Died: Ernie Cunliffe, 88
On June 06; of cancer. The Stanford halfmiler finished 3rd in both the ’59 and ’60 NCAA. He made the ’60 Olympic team, and later in the year ran on a WR-setting 4 x 880y. He also Ranked No. 8 in the world (and No. 2 in the U.S.) that year. In ’61, he broke the indoor 1000y WR with his 2:07.9 and won AAU Indoor titles at that distance in ’61 and ’64.
Died: Stephen Francis, 64
On July 04. As head of the MVP Track Club, the renowned Jamaican sprint coach popularly known as “Franno” guided world beaters including Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Asafa Powell and Shericka Jackson.
Died: Karin Illgen, 85
On June 09, in Leipzig, Germany. The East German discus thrower Ranked No. 1 in the world in ’70, the highest of her 5 appearances. She placed 10th in the ’68 Olympics.
Died: Les Mills, 91
On June 29. The 4-time Olympian for New Zealand in the shot and discus was No. 5 in the shot in the ’67 World Rankings. He threw collegiately for USC.
Died: Gerry O’Reilly, 61
On June 11, in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. The Villanova star from Ireland placed 5th in the NCAA 1500 in both ’86 and ’87; he was also NCAA Indoor 3000 runner-up in those years.
Died: Steve Simmons, 82
On June 04, from complications of Alzheimer’s. The former coach at Cal Poly and Oregon State was named manager of the U.S. Olympic team for the ’80 Games, head manager for ’84, and team leader for the ’92 Games.
Died: Manfred Steinbach, 92
On May 13, in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany. The 4th-placer in the ’60 Olympic long jump, he had earlier jumped a centimeter past Jesse Owens’ WR, but there was no wind gauge. In ’58, he got WR credit for the 4×1, not long after he had fled to West Germany from the East. A 3-time World Ranker, he was No. 4 in ’60. ◻︎
