- Rick Wanamaker
Rick Wanamaker (born in
Marengo, Iowa ) is an American track and basketball athlete, known principally for winning thedecathlon in the1971 Pan American Games and for blocking a shot againstLew 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 attendedDrake University inDes Moines, Iowa , where he studiedadvertising . As a freshman, he wanted to participate in theDrake Relays , and chose thedecathlon .Track and field
Rick Wanamaker was a top ten U.S. decathlete from 1970 to 1974. [ [http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/rankings/men/decausranking.pdf All-Time U.S. Rankings — Men’s Decathlon] , "
Track & Field News " 2002. Accessed2008-06-10 .]Rick was the 1970 NCAA national champion and an
All-American indecathlon , [ [http://www.mvc.org/records/mtrack.pdf MVC Record Books] ,Missouri Valley Conference . Accessed2008-06-10 ] the 1971 AAU National Champion in decathlon, with a score of 7989, [http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1084986/1/index.htm Ho, Ho, Ho Went The Jolly White Giant] , "Sports Illustrated ",1971-06-21 . Accessed2008-06-11 .] [ [http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/tfn/archive/results.jsp?sex=M&disciplineId=25&id=1 History of US Nationals Results: Decathlon] , "Track and Field News " Archive, 2005. Accessed2008-06-12 .]Rick Wanamaker was the 1971 gold medalist in decathlon at the
Pan American Games with a score of 7648. [ [http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/pag.htm Pan-American Games] , "Athletics Weekly " 2007. Accessed2008-06-11 .] [ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1971_Pan_American_Games Athletics at the 1971 Pan American Games] ]Rick is one of the tallest successful decathletes, at 6'-8", 210 lbs in 1971.
Basketball
Rick was a member of the Drake Bulldog basketball team that finished third in the 1969 NCAA basketball tournament. He is best known for blocking a shot against
Lew Alcindor in the 1969 NCAA national semi-finals in Louisville. [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/lopresti/2008-03-18-drake_N.htm Drake stood up to mighty UCLA in 1969] , "USA Today ",2008-03-18 . Accessed2008-06-12 .]Personal life
Rick and his wife Marcia maintain successful careers as real estate agents in Des Moines. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1572/is_200203/ai_n6802333 Top Guns: Top players in metro real estate sales] , "
Des Moines Business Record ", 2002. Accessed2008-06-12 .]References
External links
* [http://www.thewanamakers.com/ Rick and Marcia Wanamaker Realty site]
* [http://www.iahsaa.org/track/Archives/tr_timeline_overview.pdf Iowa High School Athletic Association track & Field Timeline]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
