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University Daily Kansan
Friday. April 21. 1961
Former KU Greats Hold Relays Marks
ALMOST UNDER—Wes Santee came within .6 of dipping below the coveted four minute mark while running for Coach Bill Easton. Santee was twice the winner of the Glenn Cunningham mile in the Relays, taking first in 1954 and the following year.
OLD MARK — Glenn Cunningham still holds a Relays record, the 1500 meter mark which he set at 3:53.3 in 1933. This great runner, for whom the mile and 1500 meter races are named also took the 1500 in 1932 and added the mile, in its first running, 1934.
Through all of its thirty-six years the Kansas Relays has been known as one of the great spawning grounds of the most outstanding track and field athletes in the United States.
Although a great tradition of thrilling individual performances has been carried through the years by almost every winner of a Relys event, among the most exciting accomplishments have been those of the many highly talented Kansas entrants.
Pictured on this page are six of the greatest competitors who have ever carried the Crimson and the Blue to victory in the annual Memorial Stadium extravaganza.
Although the individuals presented may not be the best to ever represent Kansas, they do offer a colorful cross-section of the success of both the Kansas Relays and the track and field program at the University of Kansas.
THREE WINS-Relays record holder in the discus with a heave of 178-1, Al Oerter, later to become an Olympic champion, took this event three times in the KU Relays. He set a record in 1956, established the existing mark the next year and also won in 1958.
LONG LEAPER—The best broad jumper to ever don Kansas spikes, and among the most accomplished in the entire history of the event was recent Jayhawker great. Ernie Shelby. Shelby was twice a winner of this event in the Relays. He won in 1958 and 59. Although he never held the broad jump mark in the Relays, Shelby was twice NCAA champion and also placed in the hop, skip and jump and the 220 yard low hurdles in 1958.
RECORD HOLDER—Another in the long list of Kansas thinclads who went on to compete in the Olympics, Bill Alley, was a double Relays winner in his specialty, the javelin. In his junior year, 1939, he established the existing record of 254-9.
LONGEST PUT—Brawny Bill Nierder, twice Kansas Relays champion, set the mark in shot put while taking the gold medal the second time in a row, in 1956. His winning put was 59-7/7 8. Nieder is also only one of two athletes to ever win the Henry Shulte Award which is given to the Most Outstanding Performer in the Big Eight Outdoor meet.