Ken Doherty (track)
Encyclopedia
Ken Doherty was an American decathlon champion, college track and field coach, author and longtime director of the Penn Relays
. While a student at the University of Michigan
, Doherty won the American decathlon championship in 1928 and 1929 and won the bronze medal in the event at the 1928 Summer Olympics
in Amsterdam
. He later served as a track coach at Princeton University
(1929-1930), the University of Michigan (1930-1948), and the University of Pennsylvania
(1948-1957). He was also the meet director for the Penn Relays
from 1956-1969 and of the first dual track meet between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1959. He was also a published author of works on track coaching, and his Track & Field Omnibook was regarded as "the track coach's bible" from the 1970s through the 1990s. Doherty has been inducted into at least six athletic halls of fame, including the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and athletic halls of fame at the University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, and Wayne State University
.
, Doherty recalled learning about track and field at age six when the local pole vault champion lived across the street: "I took my mother's clothes pole and tried to clear a string stretched across two fence posts." Doherty attended Detroit's Western High School
where he did not earn a letter. He later recalled being small for his age in high school and joked that, at the end of high school, "they gave me a letter for long and faithful service!"
) in 1923 but did not try out for the track team until his junior year. He tried out for the track team as a high jumper, but the school's track coach, David L. Holmes, saw Doherty's potential as an all-around athlete in the decathlon, and entered him in competitions in the Penn Relays, the Illinois relays and the Ohio Relays. Doherty won four letters at Detroit City College, and was elected the student body president. He trained indoor on a track built in the 1880s for City College's "Old Main," when that large building served as Detroit's Central High School. He trained for outdoor track on a field maintained by the City of Detroit on an island in the Detroit River, Belle Isle, two miles from City College. As Doherty indicates in his autobiography, the outdoors team had neither dressing room nor showers. Even in his time, these facilities were outdated.
Doherty graduated from Detroit City College in 1927 and enrolled at the University of Michigan
where he trained for the Olympics under Wolverines track coaches, Steve Farrell and Charles B. Hoyt
. He also earned a Master's Degree at Michigan in 1933.
During the time that Doherty competed in the decathlon, all ten events were run on the same day. In 1928, Doherty won the American Amateur Athletic Union
decathlon championship with a score of 7,600.52. At the 1928 Summer Olympics
in Amsterdam
, he placed third in the decathlon with a score of 7,706.65 behind Paavo Yrjölä
(8,053.29 points) and Akilles Järvinen
(7,624.135 points). Doherty was in fifth place for most of the Olympic competition, but moved into third as a result of his performance in the javelin throw and running the 1,500 meters in 4 minutes, 54 seconds.
Doherty capped his career as a decathlete in 1929 when he repeated as the American AAU championship in Denver with an American record score of 7,784.68 points. Sports writer Paul Lowry wrote about Doherty's record-setting performance: "Ken Doherty broke the record in the decathlon -- ten of the most grueling events imaginable, and all run off on the same day." Doherty reported that he felt fresh after the 1929 decathlon championship taking in a banquet and motion-picture show the night after the competition and arising the next day "to make a 350-mile auto trip without a feeling of strain or exhaustion." Doherty's trip to Denver for the 1929 also doubled as a honeymoon tour with his wife of a few weeks.
where he worked under the school's legendary track coach, Keene Fitzpatrick
from 1929-1930. In 1930, Doherty was hired by the University of Michigan
as its assistant track coach serving under the Wolverines' new head coach, Charles B. Hoyt
. He remained Hoyt's assistant for nine years and took over as Michigan's head track coach in 1939 when Hoyt accepted a job at Yale. Doherty served nine years as Michigan's head coach, leading Michigan to seven Big Ten Conference
championships (four indoor and three outdoor). In his 18 years as an assistant and head coach at Michigan, he coached some of the schools all-time great athletes, including the following:
Doherty earned a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Michigan in 1948.
At Penn, Doherty developed track stars, including Dick Hart, charles Emermy, Willie Lee and John Haines. Doherty drew national publicity in February 1957 when he suspended 20-year-old runner (and future movie star) Bruce Dern
from the Penn track team. Dern drew Doherty's ire for his sideburns that a United Press reporter compared to those of Elvis Presley
. It was reported that "the bobby-soxers squealed and howled and shrieked, 'Go, Elvis, go!' when Dern ran on Penn's two-mile relay team." Doherty insisted that Dern shave, and Dern declined. In removing Dern from the track team, Doherty refused to say the sideburns were the cause and instead told a reporter: "He preferred not to continue with the team is the best way of putting it. Team members are expected to be representatives of the university and this applies to many things. Obviously, any man who can't live up to these things automatically puts himself off the team." Press accounts at the time noted that Dern's father was a Chicago lawyer and a University of Pennsylvania Trustee. An associate of Doherty recalled Doherty as "a very thorough man with a stubborn streak." When Doherty kicked Dern off the team after he refused to cut his hair, Fabricus recalled that people told him, "You can't do that. His father is a trustee." But, according to Doherty's associate, "Ken said he had ground rules, and that was that."
In May 1957, three months after the negative publicity resulting from the Dern incident, Doherty announced his retirement after nine years as Penn's coach. Doherty stated at the time that he wanted to free up his time to devote himself to more intensive planning of the relays.
, a three-day event that became known as "the world's largest track and field carnival." From 1959 to 1967, he was also the meet director of The Philadelphia Inquirer Games, a major indoor track and field competition. In 1959, he was the meet director for the first dual meet between the United States and the Soviet Union. He was also the meet director for the 1961 NCAA Outdoor Championships. In addition to his work as a meet director, Doherty conducted track clinics in the Soviet Union, Finland, Canada and India.
It has been said that Doherty had "more knowledge about track and field techniques than any man of his generation." When the Track and Field Hall of Fame Library was established at Butler University
, Doherty donated his collection to the library, which included thousands of books, periodicals and manuscripts related to the history of track and field in the United States; the collection was moved to the library of the AAFLA in Los Angeles in 2001 where it is open for public view.
Doherty also served as President of the National Track and Field Coaches Association in 1956 and became a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine in 1957. Prior to his induction into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, Doherty had been chairman of the selection committee for two years. He was inducted the year after he stepped down from the committee and, on his selection, Doherty said:
. His wife, the former Lucile Mason, died in 1993. Doherty and his wife had two sons, Dr. Lynn M. Doherty and Dr. Robert W. Doherty.
Penn Relays
The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
. While a student at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, Doherty won the American decathlon championship in 1928 and 1929 and won the bronze medal in the event at the 1928 Summer Olympics
1928 Summer Olympics
The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam had bid for the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games, but had to give way to war-victim Antwerp, Belgium, and Pierre de...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. He later served as a track coach at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(1929-1930), the University of Michigan (1930-1948), and the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
(1948-1957). He was also the meet director for the Penn Relays
Penn Relays
The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
from 1956-1969 and of the first dual track meet between the United States and the Soviet Union in 1959. He was also a published author of works on track coaching, and his Track & Field Omnibook was regarded as "the track coach's bible" from the 1970s through the 1990s. Doherty has been inducted into at least six athletic halls of fame, including the National Track and Field Hall of Fame and athletic halls of fame at the University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, and Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
.
Early years
Born of Canadian parents who crossed the Detroit River to find work in Detroit, MichiganDetroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, Doherty recalled learning about track and field at age six when the local pole vault champion lived across the street: "I took my mother's clothes pole and tried to clear a string stretched across two fence posts." Doherty attended Detroit's Western High School
Western International High School
Western International High School is a secondary educational facility, located across from Clark Park, within southwest Detroit's Mexicantown. Western is operated by the Detroit Public Schools system....
where he did not earn a letter. He later recalled being small for his age in high school and joked that, at the end of high school, "they gave me a letter for long and faithful service!"
Two-time decathlon champion
He enrolled in the College of the City of Detroit (later known as Wayne State UniversityWayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
) in 1923 but did not try out for the track team until his junior year. He tried out for the track team as a high jumper, but the school's track coach, David L. Holmes, saw Doherty's potential as an all-around athlete in the decathlon, and entered him in competitions in the Penn Relays, the Illinois relays and the Ohio Relays. Doherty won four letters at Detroit City College, and was elected the student body president. He trained indoor on a track built in the 1880s for City College's "Old Main," when that large building served as Detroit's Central High School. He trained for outdoor track on a field maintained by the City of Detroit on an island in the Detroit River, Belle Isle, two miles from City College. As Doherty indicates in his autobiography, the outdoors team had neither dressing room nor showers. Even in his time, these facilities were outdated.
Doherty graduated from Detroit City College in 1927 and enrolled at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
where he trained for the Olympics under Wolverines track coaches, Steve Farrell and Charles B. Hoyt
Charles B. Hoyt
-Champion sprinter:A native of Greenfield, Iowa, Hoyt won three straight 100 and 220 yard dashes in the Iowa state meet from 1911–1913 and won seven career gold medals. As a high school student in 1912, Hoyt was offered a place on the U.S. Olympic team but turned down the chance...
. He also earned a Master's Degree at Michigan in 1933.
During the time that Doherty competed in the decathlon, all ten events were run on the same day. In 1928, Doherty won the American Amateur Athletic Union
Amateur Athletic Union
The Amateur Athletic Union is one of the largest non-profit volunteer sports organizations in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs.-History:The AAU was founded in 1888 to...
decathlon championship with a score of 7,600.52. At the 1928 Summer Olympics
1928 Summer Olympics
The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam had bid for the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games, but had to give way to war-victim Antwerp, Belgium, and Pierre de...
in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, he placed third in the decathlon with a score of 7,706.65 behind Paavo Yrjölä
Paavo Yrjölä
Paavo Ilmari Yrjölä , also known as the Bear of Hämeenkyrö , was a Finnish track and field athlete who won the gold medal in the decathlon at the Olympics in 1928....
(8,053.29 points) and Akilles Järvinen
Akilles Järvinen
Akilles Eero Johannes Järvinen was a Finnish athlete and decathlete and Olympic medallist....
(7,624.135 points). Doherty was in fifth place for most of the Olympic competition, but moved into third as a result of his performance in the javelin throw and running the 1,500 meters in 4 minutes, 54 seconds.
Doherty capped his career as a decathlete in 1929 when he repeated as the American AAU championship in Denver with an American record score of 7,784.68 points. Sports writer Paul Lowry wrote about Doherty's record-setting performance: "Ken Doherty broke the record in the decathlon -- ten of the most grueling events imaginable, and all run off on the same day." Doherty reported that he felt fresh after the 1929 decathlon championship taking in a banquet and motion-picture show the night after the competition and arising the next day "to make a 350-mile auto trip without a feeling of strain or exhaustion." Doherty's trip to Denver for the 1929 also doubled as a honeymoon tour with his wife of a few weeks.
University of Michigan
Doherty, described as "a lean, quiet Scot," retired from competition in 1929 and accepted a position as a coach at Detroit Southwestern High School in 1929. He next accepted a position as an assistant track coach at Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
where he worked under the school's legendary track coach, Keene Fitzpatrick
Keene Fitzpatrick
Keene Fitzpatrick was a track coach, athletic trainer, professor of physical training and gymnasium director for 42 years at Yale University , the University of Michigan , and Princeton University...
from 1929-1930. In 1930, Doherty was hired by the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
as its assistant track coach serving under the Wolverines' new head coach, Charles B. Hoyt
Charles B. Hoyt
-Champion sprinter:A native of Greenfield, Iowa, Hoyt won three straight 100 and 220 yard dashes in the Iowa state meet from 1911–1913 and won seven career gold medals. As a high school student in 1912, Hoyt was offered a place on the U.S. Olympic team but turned down the chance...
. He remained Hoyt's assistant for nine years and took over as Michigan's head track coach in 1939 when Hoyt accepted a job at Yale. Doherty served nine years as Michigan's head coach, leading Michigan to seven Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
championships (four indoor and three outdoor). In his 18 years as an assistant and head coach at Michigan, he coached some of the schools all-time great athletes, including the following:
- Eddie TolanEddie TolanThomas Edward "Eddie" Tolan , nicknamed the "Midnight Express", was an American track and field athlete who compete in the Sprints. He set world records in the 100 yard dash and 100 meters event and Olympic records in the 100 meters and 200 meters events...
- set the world record in the 100-yard dash and won Olympic gold medals at the 1932 Summer Olympics1932 Summer OlympicsThe 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the X Olympiad, was a major world wide multi-athletic event which was celebrated in 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. No other cities made a bid to host these Olympics. Held during the worldwide Great Depression, many nations...
in the 100-meter and 200-meter runs. - Sam StollerSam StollerSam Stoller was an American sprinter and long jumper who tied the world record in the 60-yard dash in 1936. He is best known for his exclusion from the American 4 × 100 relay team at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, triggering widespread speculation that he and Marty Glickman,...
- one of two Jews on the American track team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics; controversy sparked when he was pulled from the 4 x 100 meter relay event - William WatsonWilliam Watson (track and field athlete)William Delouis Watson , also known as Big Bill Watson, was an American track and field athlete. Watson was the Amateur Athletic Union decathlon champion in 1940 and 1943. He was the first African-American to win the U.S...
- won 12 individual Big Ten Conference championships, including three consecutive championships (1937-1939) in the long jump, discus and shot put; first African-American to win the AAU decathlon championship in 1940 - Elmer GedeonElmer GedeonElmer John Gedeon is one of only two Major League Baseball players killed in action during World War II. He was also a multi-sport star in college at the University of Michigan...
- tied a world record in the high hurdles in 1938; shot down and killed while piloting a B-26 bomber on a mission over France in April 1944. - Willis WardWillis WardWillis F. Ward was a track and field athlete and American football player who was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1981....
- collegiate champion in the high jump, long jump, 100-yard dash, and 400-yard dash; finished second in voting for AP Big Ten Athlete of the Year in 1933; second African-American to letter in football at Michigan. - Bob OsgoodBob OsgoodRobert D. "Bob" Osgood was an American track and field athlete who set a world record in the 120-yard high hurdles in May 1937 with a time of 14 seconds flat. He also won the Big Ten Conference championship in the event in both 1936 and 1937...
- set a world record in the 120-yard high hurdles in 1937 and Big Ten champion in 1936 and 1937 - Robert H. HumeRobert H. HumeRobert Humiston Hume was the 1941 NCAA champion in the outdoor mile run. He was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1990. He and his twin brother, H...
and H. Ross HumeH. Ross HumeHenry Ross Hume was a three-time NCAA champion distance runner who was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1990. He and his twin brother, Robert H...
- the "dead heat twins" who were champions in the mile and regularly finished their races holding hands in dead heat victories. - Bob UferBob UferBob Ufer was the lead broadcaster for the Michigan Wolverines football team for 37 years, starting in 1944. He has been inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor.-Early years:...
- set the world indoor record in the 440 yards and later the radio voice of Michigan football - Don CanhamDon CanhamDonald Canham was a track and field athlete and coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the athletic director at the University of Michigan from 1968 to 1988. There, he became nationally renowned for his ability to market and sell products bearing the name or logo of the school...
- All-AmericaAll-AmericaAn All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
who won the 1940 NCAA title in the high jumpHigh jumpThe high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....
and was both the indoor and outdoor Big Ten ConferenceBig Ten ConferenceThe Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
champion in both 1940 and 1941; succeeded Doherty as Michigan's track coach and became a school legend as its athletic director from 1968-1988 - Charlie FonvilleCharlie FonvilleCharles Edward Fonville was an American track and field athlete who set a world record in the shot put. In 1945, he had been named the Michigan High School Track & Field Athlete of the Year. He won the National Collegiate Athletic Association shot put championship in 1947 and 1948...
- NCAA shotput champion in 1947 and 1948; set world record in 1948
Doherty earned a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Michigan in 1948.
University of Pennsylvania
In April 1948, Doherty accepted the job as track coach at the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
At Penn, Doherty developed track stars, including Dick Hart, charles Emermy, Willie Lee and John Haines. Doherty drew national publicity in February 1957 when he suspended 20-year-old runner (and future movie star) Bruce Dern
Bruce Dern
Bruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
from the Penn track team. Dern drew Doherty's ire for his sideburns that a United Press reporter compared to those of Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
. It was reported that "the bobby-soxers squealed and howled and shrieked, 'Go, Elvis, go!' when Dern ran on Penn's two-mile relay team." Doherty insisted that Dern shave, and Dern declined. In removing Dern from the track team, Doherty refused to say the sideburns were the cause and instead told a reporter: "He preferred not to continue with the team is the best way of putting it. Team members are expected to be representatives of the university and this applies to many things. Obviously, any man who can't live up to these things automatically puts himself off the team." Press accounts at the time noted that Dern's father was a Chicago lawyer and a University of Pennsylvania Trustee. An associate of Doherty recalled Doherty as "a very thorough man with a stubborn streak." When Doherty kicked Dern off the team after he refused to cut his hair, Fabricus recalled that people told him, "You can't do that. His father is a trustee." But, according to Doherty's associate, "Ken said he had ground rules, and that was that."
In May 1957, three months after the negative publicity resulting from the Dern incident, Doherty announced his retirement after nine years as Penn's coach. Doherty stated at the time that he wanted to free up his time to devote himself to more intensive planning of the relays.
Meet director
After retiring as a track coach, Doherty devoted himself to work as a meet director. From 1956-1969, Doherty served as the meet director for the Penn RelaysPenn Relays
The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
, a three-day event that became known as "the world's largest track and field carnival." From 1959 to 1967, he was also the meet director of The Philadelphia Inquirer Games, a major indoor track and field competition. In 1959, he was the meet director for the first dual meet between the United States and the Soviet Union. He was also the meet director for the 1961 NCAA Outdoor Championships. In addition to his work as a meet director, Doherty conducted track clinics in the Soviet Union, Finland, Canada and India.
Author
He was also the author of articles and popular books on coaching track and field. In 1941, he published the book Solving Camp Behavior Problems based on his work as a director of the Boys' Camp at the National Music Camp in Michigan. In 1953, he published Modern Track & Field. His most popular work was the multi-edition Track & Field Omnibook, first published in 1971 and "generally regarded as the track coach's bible." The Omnibook, published in four editions and in print until 1995, was the first comprehensive book on track coaching; it went beyond technique and also covered sports psychology and methods of motivation. Doherty's books were translated into Russian, Finnish, Spanish and Japanese.It has been said that Doherty had "more knowledge about track and field techniques than any man of his generation." When the Track and Field Hall of Fame Library was established at Butler University
Butler University
Butler University is a private university located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university offers 60 degree programs to 4,400 students through six colleges: business, communication, education, liberal Arts and sciences, pharmacy and health...
, Doherty donated his collection to the library, which included thousands of books, periodicals and manuscripts related to the history of track and field in the United States; the collection was moved to the library of the AAFLA in Los Angeles in 2001 where it is open for public view.
Honors
Doherty has received many honors for his achievements in the world of track and field, including the following:- Inducted into the Helms Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1961.
- Inducted in the University of Michigan Men's Track Hall of Fame in 1970.
- Inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1976.
- Inducted into the Wayne State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1977.
- Inducted into the University of Pennsylvania Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998.
- Inducted into the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
- An annual fellowship in Doherty's name is administered by the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles.
Doherty also served as President of the National Track and Field Coaches Association in 1956 and became a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine in 1957. Prior to his induction into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame, Doherty had been chairman of the selection committee for two years. He was inducted the year after he stepped down from the committee and, on his selection, Doherty said:
"Each part of my career has its own significance to me. I look back at the decathlon, which at that time was not as popular as it is today. My coaching, well, it was great working with the boys. My books are more important than anything to me now. And being recognized by those within my sport is the greatest compliment I could hope for."
Family and death
Doherty died in 1996 at age 90 in Lancaster, PennsylvaniaLancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
. His wife, the former Lucile Mason, died in 1993. Doherty and his wife had two sons, Dr. Lynn M. Doherty and Dr. Robert W. Doherty.