University of Michigan
Men's Track & Field Hall of Fame
As the University of Michigan athletic tradition continues to grow with each
passing year, the Wolverine track and field program continues to play a major role in those
successes. In its 106th season, the Maize and Blue track program has established itself as
one of the top programs nationally as well as in the Big Ten Conference. With the 1923
NCAA Championship title, 26 Big Ten indoor Championship teams, 30 Big Ten outdoor
Championship teams, 44 NCAA individual champions and 212 All-Americans, the U-M
track program continues to build upon and add to the chronicles of its storied history. Even
as present-day athletes and coaches strive to uphold and create new traditions of their own,
it is hard not to try to emulate the U-M track program's celebrated past.
In 2006, the men’s team initiated its own U-M Track and Field Hall of Fame. The
2007 induction class includes an 11-man class, consisting of one outstanding athlete
from each decade and a coach of the century selection.
KEN DOHERTY
Ken Doherty had more knowledge about track and field techniques than any man
of his generation. He never lettered in track as a student at Detroit's Western High
School, but he finally received recognition for his track and field work when he
set a number of varsity team records while competing at the College of the City
of Detroit. In 1928, Doherty enrolled at Michigan to prepare for his teacher's
certificate and while attending U-M, he used the athletic facilities to train for the
Olympic Games under the direction of Steve Farrell and head coach Charles
Hoyt. He would eventually go on to become an assistant coach at Michigan and
was the theorist of the track team during the 1930s. He helped develop Bob
Osgood, Willis Ward and Bill Watson. Doherty was named head track coach
in 1939 after Hoyt accepted a position with Yale. He went on to become one of
the world's most distinguished and respected track coaches, writing several books including Modern Track and Field and the Track and Field Omnibook, one of the top instructional books ever written on
track and field. During his 18 years at Michigan, the track team won 20 Big Ten team Championships, including
seven conference team championships during his nine years as head coach (1939-48). Doherty was inducted into
the U.S Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1976 and died on April 17 1996.
RALPH ROSE
In an era when the largest athletes weighed 200 pounds, 6-foot-6, 235-pound Ralph
Rose was considered Goliathan. Though the Michigan track and field letterman
officially competed in Ann Arbor only one year (1904), he concluded that season by
winning both the shot put and discus events at the Big Ten meet in Chicago. A few
weeks later at the 1904 Olympics games in St. Louis, Rose won a gold medal in
the shot put (a world-record toss of 48-7), a silver medal in the discus (128-10 1/2)
and a bronze medal in the hammer throw (150-0). In his final event of the 1904
games, Rose finished sixth in the 56-pound throw. He sparkled again at the 1908
Olympics in London, winning his second gold medal in the shot put with a toss of
46-7. Over the next two years, Rose broke his own shot put record three more
times, including a toss of 51 feet, a mark that wouldn’t be topped for nearly two
decades. Rose competed in the 1912 summer games in Stockholm, Sweden, at
the age of 28. In the shot put, Rose threw the weight just over 50 feet. His feat
held up until the final round, when fellow American Patrick McDonald bested it,
leaving Rose with the silver medal. The 1912 Olympics marked the only time
the “combined” shot put event was held, where the competitor threw the weight with both his left
and right hands. Rose’s combined total of 90-10 1/2 inches was enough to best McDonald and deliver Rose’s third
gold. The six-time medal winner passed away from tuberculosis on October 16, 1913, at the young age of 29.
RALPH CRAIG
Twenty-three-year-old Ralph Craig, a native of Detroit, was the favorite to win the
100-meter dash at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. A member of
Michigan’s track and field squad from 1909-11, Craig excelled at the sprints, having
equaled the world record at 220-yards both in 1910 and 1912. At the 1912 Olympic
Games, the competitors in the 100-meter race were an anxious lot, false-starting
seven times. On the eighth try, the start went smoothly, and Craig ran neck-andneck in a tightly bunched group. Finally, at the 60-meter mark, Craig ignited the
after-burners to take first place by two feet in a time of 10.8, leading a 1-2-3 USA
finish. In the 200-meter race, Craig also won the gold medal, finishing in a time
of 21.7, the best Olympic clocking since fellow “M” man Archi Hahn ran a 21.6
in 1904. Craig left Stockholm with a pair of gold medals, joining Hahn as the
Olympics’ only two 100 and 200 victors. Craig’s Olympic experience did not end
in Stockholm, for in 1948, at the age of 59, Ralph Craig was the captain of, and
an alternate on, the U.S. Yachting Team at the summer games in London. The 36 years
between games marked the longest span ever between two Olympics by any American athlete. Retiring as
an industrial engineer, Craig died at the age of 83 in 1972 at his summer home on Lake George in New York.
PHIL NORTHROP
One of Michigan’s greatest “triple threats” in the sport of track and field was 1920s
star Phil Northrop. A letter winner from 1925-27, the Motor City native was a major
contributor in the long jump, javelin and pole vault, setting records in the latter two
events. He captured three NCAA individual titles and was a four-time All-American.
Though Northrop was an understudy to the legendary DeHart Hubbard in the long
jump as a sophomore, he ultimately posted a near-record leap of 24 feet. He won
the Big Ten title in the pole vault his junior year, catapulting himself over the bar at
a height of 13-feet-plus. It was the javelin event where Northrop won his greatest
acclaim, winning Conference titles in both 1925 and ‘26. His record throw of 207
feet stood as the Big Ten standard for 10 years. With Northrop as the leading
point scorer, Coach Steve Farrell’s Michigan track teams won the Conference
indoor title in 1925 and the outdoor crown in 1925 and ‘26. Two other times,
the Wolverines were runners-up in the Big Ten standings. Northrop was graduated from the U-M School of Dentistry in 1928 and received his M.S. in Oral Surgery in 1931. He
served on the University’s faculty from 1935-63 and died at 59, just two months after leaving the U-M to devote
more time to his private practice.
BILL WATSON
Originally, Bill Watson’s goal was to be a boxing star, so the young man took up track
and field to get in shape. At the high school level, the Saginaw native broke school
records in the high jump, shot put and discus, and then made an assault upon the
state record books. By the time Watson came to the University of Michigan in 1935,
he had climbed out of the ring and began his ascent into the Big Ten track record
books. An admirer of Willis Ward and track coach Charles Hoyt, Watson came to
U-M to follow in their footsteps. In his career, Watson did more than follow behind
such great leaders; he ran side-by-side with them, earning All-America Status six
times. Rain could not stop Watson at the 1937 Big Ten Track Championship in Ann
Arbor. The sophomore blew away the field in the long jump, shot put and discus,
giving credit to his new nickname as “the one-man track team.” His three top finishes helped Michigan to capture the team crown. Winning the long jump, shot put
and discus would become second nature to Watson, who swept all three events
again in both 1938 and 1939. Each year he shattered more records in helping
Michigan to the team title. In his six seasons with the indoor and outdoor track
teams, Watson won 12 individual titles as the Wolverines emerged victorious each time.
His dreams of making the 1940 Olympics were destroyed when the games were canceled. He was the
favorite to win the Decathlon. Watson served as secretary to heavyweight champion Joe Louis following his graduation from U-M. He later went on to serve in the Detroit Police Force, before passing away in 1973.
HERB BARTEN
Herb Barten won five individual Big Ten championships from 1946-1949 as
a middle distance runner on the University of Michigan track and field team.
The 1948 captain won four of his five titles in the 880-yard run -- three indoor
(1946-48) and one outdoor (1947). His other conference title came in the
mile run in the 1948 indoor conference championship meet. In the 1948
outdoor season, he was the NCAA runner-up in the 1,500-meter run. Barten
was talented enough to compete in the 1948 Olympic Games where he
won both of his qualifying heats in the 800-meter run on his way to the
event final. In the finals, Barten clocked 1:50.1 to place fourth overall. A
foot injury suffered on a post-Olympic European tour may have affected
Barten during his senior year in 1949 when he was unable to win any
more conference titles.
DON MCEWEN
Due to the proximity of the Canadian border, the University of Michigan men's track
and field team always had Canadians on the squad. However, they hadn't seen any
one like Don McEwen before 1948. McEwen won back-to-back Big Ten cross country championships in 1949-1950 even though Michigan did not have a varsity cross
country team. In 1950, McEwen set a new conference record in the two-mile run at
the conference championship, winning the first of six conference championships.
He would win three straight two-mile run titles at the indoor conference meet
from 1950-52. He also won the outdoor title in the two-mile run in back-to-back
seasons (1950-51) in addition to winning the mile run in 1951. His time of 9:01.9
to win the 1950 NCAA national title was a new NCAA record. He would come
back the following year to win the national title again with a time of 9:03.2. For
the 1952 Olympics, McEwen was thought to have legitimate medal prospects in
the 5,000-meter run, but missed the games due to injury. Since McEwen, there have been
over 50 Canadians that have competed in track for the Michigan track and field team.
KENT BERNARD
Despite only lettering for three seasons (1963-65), Ken Bernard won five Big Ten
championships. Bernard won back-to-back 600-yard run crowns at the conference
indoor meet in 1964-65 as well as back-to-back titles in the 440-yard dash in
1964-65 at the outdoor meet. He was also part of the mile relay squad that won
the conference title in 1964. The Trinidad native would represent his country in
the 1964 Olympic Games. His individual effort in the 400-meter run was good
enough for an appearance in the semi-finals of the event. Bernard won a bronze
medal as a member of the Trinidad 4x400-meter relay squad that broke an
existing world record with a time of 3:01.7. Bernard would go on the win silver
in the Pan-American Games in 1966 and 1970. After his track career, Bernard
spent 22 years as a member of the University of Michigan men's track and
field coaching staff. He molded outstanding speedsters such as Tyrone
Wheatley and two-time NCAA champion Neil Gardner. During his tenure,
Bernard coached four of the top- five 400-meter hurdlers in Michigan history. Overall,
he coached 22 Big Ten Conference sprints and hurdles champions.
BILL DONAKOWSKI
Dearborn native Bill Donakowski came to the University of Michigan and joined the
first varsity cross country squad in 1974. He was a three-time All-American in cross
country, placing in the top-25 at NCAAs from 1975-77. In 1975, he helped the
Wolverines win the Big Ten Title in only the team's second year as a varsity sport.
He would go on to win the individual Big Ten crown in 1977 with a time of 24:25
(8,000-meter course). As a member of the track and field team, Donakowski was
a two-time All-American. He won two conference titles in 1978, winning both the
5,000-meter run (14:07.4) and 10,000-meter run (29.44.4). At the 1978 NCAA
Indoor Championships, Donakowski was under six seconds shy of winning the
two-mile run national title. His school record in the 10,000-meter run (28.26.04)
is still standing after almost 30 years. An architecture major, Donakowski would
go on to work as a Senior Development Engineer at the Space Science Lab at
the University of California where he helped to design the tiles for the space shuttle.
JOHN SCHERER
There aren't too many walk-ons in any sport that go on to win three individual NCAA
national titles, but John Scherer did just that. During the 1987 cross country season,
Scherer was a steady runner, winning all but three races and ran to a second
place finish at the NCAA Championships. As a member of the track and field
team, Scherer earned four conference titles with back-to-back 5,000-meter and
10,000-meter crowns in 1988-89. Scherer also won back-to-back NCAA titles in
the 10,000-meter in 1988-89. He also won the NCAA crown in the 5,000-meter
run in 1989. Scherer just missed qualifying for the 1988 Olympic Games Trials
by 0.05 seconds. He would go on to place eighth in the 10,000-meter run at the
1989 World University Games and placed fifth in the 3,000-meter run at the
1989 World Indoor Track Championship. In 1993 he ran for Nike North at the
United States Track and Field Outdoor Championships, where he took fourth
in the 5,000-meter run. Scherer graduated Summa cum laude in 1988 after
majoring in aerospace engineering and was invited into two honor societies: Sigma Gamma Tau
(aerospace engineering) and Tau Beta Pi (engineering).
NEIL GARDNER
Though Michigan’s track history has been illustrious to say the least, it had
lacked a great 400-meter hurdler until the 1994 arrival of Neil Gardner. The
Kingston, Jamaica native not only set marks as Michigan’s greatest hurdler
of the day, but twice placed his name among the nation’s best. Gardner won
the 110-meter hurdles at the Big Ten outdoor meet in 1995 while coming in
second in the 400-meter version of the event. In 1996, Gardner reversed his
fortunes at the outdoor Conference championship, winning the 400-meter
hurdles and finishing runner-up in the 110-meter version. He thus became
the first-ever Wolverine athlete to win the 400-meter event. Three weeks
later, Gardner became the first Michigan athlete in 60 years to become a
national champion in the hurdles, winning the 400-meter intermediate
event with a time of 49.27 seconds. Following a summer with the Jamaican
Olympic team, where he made it to the semi-finals in the 400-meter hurdles, Gardner continued
his dominance of hurdles as a senior. In 1997, he repeated as Big Ten 400 I.M. hurdles champion at the outdoor
meet. At the NCAA’s, he closed a storied Michigan career by winning the 55-meter hurdles, becoming the first
person in NCAA history to win both the 55-meter and 400-meter hurdles in a career. His time of 48.30 in the 400meter hurdles is still the school record.