William Noe Graber (January 21, 1911 – March 8, 1996) was an American pole vaulter. He broke the pole vault world record in 1932 and competed at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics, placing fourth and fifth, respectively.[1]
Graber studied at the University of Southern California (USC), where he was coached by Dean Cromwell.[2] As a sophomore in 1931 Graber won the pole vault at the IC4A championships[3] and tied for first at the NCAA championships,[4] helping the USC Trojans to team titles in both meets.[2][5] At the IC4A meet in Philadelphia men's pole vault was the last event and Graber's meeting record of 14 ft 1⁄2 in (4.28 m) secured the Trojans a narrow victory over Stanford University.[6] Graber was only the fifth athlete in the world to jump 14 feet or more in a competition, and the only one to do so that year.[7] Graber's NCAA jump of 13 ft 10+5⁄16 in (4.22 m) was also a meeting record; the Trojans won that team title by a much more comfortable margin, scoring a record 77+1⁄7 points and beating Ohio State by 46 points.[5]
Graber repeated as IC4A champion 1932, although this time he only tied for first.[3] He was unable to defend his NCAA title as the Trojans didn't compete in that meet.[4] The American team for the OlympicsinLos Angeles was selected at the Olympic TrialsinPalo Alto, with the top three qualifying. Both Graber and Stanford's Bill Miller cleared 14 ft 1+5⁄8 in (4.31 m), a fraction of an inch better than Lee Barnes's world record of 14 ft 1+1⁄2 in (4.30 m).[8] Graber then cleared 14 ft 4+3⁄8 in (4.37 m) to obliterate the record; he said afterwards "it was the first time this year that I have been able to follow one good vault with another."[8] The record established Graber as the leading favorite for the Olympics,[9][10] but he underperformed and only jumped 13 ft 7+1⁄4 in (4.15 m), placing fourth behind Miller, Japan's Shuhei Nishida and the other American entrant, George Jefferson.[1][11]
Graber won his third IC4A title in 1933 in a five-way tie for first place.[3][12] He also tied for first place at the NCAA meet, jumping 13 ft 11+1⁄16 in (4.24 m)[13] to break his own meeting record.[4] In 1934 he was national champion indoors[14] and tied for the title outdoors.[15] He almost broke his own world record in April 1935 at Santa Barbara, clearing a bar supposedly at 14 ft 5+5⁄8 in (4.41 m), but it was subsequently found that the take-off point had been two inches (5 cm) higher than the point of measurement and the record could not be ratified.[16]
Entering the Olympic year of 1936, Graber was considered a leading candidate for his second Olympic Games.[17] At the Olympic TrialsatRandalls IslandinNew York City he cleared 14 ft 3 in (4.34 m), tying for first place with Bill Sefton and Earle Meadows.[18] Meadows and Sefton both being USC undergraduates, it was the first time in the history of the Trials that one university had claimed the top three.[18]George Varoff, who had been the favorite after breaking the world record the previous week, only cleared 14 ft (4.26 m) and didn't qualify for the team.[19]
Graber was again a leading Olympic favorite,[20] but again he failed to medal; at the Olympics he only managed 13 ft 7+1⁄4 in (4.15 m) and placed 5th.[1]
Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships
OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.
2020 OT: The 2020 Olympic Trials were delayed and held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.