27 2014 Bill Sefton Bio Stats and Results Sports Reference LLC Archived from the original on April 18 2020 Retrieved March 27 2014 Butler Mark IAAF Media amp Public Relations Department IAAF Statistics Handbook Daegu 2011 International Association of Athletics Federations Two Records Set Trojans Win at NCAA The Miami News June 16 1951 Retrieved March 27 2014 Weekes William July 4 1937 TOLMICH AND CUNNINGHAM STAR IN AAU MEET AT MILWAUKEE Big Spring Daily Herald Retrieved March 27 2014 External links editProfileRecordsPreceded by nbsp George Varoff Men s Pole Vault World Record HolderApril 10 1937 April 13 1940 Succeeded by nbsp Cornelius Warmerdam Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bill Sefton amp oldid 1156458430, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
