Monday, August 08, 2016

Byron Dyce (Jamaica; NYU)

Mike Fanelli commented on this.

DOUBLE TROUBLE...in the year '69 '69 (while borrowing a riff from Zager and Evans whose most famous one hit wonder BTW topped the Billboard charts for six consecutive weeks in the aforementioned year...but as I oft do, clearly, I digress)
At the Knoxville, TN hosted NCAA Championships of that year, NYU's Byron Dyce set a collegiate and meet record by slicing a whopping 1.3 seconds off his previous PB with a scintillating 1:45.9 victory...yards, not meters...in other words 1:...45.2 when converted from 880 to 800...and guess what, it STILL stands as NYU's school record...and Dyce's lifetime best!
Shown here, just 8 days later in Miami FLA, at the AAU Nationals,
bad bad Byron Dyce (a two time Jamaican Olympian at both 800 and 1500 in 1968 and 1972) won his second national title in as many weeks while nipping William & Mary's Juris Luzins 1:46.6 to 1:46.7 (3. Felix Johnson, Prairie View A&M 1:47.0; 4. John Perry, USMC 1:47.8: 5.Art Sandison, WSU 1:47.8; 6. Lowell Paul, University of Chicago TC 1:47.9; 7.Mark Winzenried, Wisco 1:48.5; 8. Ralph Schultz, Northwestern 1:50.4)
I know, I know, I am preaching to the choir when I call this period the golden age of field and track in America...just sayin'
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John Perry International athletes could compete in our National Championships in those days. They were welcome and added a lot of "buzz" to the races. Herb Elliot, Lazlo Tabori and Peter Snell ran the mile in our USA National Championships (AAU in those days). The International runners would come over and run Modesto, Compton, Coliseum and the AAU National Championships. Byron Dyce ran the 800/880 in 1968, 1969 and 1970. He Won in 1969 and was always right there, not too bad considering all the races that he had run the week before at the NCAA. Great runner and gentleman.

Byron beat Juris that day but Juris won in 1971 after he lost the 1970 season due to Marine Corps TBS training. (Long story but no sleep, spending the nights in the boonies, marching and jogging 10 miles in boots carrying a rifle does not get you ready to race).

Short careers in those days. Track runners didn't have sponsors and had to go to work. Roger Bannister, Herb Elliot, Snell and Jim Ryun were very young when they hung it up.

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Mike Fanelli exceptionally well told insight John Perry...thanks so very much for sharing your very 'spot on' experience...i appreciate it tremendously

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Larry Guinee William and Mary won't do...

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Larry Guinee heard that somewhere

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Keith Conning

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