Rick Wanamaker

Rick Wanamaker
Personal information
Born	March 20, 1948 (age 76); Marengo, Iowa, U.S.
Medal record
Men's Athletics
Representing the United States
Pan American Games

Rick Wanamaker (born March 20, 1948) is an American track and basketball athlete who won the decathlon in the 1971 Pan American Games, and blocked a shot against Lew Alcindor in the 1969 NCAA national basketball semi-finals.

Rick Wanamaker attended Iowa Valley High School in Marengo, where he played basketball. He earned a scholarship and attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where he studied advertising. As a freshman, he wanted to participate in the Drake Relays, and chose the decathlon.

Track and field

Wanamaker was a top ten U.S. decathlete from 1970 to 1974.^[1] He was the 1970 NCAA national champion^[2] and an All-American in decathlon,^[3] the 1971 AAU National Champion in decathlon, with a score of 7989,^[4]^[5] and was the 1971 gold medalist in decathlon at the Pan American Games with a score of 7648.^[6]^[7] He was injured prior to the 1972 Munich Olympic trials, and did not qualify for the 1972 Summer Olympics. He did defeat Mykola Avilov, the 1972 Olympic Champion, during the 1971 USA–USSR Track and Field Dual Meet Series, held in Berkeley, California and Bruce Jenner, the 1976 Olympic Champion, now known as Caitlyn Jenner, at the 1971 Drake Relays^[8] and 1971 National AAU Championships in Porterville, California.^[9] Wanamaker placed fifth at the 1970 Summer Universiade Men's decathlon in Turin, Italy.

Wanamaker is one of the tallest successful decathletes, at 6'-8", 210 lbs. in 1971.^[4]

He was the first high jumper, from the state of Iowa, to clear 7 feet, while competing in the 1970 Missouri Valley Conference Meet at Drake University. In 2007, he was named to the Missouri Valley Conference's All-Time Track and Field and Cross Country Teams.^[10]

Wanamaker finished second to Dick Fosbury, the 1968 Olympic high jump Champion, by 1 inch, at the 1969 Drake Relays.^[11]

A photograph of Rick Wanamaker running in the 1970 NCAA Championships at Drake University, taken by Jeff Jacobsen, was named the National Press Photographer’s Association best sports photo of the year.^[12]

Basketball

Wanamaker was a member of the Drake Bulldogs basketball team^[13] that finished third in the 1969 NCAA basketball tournament after losing to UCLA in the finals^[14] and beating the University of North Carolina in the consolation round.^[15] He is best known for blocking a shot against Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) in the 1969 NCAA national semi-final game in Louisville.^[16]

Wanamaker's block of Alcindor's shot is one of the 100 top plays in NCAA tournament history, according to www.BleacherReport.com. ^[17]

He was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the fourth pick in the 15th round of the 1970 NBA draft, but he did not pursue a career in professional basketball. ^[18]

References

Profile

^ All-Time U.S. Rankings — Men’s Decathlon, Track & Field News 2002. Accessed 2008-06-10.
^ "Wanamaker Wins Inaugural Decathlon Title ::: USTFCCCA".
^ MVC Record Books, Missouri Valley Conference. Accessed 2008-06-10
^ ^a ^b Ho, Ho, Ho Went The Jolly White Giant, Sports Illustrated, 1971-06-21. Accessed 2008-06-11.
^ History of US Nationals Results: Decathlon Archived 2007-10-31 at the Wayback Machine, Track and Field News Archive, 2005. Accessed 2008-06-12.
^ Pan-American Games, Athletics Weekly 2007. Accessed 2008-06-11.
^ Athletics at the 1971 Pan American Games
^ "62nd Annual Drake Relays" (PDF). static.godrakebulldogs.com. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
^ "People in Sports: Littler to Get Hogan Award". The New York Times. 19 January 1973. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
^ "MVC Announces All-Time Track & Field and Cross Country Teams". mvc-sports.com. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
^ "History of the Sixtieth Annual Drake Relays" (PDF). static.godrakebulldogs.com. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
^ jeffjacobsen (2012-06-04). "Young, Dumb and Blessed". Here I Stand. Retrieved 2019-02-20.
^ "1968-69 Drake Bulldogs Schedule and Results".
^ "UCLA vs. Drake Box Score, March 20, 1969".
^ "North Carolina vs. Drake Box Score, March 22, 1969".
^ Drake stood up to mighty UCLA in 1969, USA Today, 2008-03-18. Accessed 2008-06-12.
^ "The 100 Greatest Plays in College Basketball History". Bleacher Report.com.
^ "1970 NBA Draft Selection History". NBA.com.

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External links

[1] All-Time U.S. Rankings — Men’s Decathlon, Track & Field News 2002. Accessed 2008-06-10.

[2] "Wanamaker Wins Inaugural Decathlon Title ::: USTFCCCA".

[3] MVC Record Books, Missouri Valley Conference. Accessed 2008-06-10

[HoHoHo-4] Ho, Ho, Ho Went The Jolly White Giant, Sports Illustrated, 1971-06-21. Accessed 2008-06-11.

[5] History of US Nationals Results: Decathlon Archived 2007-10-31 at the Wayback Machine, Track and Field News Archive, 2005. Accessed 2008-06-12.

[6] Pan-American Games, Athletics Weekly 2007. Accessed 2008-06-11.

[7] Athletics at the 1971 Pan American Games

[8] "62nd Annual Drake Relays" (PDF). static.godrakebulldogs.com. Retrieved 2021-08-04.

[9] "People in Sports: Littler to Get Hogan Award". The New York Times. 19 January 1973. Retrieved 2021-08-04.

[10] "MVC Announces All-Time Track & Field and Cross Country Teams". mvc-sports.com. Retrieved 2021-08-04.

[11] "History of the Sixtieth Annual Drake Relays" (PDF). static.godrakebulldogs.com. Retrieved 2021-08-04.

[12] sen (2012-06-04). "Young, Dumb and Blessed". Here I Stand. Retrieved 2019-02-20.

[13] "1968-69 Drake Bulldogs Schedule and Results".

[14] "UCLA vs. Drake Box Score, March 20, 1969".

[15] "North Carolina vs. Drake Box Score, March 22, 1969".

[USAToday-16] Drake stood up to mighty UCLA in 1969, USA Today, 2008-03-18. Accessed 2008-06-12.

[17] "The 100 Greatest Plays in College Basketball History". Bleacher Report.com.

[18] "1970 NBA Draft Selection History". NBA.com.

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v t e US National Championship winners in men's decathlon
1915–1979 Amateur Athletic Union	1915: Alma Richards 1916–19: not held 1920: Brutus Hamilton 1921: Dan Shea 1922: Harrison Thompson 1923: Harold Osborn 1924: Tony Plansky 1925–26: Harold Osborn 1927: Fait Elkins 1928–29: Ken Doherty 1930: Wilson Charles 1931: Jess Mortensen 1932: Jim Bausch 1933: Barney Berlinger 1934–35: Bob Clark 1936: Glenn Morris 1937: not held 1938–39: Joe Scott 1940: Bill Watson 1941: John Borican 1942: Bill Terwilliger 1943: Bill Watson 1944: Irv Mondschein 1945: Charles Beaudry 1946–47: Irv Mondschein 1948–50: Bob Mathias 1951: Bob Richards 1952: Bob Mathias 1953: Milt Campbell 1954–55: Bob Richards 1956: Rafer Johnson 1957: Charles Pratt 1958: Rafer Johnson 1959: C.K. Yang (TPE) * Dave Edstrom 1960: Rafer Johnson 1961: Paul Herman 1962: C.K. Yang (TPE) * Paul Herman 1963: Steve Pauly 1964: C.K. Yang (TPE) * Paul Herman 1965–69: Bill Toomey 1970: John Warkentin 1971: Rick Wanamaker 1972–73: Jeff Bennett 1974: Bruce Jenner 1975: Fred Samara 1976: Bruce Jenner 1977: Fred Dixon 1978: Mike Hill 1979: Bobby Coffman
1980–1992 The Athletics Congress	1980: Bob Coffman 1981–82: John Crist 1983: Mark Anderson 1984: John Crist 1985: John Sayre 1986: Dave Johnson 1987: Tim Bright 1988: Gary Kinder 1989–90: Dave Johnson 1991: Dan O'Brien 1992: Dave Johnson
1993-onwards USA Track & Field	1993–96: Dan O'Brien 1997: Steve Fritz 1998–99: Chris Huffins 2000: Tom Pappas 2001: Kip Janvrin 2002–03: Tom Pappas 2004–05: Bryan Clay 2006–07: Tom Pappas 2008: Bryan Clay 2009: Trey Hardee 2010: Jake Arnold 2011–13: Ashton Eaton 2014–15: Trey Hardee 2016: Ashton Eaton 2017: Trey Hardee 2018: Zach Ziemek 2019: Devon Williams 2021^{2020 OT}: Garrett Scantling
Notes	The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event. 2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.