CMC75 Moments: Giles Wins 1986 National Title in Hammer Throw

As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you were a part of this great moment and would like to add to the memories, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moments, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.

Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics
Carl Giles wins First Men's Track and Field NCAA Championship

The CMS men's track and field team was still on the cusp of becoming a SCIAC power under third-year Head Coach John Goldhammer when the 1986 team finished second in the league standings (its highest finish ever to that point). However, the Stags were able to make a dent on the national scene behind senior thrower Carl Giles.

In the men's hammer throw at the NCAA Division III Championships at Wisconsin-La Crosse, Giles came away with a dominant win by over 13.5 feet, reaching a distance of 194'0" to easily outdistance second-place Scott Remillard of Union (180'5") for the first national championship for a CMS men's track and field athlete. His championship came one year after Gwyn Hardesty won the first individual title for the CMS women's track and field team, although she won hers as a visiting student from Smith College. 

Giles' throw broke the program record at the time and still ranks No. 3 in Stags history, 35 years later. Chris Hickie (hammer) and Mark Messana (100, 200) were also All-Americans for the 1986 Stags, as CMS tied for 14th in the team standings at the NCAAs and began a tradition of strong performances at nationals. Messana, in fact, would go on to win All-America honors 10 times, a standard that hasn't been approached since. He was part of a 4x400 relay team with Tony Gnecco, Derek Elmore and Curt Hocker in 1988 that finished second at the NCAA Championships, the best relay performance in program history, and Dan O'Keefe kept the hammer throw tradition going in 1988 with All-America honors as well.  

Carl Giles:

The 1986 Track and Field Team was the starting point for a great Track and Field dynasty that was led by John Goldhammer.  

The truth is that it took Coach a few years to build the right winning culture, and the track team did not have the team-oriented commitment to excellence that our water polo and soccer teams enjoyed, until the 1986 team came along. My track career mirrors the track team's first two years under Goldhammer—lots of talent, spotty commitment, and limited awareness of what the other athletes on the team were doing. At the start of my senior season, I made a commitment to Coach Goldhammer that I would strive to realize my full athletic potential and to be a leader on the team. I was inspired by the example set by the great Diana Thomas-Schultz (CMC-86).  I very much admired her work ethic and leadership by example, and she gave me much to emulate. I was honored to serve with her as captains of the 1986 CMS Track and Field Team. I hope that our example that year was an inspiration to our very talented freshman teammates, O'Keefe, Messana, Gnecco and several others, whose success in the following years really established the CMS Track and Field Team as a powerhouse.

I am very proud of the fact that the 1986 hammer team had three future All-Americans on the roster and that our names are all at the top of the "Wall of Honor" in the hammer shed that recognizes all the CMS All-American hammer throwers that followed in our footsteps (11 names, 19 All-American winners and 3 national champions since 1986).  Each subsequent generation used our best marks as a benchmark for excellence. I was glad that Mike Susank (CMC '96) broke my school record and won his National Championship title in 1996. And I was thrilled when Emily Bassett (CMC '18) won her own hammer throw title for the Athenas in 2018, at the exact same venue that I won my title 32 years earlier. I was truly honored when she told me that I was one of her inspirations throughout her track career at CMS.

In 1986, Coach Goldhammer rewarded individual personal best performances with a famous Fatburger.  Our hammer team called ourselves the CMS Track and Food team (motto: "We're hungry for success").  I ate a lot of burgers that year. Mike Carroll (CMC '87) was a member of the hammer team and also the sports reporter for the local Claremont rag.  In his sports reports that season he always made sure to equate our best performances to what we ate for breakfast.  

Once, during a conference friendly track meet, we entered a thrower's team into the 4x100m relay race.  To our great fortune, all other entries DQ'd, pulled out, and otherwise did not finish, leaving the field clear and victory to "the fat boys." After a wild celebration on the track, we announced our retirement from the event because we felt that we had nothing else to prove to the track and field community. Then, the Athena team went out and beat us by 0.1 seconds! There were challenge races with the women's team after practice for the rest of the season.

The 1986 track season proved to be a great experience for me. It took me many years to realize that I had a powerful mentor in John Goldhammer who taught me about commitment to excellence, personal accountability, and how to pursue goals with passion.  All these lessons have served me well all of my life.  The real story of the Goldhammer track and field dynasty is the long term impact that he had on me and thousands of others that he coached, a legacy even greater than all those victories earned on the track over the years.

I still vividly remember my last throw at the National Championships.  Somehow, all the technical elements that I had been working on all season came together and I launched a throw that exceeded my personal best by over 5 feet.  I can still hear Chris Hickie exclaim, "Wow" and John Goldhammer's triumphant yell from his position way off in the distance.  I remember thinking that I had transitioned to the next level as a thrower and that it all finally made sense to me.  I trotted off the field and over to the far end of the course to give Goldhammer a hug and a "Thank you." I have not thrown the hammer since then.

Mark Messana:

I agree with Carl's take on those years in general and like to think that under Goldhammer's leadership we all helped build a foundation in those 80s teams that was based on a lot of hard work and training inspired by Coach. Of course there was always some good natured fun to keep it light and though I do not have a specific story to share, my memory is that Carl epitomized that perfect balance between serious and fun, and I think that had a lot to with his success. His national championship set the tone for all of us, and others to follow, by making it known that success at the national level was definitely attainable from our little west coast program.

I was lucky to be there and watch his national winning throw and hang out with the seniors all week long. What stood out was when it was time to train and competing, he put on his game face, took care of business and always came up big just as he did at Nationals that year.  Otherwise I remember a lot mischievous pranks, funny moments and good times off the field.  

1985-86 Men's Track and Field Roster
Head Coach: John Goldhammer
Assistant Coaches: Jim George, Barry Korstan, Mike Maynard
Joe Antonelli (Jr., Middle Distance, CMC)
Steve Barrett (Fr., Distance, CMC)
Alex Beltramo (Fr., High Jump, CMC)
Doug Birkel (So., Triple Jump, HMC)
Gregg Bronn (Fr., Distance, CMC)
Mike Carroll (Jr., Hammer, CMC)
Bill Consoli (Sr., Long Jump, HMC)
Carl Giles (Sr., Hammer, CMC)
Tony Gnecco (Fr., Sprints, HMC)
Keith Gollwitzer (Sr., Sprints, HMC)
Dan Hanesworth (Jr., Sprints, HMC)
Rob Hellyer (Fr., Distance, CMC)
Chris Hickie (Jr., Hammer, HMC)
Peter Hodges (Sr., Hurdles, CMC)
Albert Lopez (Fr., Jumps, HMC)
Chris Lum (So., Pole Vault, HMC)
Frank Marumoto (Fr., Hammer, CMC)
Tom McCabe (Fr., Discus, HMC)
Mark Messana (Fr., Sprints, CMC)
Dan Momyer (Fr., Discus, CMC)
Dan O'Keefe (Fr., Hammer, CMC)
Brian Probst (Fr., Pole Vault, CMC)
Jason Rockhill (Fr., Hammer, CMC)
Mike Scott (Fr., Distance, HMC)
Hugh Sterling (Sr., Sprints, CMC)
Dave Strikkers (Fr., Javelin, CMC)
Frank Tobin (So., Distance, CMC)
Patrick Tom (So., Hurdles, HMC)
Lance Watkins (Fr., 800, CMC)
Doug Willy (Fr., Distance, CMC)