Mel Patton

During his three seasons of competition, Mel Patton was the undisputed king of American sprinters. A highly nervous runner, he never competed in the AAU championships, but he won the NCAA 100y in 1947 and took both sprints in 1948 and 1949. After twice running 9.4 for 100y in 1947, Patton ran the first official 9.3 at the West Coast Relays in 1948. In 1949 he ran a wind-assisted 9.1 and at the same meet, when the wind had dropped, he ran a legal 20.2 for a new world 220y record. One of Patton's rare defeats came in the Olympic 100 m final in 1948 when he placed fifth. His only other losses during his peak years came at the 1948 Final Trials when he lost to Harrison Dillard in the heats and to Barney Ewell in the final. Patton was also a fine relay runner who twice ran on world- record-setting 4×220y teams for Southern Cal. After his retirement from amateur competition, he ran a series of pro races in Australia. He then became manager of the Washington office of Sanders Associates, Inc., an electronics company.

Personal Bests: 100 – 10.44 (1948); 200 – 20.7 (1948).