Kenneth Edward Dennis (May 13, 1937 – April 7, 2008 in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

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) was an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete. As a Masters sprinter he held the

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 organization ...

in the 100 metres in several age groups. Standing 5'3" the short Dennis was known for his soft-spoken nature, his greetings of "Hey man" or "Go man" and his blazing fast starts. Dennis first began sprinting at Fremont High School in Los Angeles where he opened eyes with a 9.5

100-yard dash 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

before transferring to Centennial High School in Compton. At Centennial, he was joined by

Charles Dumas Charles Everett "Charlie" Dumas (February 12, 1937 – January 5, 2004) was an American high jumper, the 1956 Olympic champion, and the first person to clear 7 ft.(2.13 m) While attending Compton College, near Los Angeles, Dum ...

, who had transferred from Jefferson High School. One year removed from winning the

Olympic gold medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

and being the first person to jump 7 feet, Dumas winning the high jump was a foregone conclusion. But it was Dennis' 13 points winning the 100, second in the 220 behind Bobby Poynter and 4x220 yard relay that led Centennial to the overall team title at the

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

in 1955. Dennis was the top high school 100-yard dash man nationwide that year. Dennis ran collegiately for the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

. On September 23, 1983, Dennis set the M45 World Record in the 100 metres at 10.92 in the heats before winning the

World Masters Athletics Championships The World Masters Athletics Championships are the biennial championships for masters athletics events held under the auspices of World Masters Athletics, formerly called the World Association of Veteran Athletes, for athletes 35 years of age or o ...

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

. His time in the final of 11.03, was intrinsically superior to

Thane Baker Walter Thane Baker (born October 4, 1931) is an American former sprinter and winner of the gold medal in the 4x100 m relay at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, with a new world record of 39.5 seconds. At those Olympics Baker als ...

's existing hand timed world record of 10.8. His record would last for almost 7 years. Almost four years later, August 14, 1987, Dennis again ran 11.03, this time to set the M50 World Record in the 100 metres at the

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

Masters Championships in

Springfield, Oregon Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Separated from Eugene to the west, mainly by Interstate 5, Springfield ...

. That record would last almost 15 years before being surpassed by Bill Collins. He won the World Masters Championships in the 100m in 1987 a breath ahead of long time rival Reginald Austin of Australia, himself a former world record holder, who was running on home soil in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Both were timed in 11.24. In 1989, on American soil in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

Dennis handily beat Austin to take another world title. Austin got his revenge winning the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

while Dennis finished second. The next time the two met in the World Championships was 1995 in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, where Austin came from behind to catch the quick starting Dennis in extremely windy conditions. On June 24, 2000 he joined rivals Harold Tolson, Doug Smith and Gary Simms in setting the M60 American record in the

4 x 100 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

at the Southern California USATF Masters Age Group Championships. That record was surpassed in 2011. On August 8, 2003, Dennis ran 12.40 to win the USATF Masters Championships again in Eugene in the M65 division ahead of Tolson and Simm
see the race
This was the first time anyone had run better than the listed world record 12.53 by

Payton Jordan Payton Jordan (March 19, 1917 – February 5, 2009) was the head coach of the 1968 United States Olympic track and field team, one of the most powerful track teams ever assembled, which won a record twenty-four medals, including twelve golds. ...

set the same day Dennis ran his M45 record in San Juan. Unfortunately the race was wind aided. A fixture on the Southern California track circuit, after retiring Dennis moved to Las Vegas. He had to undergo double bypass surgery in 2007, but died during a procedure on his knee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dennis, Ken 1937 births 2008 deaths American male sprinters World record holders in masters athletics Track and field athletes from Los Angeles American masters athletes John C. Fremont High School alumni Centennial High School (Compton, California) alumni