MERCER'S WORLD RECORD HOLDERS
- mercertrackhall
- Nov 18, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 5, 2025
11/18/2025
Between the years of 1891 and 1908 there were 3 men who set 5 world records between them after graduating from Mercer County NJ high schools. The 3 were; Walter Dohm, Eli Parsons, and J.A. Rector.
WALTER DOHM
Walter C Dohm attended Princeton Prep (which eventually closed in 1937). After graduating from high school in 1886, he attended Princeton University where he won IC4A championships in the 440 Yards in 1889 and both the Half Mile (880 Yards) and the Broad Jump in 1890.
Dohm also competed for the New York Athletic Club (NYAC) and won AAU National titles in the 440 twice and 880 once.
On September 19 1891, while running for NYAC on Travers Island in NYC, Dohm broke the world record in the 880 Yards with a time of 1 min 54 ½ seconds. The previous record was held by Englishman Francis Cross who set it at Oxford in 1888. He broke Cross's record by 1/5 of a second.
Dohm's world record stood for 4 years when American Charles Kirkpatrick broke it in 1895.
A sports writer as well as an athlete, Dohm passed away from Tuberculosis in 1894 at only 25 years of age.
ELI PARSONS
Lawrenceville Prep graduate Eli Parsons held two world records in his career. He set both records indoors, and it took 2 Olympic gold medalists to break his marks.
Parsons graduated from Lawrenceville in 1903. While a student there he set the school record in the 440 Yards at 51 seconds flat.
After Lawrenceville, Parsons attended Yale University. At Yale he shifted his focus to mid-distance running.
On March 19, 1904 in Buffalo NY he set the indoor world record in the 880 Yards Run at 1:54.6. His record stood as the indoor world mark for nearly 21 years when US Olympic gold medalist Alan Helffrich finally broke it on February 21 in 1925.
Two years after setting the 880 mark, Parsons set another indoor world record on March 3, 1906 in New York City. On that occasion it was at 600 Yards in a time of 1:14.0. That mark was broken a year later in March of 1907 by American and 4-time Olympic gold medalist Mel Sheppard.
J.A. RECTOR
James Alcorn Rector was a sprinter at Lawrenceville Prep who graduated in 1906. He held school records in the 100 and 220 Yards. He then matriculated to the University of Virginia where he continued to excel.
In the 1908 season he set two world records. The first was set in the spring of that year on May 9th at the Southern Intercollegiate Meet. He ran the 100 Yards in a time of 9 2/5 seconds to break the world record.
Rector's 2nd world record came at the United States Olympic Trials in June of 1908. He tied the world record in the 100 Meters with a time of 10 & 4/5 seconds. His win at the trials qualified him for the Olympic games which took place in July of 1908 in London.
At the London Games Rector tied the Olympic 100m record twice in preliminary races with duplicate times of 10.8 to win both Heat #15 and Semi Final #3, His wins qualified him for the final.
In the final held on July 22, 1908 he earned the silver medal. He finished runner-up to South Africa's Reggie Walker.
The London Olympics was the last time he ever raced.
To learn more about the history of the sport in Mercer County NJ, see our Historical Class Page, and our Archive Page.
© 2025 Mercer County Track & Field Hall of Fame
