John Flint Hanner (May 21, 1898 – September 14, 1973) was an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete and coach. He qualified for the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

, won the first

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with t ...

championship in 1921 and later worked as the track coach at

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bac ...

for 35 years. He was also one of the founders and the long-time director of the

West Coast Relays Started April 30, 1927, the West Coast Relays grew to one of the premier track and field events in the United States. Held in Fresno's Ratcliffe Stadium, it was the site of thirty-six world records and many national and collegiate records. It bec ...

Biography

Hanner was a native of

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...

. He attended Stanford University, where he competed for the university's track team. He competed in the discus, shot put and

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

, but the event in which he excelled was the javelin throw. Hanner won three national intercollegiate javelin championships in the event. Hanner qualified for the 1920 U.S. Summer Olympic team in the javelin throw, finishing fourth in the Olympic Trials with a throw of 172 feet 5 inches, but he did not compete. The U.S. sent six javelin throwers to the Olympics in Belgium, but at most four athletes from a single country were allowed in any event. Curiously, the two U.S. javelin throwers who did not compete in that event finished third and fourth in the Trials. Nevertheless, Hanner's Olympic experience was of some benefit. His college coach later said that Hanner improved his throw by 10 feet through careful observation of "a peculiarity of the

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

Finns' form." In June 1921, Stanford sent Hanner to the first NCAA track and field championships, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. He was the only athlete that Stanford sent to the NCAA meet, leading the press to call him a "one-man team." Hanner won the first NCAA javelin championship with a throw of 191 feet, 2¼ inches. In 1922, Hanner was captain of Stanford's track team and set a new event record at the AAU meet with a throw of 193 feet, 2¼ inches. He also threw the javelin 206 feet in a practice session in April 1922. That same spring, Hanner set a new American and intercollegiate record with a throw of 197 feet, 1 inch. After Hanner set the record, syndicated sports columnist

Billy Evans William George Evans (February 10, 1884 – January 23, 1956), nicknamed "The Boy Umpire", was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1906 to 1927. He became, at age 22, the youngest umpire in majo ...

wrote a column comparing Hanner to other sports champions from California:

"Experts look for Hanner to perform some record-breaking stunts with the weights. Hanner, a member of the Olympic team, already holds the western and intercollegiate record for javelin throwing ..."

In 1925, Hanner was hired as a track coach at

, a position he held for 35 years until 1960. He remained active as Fresno State's assistant athletic director until his retirement in 1964. Hanner's Fresno State track teams won 27 championships in the Far Western Conference and California Collegiate Athletic Association. The most notable athlete coached by Hanner was

Cornelius Warmerdam Cornelius "Dutch" Warmerdam (June 22, 1915 – November 13, 2001) was an American pole vaulter who held the world record between 1940 and 1957. He missed the Olympics due to World War II, and retired from senior competitions in 1944, though he co ...

—the first person to clear 15 feet in the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the My ...

and the world record holder in the event from 1940 to 1957. He served as the president of the National Collegiate Track Coaches Association from 1948 to 1949. In 1927, Hanner helped found the West Coast Relays and won the javelin event with a throw of 198 feet, 2½ inches. He served as the director of the West Coast Relays for 17 years from 1947 to 1964. During his 39 years at Fresno State, Hanner also coached the school's football team, served as an assistant athletic director and coached the basketball team from 1929 to 1932 and 1944 to 1945. Hanner has been inducted into the U.S. Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the Helms Athletic Hall of Fame in 1952 and the Northern California Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1964. Hanner suffered a stroke in 1973 and died at Fresno Community Hospital at age 75.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanner, Flint 1898 births 1973 deaths American male javelin throwers American track and field coaches Fresno State Bulldogs football coaches Fresno State Bulldogs track and field coaches Sportspeople from Greensboro, North Carolina People from Peru, Indiana Track and field athletes from California Stanford Cardinal men's track and field athletes Fresno State Bulldogs men's basketball coaches

Biography

See also

References