1876 -- It was the year that the U.S. celebrated the 100th anniversary of its birth, but it was also the year that saw the first Championships of the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America, better known by its acronym, the IC4A.

For the three previous years, a series of informal foot races were held as “sideshows” in conjunction with the popular rowing regattas in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. After the running races grew in popularity, representatives from Amherst, Columbia, Harvard, Cornell, Union, Yale, Wesleyan and Williams met in late 1875 and the new group was formed. A later meeting that also drew representatives from Brown, Trinity, Dartmouth, Princeton and CCNY outlined the plans for the new group’s first official competition, which would take place in Saratoga on July 20, a day after the rowing regatta.

The very first IC4A Champion was Princeton’s T.A. Noble, who won the 3-mile walk. Among the other winners, who competed in front of an enthusiastic crowd, were Princeton’s J.M. Mann in the shot put (30-11 1/2), his teammate R.A. Greene in the half mile (2:16  1/2), and Yale’s W.J. Wakeman, who set an American Reecord of 17-1/4 seconds in the 120-yard hurdles.