William Healy Sefton (January 21, 1915 – May 2, 1982) was an American
pole vault
Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the My ...
er. Sefton broke the pole vault
world record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book '' Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizati ...
several times in 1937 and placed fourth in the
1936 Olympics in
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
.
Athletic career
Early career
Sefton was a good pole vaulter already in 1932, while still at
Polytechnic High School. He vaulted 13 ft in (4.09 m) for a
national high school record and shared first place in the California interscholastic championship meet. In 1934 he vaulted at least 14 ft (4.26 m) on four occasions, clearing 14 ft in (4.28 m) at
Santa Barbara on April 28, and tied for first at the national junior championships with a new meeting record of 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m).
Sefton and
Earle Meadows were teammates at the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8. ...
and collectively known as the "Heavenly Twins". The two tied for first at the
1935 NCAA championship meet, both vaulting 14 ft in (4.29 m) for a new meeting record as USC won the team title.
They also tied at the
national championships
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, i ...
, both clearing 13 ft in (4.22 m) to share first place.
1936
Sefton and Meadows tied at the
NCAA meet again in 1936, this time vaulting 14 ft in (4.31 m) to improve their meeting record by a fraction of an inch.
[ At the national championships ]George Varoff
George Dimitri Varoff (March 25, 1914 – January 10, 2002) was an American pole vaulter.
Early life
Varoff was born in Hawaii to Ukrainian immigrants and grew up in San Francisco, where he competed for Balboa High School. After high school, h ...
won with a new world record of 14 ft in (4.43 m) while Sefton vaulted 14 ft (4.26 m) for third.[ 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
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.
Athletic career
Graber studi ...
all cleared 14 ft 3 in (4.34 m) to tie for first. It was the first time one university had swept the three Olympic spots at the trials.[
Sefton almost failed to qualify for the Olympic final, missing twice at 3.80 m (12 ft in) in qualifying but clearing cleanly on his third attempt. In the final Meadows won with an ]Olympic record
Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games, including:
* Archery (list)
* Alpine skiing (records recognized only by FIS)
* Athletics (lis ...
of 4.35 m (14 ft in) while Sefton and two Japanese vaulters, Shuhei Nishida
was a Japanese Olympic athlete who competed mainly in the pole vault.[Sueo Ōe
was a Japanese athlete who competed mainly in the pole vault. He won a bronze medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany, tying with his teammate Shuhei Nishida
was a Japanese Olympic athlete who competed mainly in the pole ...]
, all cleared 4.25 m (13 ft in) and had an extra vault as a tie-breaker. Sefton lost the jump-off and thus finished out of the medals in fourth place.[
]
1937
Sefton broke the world record several times in 1937. He first improved it in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
on April 10, clearing 14 ft in (4.45 m) to beat Varoff's mark from the previous year. A month later in San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
he cleared 14 ft (4.48 m) in a dual meet against Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
, but Meadows equaled that height later in the same competition.
Finally, in the conference
A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic.
Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main ...
meet on May 29, again in Los Angeles, Sefton vaulted 14 ft 11 in (4.54 m), clearing that height on his first attempt. Meadows, despite missing on his first two attempts, again tied the new record on his third and final try.[ The two were not able to attempt 15 ft (4.57 m) that day as the ]standards Standard may refer to:
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maxed out at 14 ft 11 in and the bar couldn't be raised any higher. Only these last records were officially ratified by the IAAF
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...
.
Sefton finally won outright at the NCAA championships
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...
, clearing 14 ft in (4.49 m) for a meeting record and beating both Varoff and Meadows.[ It was only in 1951 that ]Don Laz
Donald Robert Laz (May 17, 1929 – February 21, 1996) was an American pole vaulter. He won a silver medal at the 1952 Olympics and a bronze at the 1955 Pan American Games. Domestically he held the NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic As ...
of Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...
broke that record.[ Sefton also won the 1937 national title with a leap of 14 ft in (4.46 m), another meeting record; ]Dutch Warmerdam
Cornelius "Dutch" Warmerdam (June 22, 1915 – November 13, 2001) was an American pole vaulter who held the world record between 1940 and 1957. He missed the Olympics due to World War II, and retired from senior competitions in 1944, though he co ...
, Meadows and Varoff all cleared the same height but missed out on countback.
References
External links
Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sefton, Bill
1915 births
1982 deaths
American male pole vaulters
Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics
Track and field athletes from Los Angeles
Olympic track and field athletes of the United States
USC Trojans men's track and field athletes
20th-century American people