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Hey, has anyone out there ever heard of my uncle Hugh Cannon (University of Utah, discus, in early 1940's) who my Dad told me actually held the world record in the discus for about a month in either 1942 or 43? I believe he threw 174-10 and his record was beaten by the Italian, Consolini, before his mark was ever officially recognized. Maybe billthe dog or Garry Hill can help me out here. It's a family "secret" that needs to be either validated or refuted....
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Re: Hugh Cannon--lost in history!
Hugh Steffensen Cannon
Hugh Steffensen Cannon unofficially broke the world discuss record seven years after he graduated from BYU in 1936. Competing in June 1943 as an ensign in the US Navy, Hugh's toss of 174'10.17" was the highlight of the Metropolitan AAU championships at New York City's Randall Island Stadium. It bettered the existing world record by more than seven inches.
Hugh's throw held up for three years as the official American record. His hurl of 160'8.5" while a cougar stood 22 years as a Rocky Mountain Conference record.
At BYU the two-sport letterman was an all-conference guard, captain on the basketball team, a member of Blue Key, and winner of the Ed Stein Award, given annually to the top scholar-athlete.
A graduate of Davis High School in Kaysville, Utah, Hugh obtained a master's degree from the University of Chicago before entering the US Navy, where he achieved the rank of lieutenant. He was both two-time AAU and two-time Penn Relays champion, and he won the Junior Nationals in 1936.
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Re: Hugh Cannon--lost in history!
http://www.cougarclub.com/halloffame/cannon_h.html
Thats the website i found the story at.Comment
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Re: Hugh Cannon--lost in history!
So near yet so far!
Uncle Hugh was certainly a thrower of note, finishing 7th and 4th inthe NCAAs of '34 and '35 as a BYU soph and junior. Don't know what he did as a senior.
He def. had a long career, getting his PR of 174-10 in 1943, which was an American Record at the time. And I think it made him No. 2 on the all-time world list, but a tantalizingly 2 inches shy of the WR of 175-0 set by Italy's Adolfo Consolini in '41.
With Consolini's mark coming very late in '41 and war taking over U.S. thinking shortly thereafter, I can well imagine that some U.S. officials might not even have been aware of what the real WR was, thinking it was still Archie Harris's 174-8 from the '41 NCAA at Stanford (which billthedog probably watched?).
(Also possible that w/ London being slightly more preocupied w/ things falling from the sky at that point, and the Italians being part of the original axisofevil that the Consolini mark didn't actually get ratified until post-war, so the "official" WR at that time was still Harris?)Comment
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Re: Hugh Cannon--lost in history!
>Archie
>Harris's 174-8 from the '41 NCAA at Stanford
>(which billthedog probably watched?).
No. I have long wished I could claim to have seen that record and have sometimes even thought of cheating and claiming it. But Harris threw his record during Friday's four-throw "preliminaries," which were held at the old Angell Field discus (now hammer) arena. I was sitting in the Stadium watching the other heats and preliminaries.Comment
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Re: Hugh Cannon--lost in history!
Thank you Arnie for the release from the BYU Cougar Club. And Garry Hill, you are awesome--giving me not only details but also the nuances of as to why or why not my Uncle Hugh was the American record holder but not the world record holder!Comment
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Re: Hugh Cannon--lost in history!
Actually GH's current fixation on the NCAA meet does Uncle Hugh a bit of an injustice. His record in the AAU (national championship) meet was also illustrious. 1935: 3, 1936 and 1937: 4, 1938: 3, 1939: 4, 1942: 6, 1943 and 1944: 1.Comment
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Re: Hugh Cannon--lost in history!
c'mon williamthehound, cut me some slack; my "fixation" is based on ease of reference! Very soon, on the T&FN website you'll see a fabulous AAU/TAC/USATF compilation, historical data by Bill Mallon & Ian Buchanan.Comment
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