AT THE NIGHT OF LEGENDS celebration staged as part of the national governing body’s Annual Meeting in Orlando in early December, the 5 members of the Class of 2021 will be inducted into the USATF Hall Of Fame: Modern Athletes Mike Marsh & Terrence Trammell, Veteran Athletes Maxey Long & Kathy McMillan and Contributor Scott Davis.
USATF’s Hall Of Fame has 4 categories. Modern Athletes are eligible after they have been retired for 3 years. Veteran Athletes are eligible after being retired for 25 years. An athlete (or athletes) is inducted from each category every year. The Contributor and Coach categories alternate years. Meet this year’s 5 inductees:
Mike Marsh — Modern Athlete
Strangely enough, while he was a 100m and 4×1 All-America for UCLA, Mike Marsh only made the 200 final once, finishing 7th in ’89. Yet just three years later he was atop the half-lap world, winning the Barcelona Olympic gold medal. It was in the semis where he ran perhaps his finest race ever, markedly easing up in a 19.73 that missed the WR by just 0.01. He added a second visit to the top of the podium in Spain after leading off the winning 4×1 in WR time.
His only other major international medal was a 4×1 silver at Atlanta 4 years later, although he did make the finals of both dashes that year (5th in the 100, 8th in the 200).
Overall, he earned 5 World Rankings in the 200, topped by a No. 1 in ’92, and had 4 in the 100, headed by a No. 6 in ’96. In addition to his WR plaque in the 4×1 with Team USA, he earned another with the Santa Monica TC, a group he also led off in a trio of 4×2 WRs.
Terrence Trammell — Modern Athlete
Linking great speed with a remarkable start and fine technique, Terrence Trammell emerged as the best combination sprinter/hurdler in the world as the millennium turned, loading up his trophy case with medals galore.
His best successes came undercover, where the 5-time USATF champ twice won WIC 60H gold (’01 & ’06) and added a silver (’10) and a flat-60 bronze (’06). In the 110H his Olympic haul included silvers in ’00 & ’04, and the World Championships brought silvers in ’03, ’07 & ’09. In just 3 years at South Carolina he won the NCAA 110s twice, the 60H twice and the flat 60 once.
Overall, he World Ranked 11 times, reaching his high of No. 3 on 6 occasions.
Recently turned 43, Trammell serves as president of the USATF Alumni Board and has been involved in the USATF Athletes’ Advisory Committee.
Maxey Long — Veteran Athlete
A star performer at all 3 sprint distances, Maxey Long did his most notable work in the 400, winning the 1900 Olympic gold in Paris. He won the AAU title in the 1-lapper in ’88, ’89 & ’00, additionally capturing the 100y crown in ’00 and 220 in ’99.
An IC4A champion for Columbia, Long produced a World Record 47.8y in his all-conquering ’00 season. Nobody would run faster for 16 years. The same year he also ran 47.0y on a straightaway track.
Kathy McMillan — Veteran Athlete
Kathy McMillan burst on the long jump scene as a HS junior, raising the prep record to 21-7 (6.57) and missing the AR by just a half-inch. She won Pan-Am bronze and was World Ranked No. 3.
As a senior she raised the AR 4 times, finally ending up at 22-3 (6.78), a mark which stood as the HSR for 39 years. Still just 18 when she jumped in Montréal, she captured the Olympic silver. Her second bid for Games glory was quashed by the Moscow boycott.
Overall the Tennessee State alum won 4 national titles, indoors and out, and twice earned Pan-Am gold. She was 10 times a U.S. Ranker, including a pair of No. 1s and 5 No. 2s.
Scott Davis — Contributor
His face may not have been familiar, but his voice was as fans and athletes around the country were entertained and informed by stadium announcer Scott Davis at hundreds of track meets over the course of three decades. Most notably he was behind the mike at 21 Prefontaine Classics.
More than just an elite announcer, Davis was also the director of the Mt. SAC Relays for 20 years and was the co-founder of FAST (Federation Of American Statisticians Of Track). Davis died after a long battle with multiple myeloma at the age of 66 in ’10. ◻︎