Bill Sefton

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This article is about the American athlete. For the British politician, see William Sefton, Baron Sefton of Garston.
Bill Sefton
Bill Sefton in 1935
Personal information
BornJanuary 21, 1915
Los Angeles, California, United States
DiedMay 2, 1982 (aged 67)
Plano, Texas, United States
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight82 kg (181 lb)
Sport
SportPole vault
ClubUSC Trojans, Los Angeles
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals1936

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.

Athletic career

Early career

Sefton was a good pole vaulter already in 1932, while still at

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

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

Sefton and Meadows tied at 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

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

IAAF.[19]

Sefton finally won outright at the

Dutch Warmerdam, Meadows and Varoff all cleared the same height but missed out on countback.[9][21]

References

  1. The Milwaukee Journal
    . June 27, 1932. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  2. ^ "Polytechnic Student Yearbook". 1932. p. 126. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  3. ^ "Previous CIF Champions" (PDF). California Interscholastic Federation; DyeStat. p. 14.
  4. ^ Dumas, Gerard. "14-FOOT ERA (4.26,7m)". Pole Vault Canada. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  5. Nevada State Journal
    . Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  6. ^ "Earle Meadows Bio, Stats and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d Hill, E. Garry. "All-Time NCAA Men's Results/POLE VAULT" (PDF). Track & Field News.[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ "Three New Marks for N.C.4.A. Meet". Lawrence Journal-World. June 24, 1935. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  9. ^ a b c Mallon, Bill; Buchanan, Ian; Track & Field News. "A History Of The Results Of The National Track & Field Championships Of The USA From 1876 Through 2011". Track & Field News. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
  10. ^ "Trojan Star to Appear in Meet Here". The Milwaukee Journal. June 24, 1936. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  11. ^ a b Hymans, Richard. "The History of the United States Olympic Trials – Track & Field". USA Track & Field; Track & Field News. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 24, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  12. The Telegraph
    . August 5, 1936. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  13. ^ "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.
  14. ^ a b "Meadows Breaks Vault Record". The Milwaukee Journal. August 5, 1936.
  15. ^ "Sefton Sets Vault Mark". The Pittsburgh Press. April 11, 1937. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  16. ^ "Meadows, Sefton Vault 14 Feet 8½". The Day. May 10, 1937. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  17. ^
    St. Petersburg Times
    . May 30, 1937. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  18. ^ "Bill Sefton Bio, Stats and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  19. International Association of Athletics Federations
  20. ^ "Two Records Set, Trojans Win at NCAA". The Miami News. June 16, 1951. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  21. Big Spring Daily Herald
    . Retrieved March 27, 2014.

External links

Records
Preceded by
Men's Pole Vault World Record Holder

April 10, 1937 – April 13, 1940 		Succeeded by
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