Once a Brave -- BU Hall of Famer passes

[tornado]

Jack Heintzman, long time Peorian, Peoria HS grad, Naval and WWII vet, Bradley grad and Bradley Hall Of Famer in Track and High Jump..who competed successfully at the WORLD level in his events...
passed away Tuesday......... I knew the family as my wife was classmates with Jack's twin sons and had remained friends ever since..
Jack had a large picture and display in the old Fieldhouse lobby that many will recall.....

http://www.legacy.com/pjstar/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=145975109

http://www.gpshof.org/Inductees/heinzman.html

[lefty]

Conversations with Jack were always interesting.

[tornado]

Jack Heintzman was a great high jumper for Bradley...but that got me thinking...


Hey -- I have a question....
virtually every single event in all of track and field has had the all time records broken over and over and over...
and the current record for almost all events is way better than what people were doing 20-30 years ago....

EXCEPT HIGH JUMP!!! (and triple jump)

can anyone come up with a logical explanation why high jump records peaked about 20-30 years ago and not only have people not done better...
they really can't even get to where we were 20-30 years ago...


Here's evidence...
check the all time best high jumps in the STATE of ILLINOIS per IHSA...

http://www.ihsa.org/activity/trb/records/atop.htm#0X1500

NOT ONE of the best 15 heights ever jumped has occurred within the past 15 years...
and the vast majority of ALL of the best 50 jumps in IHSA/Illniois high school history are from the 1980's and earlier!

Why is that?? It isn't true for any other events except the jumps (high jump, triple jump, long jump). The best pole vault was in 2010, and all running events have some recent runs in the top 10..

So has gravity gotten stronger?? Do kids just not try as hard on the jumps??

You can also check college and pro records as well, and see that only rarely have the top jumps ever been as good as dozens of the best jumps from the 70's and 80's.
the two oldest NCAA field records are the high jump & triple jump set in the 1980's and not broken since...

http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/tfn/records/records.jsp?listId=5

so what gives?

[tornado]

Just wanted to mention the passing of another BU great -- he played baseball wayyyyy back in the 1930's...and was the BU ticket manager when they played at the armory!
he was also a long, long time teacher in the Peoria area, where some of my own family got to know him.

Art Meisinger -- his obit notes he was...
"an avid Bradley University sports fan"

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/pjstar/obituary.aspx?n=arthur-meisinger&pid=146132354

Here's an old pic of Art when he was on the Peoria Central High School baseball team in 1933.....

[amckillip]

Jack Heintzman was a great high jumper for Bradley...but that got me thinking...


Hey -- I have a question....
virtually every single event in all of track and field has had the all time records broken over and over and over...
and the current record for almost all events is way better than what people were doing 20-30 years ago....

EXCEPT HIGH JUMP!!! (and triple jump)

can anyone come up with a logical explanation why high jump records peaked about 20-30 years ago and not only have people not done better...
they really can't even get to where we were 20-30 years ago...


Here's evidence...
check the all time best high jumps in the STATE of ILLINOIS per IHSA...

http://www.ihsa.org/activity/trb/records/atop.htm#0X1500

NOT ONE of the best 15 heights ever jumped has occurred within the past 15 years...
and the vast majority of ALL of the best 50 jumps in IHSA/Illniois high school history are from the 1980's and earlier!

Why is that?? It isn't true for any other events except the jumps (high jump, triple jump, long jump). The best pole vault was in 2010, and all running events have some recent runs in the top 10..

So has gravity gotten stronger?? Do kids just not try as hard on the jumps??

You can also check college and pro records as well, and see that only rarely have the top jumps ever been as good as dozens of the best jumps from the 70's and 80's.
the two oldest NCAA field records are the high jump & triple jump set in the 1980's and not broken since...

http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/tfn/records/records.jsp?listId=5

so what gives?

The same reason soccer isn't largely successful for the US. The premier athletes do not play those sports. If you had your greatest athletes like LeBron and Larry Fitzgerald trying to Jump rather than score ro catch the story would be different. In an age where you really have to commit to a sport in 6th as your sport, rather than playing 3 sports, track, and particularly field events, are no going to get the best athletes.

[tornado]

but then why do 90% of the track and field records fall all the time as kids get bigger and stronger??