Ernest Nicholas Newton Carter (born September 4, 1902 in

Globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe ...

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...

– September 26, 1997

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

) 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, coach and official. He ran the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

in the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, finishing a non-qualifying 3rd place in his heat. Carter ran for

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

, finishing second in the

Mile run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

at the

NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship The NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship refers to one of three annual collegiate outdoor track and field competitions for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for athletes from institutions that make up ...

s in 1925. He also finished third in the

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Olym ...

twice, in 1927 and 1928. Prior to Occidental, he ran for

Lompoc High School Lompoc High School is a public high school serving Lompoc, in northern Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It was first established in the small farming community in 1892. It is part of the Lompoc Unified School District, as is cros ...

, finishing second at the 1921

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 ...

. Carter graduated from Occidental College in 1928 and then moved to the

Claremont Graduate University The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges which includes five undergraduate (Pomona College, Claremont McKenna Co ...

. Following college, he took a job as the Olympic track coach for the Peruvian Olympic team. Carter made his career as the track and field coach at Santa Barbara State College which later became the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

, starting in 1939. Following his career as a coach, Carter was a long time AAU, TAC and

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 ...

Commissioner and Official, serving until shortly before his death at meets like the Santa Barbara Easter Relays. He was on the Easter Relays organizing committee for 53 years. The track at

Santa Barbara City College Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) is a public community college in Santa Barbara, California. It opened in 1909 and is located on a campus. History Santa Barbara City College was established by the Santa Barbara High School District in 1909, ma ...

that houses the Easter Relays bears his name. For decades, UCSB's annual invitational track meet was called the Nick Carter Invitational. He is a member of the Occidental College Track and Field Hall of Fame.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Nick American male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes of the United States American track and field coaches Occidental Tigers men's track and field athletes Claremont Graduate University alumni UC Santa Barbara Gauchos track and field coaches Sportspeople from Santa Barbara, California People from Globe, Arizona American referees and umpires Athletics (track and field) officials 1902 births 1997 deaths Sports coaches from California Occidental College alumni