Henry Dreyer

Henry Francis "Hank" Dreyer (February 2, 1911 – May 27, 1986) was an American athlete. He competed in the 1936 and 1948 Summer Olympics as a hammer thrower; his other strong event was the non-Olympic weight throw, in which he broke the world best several times. Between the two events and counting both outdoors and indoors, he won twenty United States championships.[1]

Sports career

Early career and 1936 Olympics

Dreyer won his first national title in 1934, winning the 35 lb weight throw at that year's AAU indoor championships with a throw of 53 ft 8 in (16.35 m).[1][2] Representing the Rhode Island State College, he also won the 1934 indoor IC4A weight throw title, throwing 55 ft  2 1⁄4 in (16.82 m),[3] a world record.[4] At that summer's NCAA championships he won the hammer throw, throwing 169 ft  8 3⁄8 in (51.73 m) and defeating 1932 Olympic bronze medalist Pete Zaremba;[5][6] only Fred Tootell, the 1924 Olympic champion and Dreyer's own coach,[7] had ever thrown further at the NCAA meet.[6]

In 1935 Dreyer broke his own world record in the 35-pound indoor weight throw with 57 ft 9 in (17.60 m)[8][9] and repeated as national champion in the event.[2] He also won his first national outdoor title, winning the hammer throw with 168 ft  8 1⁄2 in (51.42 m).[1][10] The previous week he had thrown 181 ft  5 3⁄16 in (55.30 m) at the New England championships in Newport,[7] the best throw in the world that year.[11]

On 29 February 1936 he threw the indoor weight 58 ft  4 1⁄2 in (17.79 m), regaining the world record from Irving Folwartshny, who had thrown 58 ft  1 1⁄2 in (17.71 m) at the national championships the previous week.[2][12][13] He only placed third in the hammer at that year's national championships,[10] losing to two other Rhode Island State alumni, William Rowe and Folwartshny.[14] However, at the Olympic Trials, which were held separately the following week, he threw 171 ft  11 1⁄2 in (52.41 m) and won by two inches over Rowe, qualifying for the Olympics in Berlin.[14] He placed ninth at the Olympics, throwing 165 ft 5 in (50.42 m).[1]

Championship streak and 1948 Olympics

Dreyer won no national titles in 1937 or 1938, finishing second to Folwartshny in the indoor weight throw in both years.[15][16] He regained the indoor weight throw title in 1939;[2] in 1940 he finished second to Niles Perkins,[17] but won the outdoor 56-pound weight throw for the first time, throwing 35 ft 6 in (10.82 m).[18] He won seven consecutive national titles in the indoor weight throw from 1941 to 1947,[2] a streak that remained unparalleled until Lance Deal won eight times in a row starting in 1989.[2][19] Dreyer also won the outdoor weight throw in 1945[18] and the hammer throw in 1943, 1944 and 1945.[10]

Dreyer's indoor weight throw streak ended in the Olympic year of 1948, when he placed third as Bob Bennett won and Sam Felton took second.[20] However, he regained the outdoor title; his throw of 41 ft  2 5⁄8 in (12.56 m) exceeded Matt McGrath's old world record of 40 ft  5 3⁄8 in (12.32 m) from 1911,[21] but the implement used was found to have been too light.[18] He also qualified for his second Olympics in the hammer throw, placing third at the national championships (again behind Bennett and Felton)[10] and second at the final Olympic Trials in Evanston, where he threw 173 ft  4 3⁄4 in (52.85 m) and defeated Felton.[22] At the Olympics in London Dreyer finished ninth, just as he had twelve years before; this time his best throw was 168 ft  6 3⁄8 in (51.37 m), three feet better than in Berlin.[1]

Later career

In 1949 Dreyer successfully defended his outdoor weight throw title.[18] He also set his personal hammer best of 183 ft 3 in (55.87 m)[11] and placed second to Felton at the national championships with 175 ft  6 1⁄2 in (53.50 m).[10] Track & Field News ranked him eighth among the world's hammer throwers that year, the only time he made the top ten as the rankings were first compiled in 1947.[23]

Dreyer reached career-best form with the 56-pound outdoor weight in 1951; at the Metropolitan championships in June he threw 41 ft  7 1⁄2 in (12.68 m), again breaking the world record and now legitimately,[24][25] although as the IAAF didn't recognize official weight throw world records it was only ratified as an American record.[26] He also won the national championship, throwing 41 ft  6 3⁄4  in (12.66 m), a meeting record.[18][26] In the hammer throw he placed second to Felton, throwing 182 ft  8 1⁄4 in (55.68 m), his best mark ever at the national championships.[10] He won a final national title with the 56-pound weight in 1952, throwing 40 ft  3 1⁄8 in (12.27 m).[18] His attempt to qualify for a third Olympic Games was not successful as, although he threw 173 ft  3 1⁄2 in (52.82 m) at the 1952 Olympic Trials, it was only good enough for sixth place.[27]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Henry Dreyer Bio, Stats and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "USA Indoor Track & Field Champions - Men's 35-lb. Weight Throw". USA Track & Field. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Gene Venzke Again Loses to Bonthron". Reading Eagle. March 6, 1934. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  4. ↑ Wheaton, James Lucas; Vangermeersch, Richard G. University of Rhode Island. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-738-50214-4.
  5. ↑ "Torrance Gets Shotput Record". Spokane Daily Chronicle. June 23, 1934. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  6. 1 2 Hill, E. Garry. "A History Of The NCAA Championships, 1921–2013" (PDF). Track & Field News. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Dreyer and Johnson Star in A.A.U. Meet". The Newport Daily News. June 28, 1935. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  8. ↑ Barker, Herbert W. (March 19, 1935). "Six Indoor Track Marks Have Fallen". Spartanburg Herald. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Athletics". The Sydney Mail. May 29, 1935. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mallon, Bill; Buchanan, Ian; Track & Field News. "A History Of The Results Of The National Track & Field Championships Of The USA From 1876 Through 2011". Track & Field News. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  11. 1 2 "Henry Dreyer". trackfield.brinkster.net. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Round the Sports Calendar - 1936 Chronology" (PDF). Gloversville Morning Herald. December 31, 1936. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Cunningham Gloomy Over Loss, Venzke Feels Elated" (PDF). New York Evening Post. February 24, 1936. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  14. 1 2 Hymans, Richard. "The History of the United States Olympic Trials – Track & Field" (PDF). USA Track & Field; Track & Field News. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Folwartshny Keeps 30-Pound Shot Put Title" (PDF). Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 28, 1937. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Cunningham Sets Mark" (PDF). Long Island Sunday Press. February 27, 1938. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  17. ↑ Trost, Ralph (February 25, 1940). "Perkins Takes A.A.U. 35-Lb. Weight Crown" (PDF). Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "USA Outdoor Track & Field Champions - Men's 56-lb. Weight Throw". USA Track & Field. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  19. ↑ Bellamy, Ron (February 28, 1997). "Deal's streak ends with injury". Eugene Register-Guard. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Bennett Wins Weight Toss In AAU Upset" (PDF). Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 22, 1948. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Dillard's Streak Broken in Meet in Milwaukee". The Sunday Morning Star. July 4, 1948. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  22. ↑ Hymans, Richard. "The History of the United States Olympic Trials – Track & Field" (PDF). USA Track & Field; Track & Field News. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  23. ↑ "World Rankings — Men's Hammer" (PDF). Track & Field News. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  24. ↑ "Sports in Brief". Ellensburg Daily Record. June 18, 1951. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  25. ↑ "Weekend Sports Summary". Delaware County Daily Times. June 18, 1951. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  26. 1 2 Zinser, Ben (June 21, 1952). "1936 Olympian Returns in Weight-Throwing". Press-Telegram. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  27. ↑ Hymans, Richard. "The History of the United States Olympic Trials – Track & Field" (PDF). USA Track & Field; Track & Field News. Retrieved April 23, 2014.

External links

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