Trenton Jackson
(1942-2007)
Trenton Jackson, the inaugural member of the Rochester Track Club Hall-of-Fame in 1970 died suddenly at Strong Memorial Hospital yesterday, March 25, 2007. He was 65 years old.
On June 3, 1961, he ran the 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds to match the National High School record set by Jesse Owens in 1933. One stopwatch timed him in 9.3 and the other two had 9.4’s. Nicknamed the “Franklin Flash” he was a star on the Quakers’ 1960 Section V Class AA championship basketball team. According to Mauro Panaggio, his H.S basketball coach, “he was so gifted – so fast, amazing dexterity. He was a natural.”
Trent went on to earn a football and track scholarship to the University of Illinois and played in their victory over Washington in the 1964 Rose Bowl. He was a teammate of Dick Butkus at Illinois. After college, he played briefly with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins as a wide receiver and kick return specialist.
In 1964 Trent finished 2nd to “Bullet” Bob Hayes at the U.S. Olympic Trials 100-meter dash to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team. Many rated him as one of the favorites to medal in the Tokyo Olympic 100 meter dash. It was not to be. Trent won his trials heat and finished a close second in his quarter-final but strained a hamstring during the semi-finals match up with Bob Hayes and finished last in the race. He was finished for the Olympics. He also missed the opportunity to run on the U.S. 4 x 100m Relay team which easily won the Gold medal.
After his brief NFL career he returned to Rochester and taught and coached at Franklin H.S. for 26 years winning six Section V basketball titles. He represented the Rochester Track Club when he ran in the 1964 U.S. Olympic Trials. Later, he often ran in the local summer track meets at RIT. Even in his late 40 and early 50’s, Trent was known as one of the quickest starters in the 100. He was also a member of the Section V Track and Field, Football and Basketball Hall of Fames.
The 1964 Tokyo Olympic results for Trent Jackson are listed below:
1st Round
October 14, 1964
10:00 a.m.
100m Dash
Heat B
1 Jackson, Trenton U.S.A. 10.5
2 Radford, Peter Frank BRITAIN 10.6
3 El Maachi Bouchaib, B. MOROCCO 10.6
4 Csutoras, Csaba HUNGARY 10.7
5 Du Preez, Johan RHODESIA 10.7
6 Chung, Ki Sun KOREA 11.0
7 Valles, Arnulfo V. PHILPINS 11.1
Weather—Rainy
Humidity—94.0 per cent
Temperature—16.7°C
Wind—2.51m Against Wind
2nd Round
October 14, 1964
2:40 p.m.
Heat A
1 Jerome, Harry CANADA 10.3
2 Jackson, Trenton U.S.A. 10.4
3 Obersiebrasse, Fritz GERMANY 10.4
4 Kone, Gaoussou IVRCOAST 10.4
5 Johnson, Dennis O. JAMAICA 10.5
6 Dudziak, Marian POLAND 10.5
7 Laidebeur, Bernard FRANCE 10.5
8 Earle, William Joheph AUSTRAL 10.6
Weather — Cloudy
Humidity —87.0 per cent
Temperature— 17.6°C
Wind—1.90 m Fair Wind
Semi-Final
October 15, 1964
2:00 p.m.
Heat A
1 Hayes, Robert L. U.S.A. 9.9
2 Maniak, Wieslaw Jan POLAND 10.1
3 Robinson, Thomas Augustus BAHAMAS 10.2
4 Schumann, Heinz GERMANY 10.3
5 Lay, Robert William AUSTRALA 10.3
6 McNeil, Pablo S. JAMAICA 10.3
7 Herrera, Arquimedes VENEZULA 10.4
8 Jackson, Trenton U.S.A. 10.6
Weather —Fine
Humidity —42.0 per cent
Temperature—23.8°C
Wind—5.28 m Fair Wind
Bob Hayes 9.9 seconds time in winning the semi-final bested the current world record. It was not ratified as a new world record because of the favoring wind exceeding the allowable standard.
