Track and Field Hall of Fame

When Jack Heintzman competed in the 1944 Illinois state high school track meet he was 2nd in the high jump and 3rd in the broad jump. But that was only the beginning of a truly remarkable career for the Peoria Central High School and Bradley University high jump standout.

From 1947 through 1951 Heintzman took part in just about every major indoor and outdoor track meet in the nation and won an amazing 26 high jump titles.

His titles read like the Who's Who of track and field: the National AAU indoor and outdoor (five titles), the Michigan State Relays, the Texas Relays, the Purdue Relays (twice), the Washington, D.C. Evening Star Games, the Missouri Valley Conference (twice), the Milrose Games in New York, the Boston Games, the Boston Knights of Columbus Games (twice), the Southeastern Relays, the Chicago Daily News Relays (twice), and the Philadelphia Inquirer Games.

In 1949 he was chosen to an All-American track team that competed against a five-nation Scandinavian team, competed in the Little Olympics in Oslo, Norway, and in the same year was named to the NCAA honor roll.

In 1950 he was part of a U.S. team that toured Europe and Africa. He competed in Portugal, Belgium, Holland, Ireland, England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, South Africa, Southern and Northern Rhodesia and the Congo.

His highest jump was 6-8 1/4 in an exhibition in Portugal. He set the Bradley high jump record three times, the last 6-7 1/4.