[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24387]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING WILLIAM NEUFELD

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JIM COSTA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 19, 2008

  Mr. COSTA. Madam Speaker, I rise today, along with Congressmen 
Radanovich, to congratulate William Neufeld upon his induction into the 
Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame. Mr. Neufeld will be honored at the 50th 
anniversary enshrinement dinner of the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame on 
Thursday, November 6, 2008.
  Born third in a family of nine children in the Ukraine at the turn of 
the 20th century, William Neufeld moved to the United States and 
blossomed into a world-class track and field performer in the javelin 
and other throwing events. His father, a Mennonite minister, eventually 
settled the family in Reedley, California, where the 6-foot-2, 201-
pound teenager played football, basketball, baseball and track and 
field in high school while earning money working in the fields. He went 
to Bethel College in Kansas where he played basketball and starred in 
track and field. Mr. Neufeld then decided to follow his brother Henry 
to the University of California, Berkley. It was a perfect match, as he 
dominated the throwing events and led the Bears to the national 
collegiate title in 1923.
  The following year, Mr. Neufeld won the discus title at the 
collegiate nationals, but he was just getting started. He won the 
javelin competition at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Cambridge, 
Massachusetts, by more than five feet, throwing for 191\1/2\ feet. 
Following a week-long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, he placed fifth 
in the javelin in the 1924 Olympics in Paris. William Neufeld was a 
familiar face at many Olympics to follow.
  After coaching at Riverside College and Harvard, Mr. Neufeld entered 
the Navy during World War II and later returned to Harvard as the 
Director of Physical Education. When Neufeld's competitive career 
ended, he traveled the globe as a coach and athletics liaison for the 
U.S. State Department. He served as a liaison to the 1952 Japanese 
Olympic team and also coached sports in Iran, Taiwan and Africa. Mr. 
Neufeld passed away at the age of ninety-one in Riverside, California 
in 1992.
  Madam Speaker, we rise today to posthumously honor William Neufeld's 
achievements and for his induction into the Fresno Athletic Hall of 
Fame. I invite my colleagues to join me in offering my congratulations 
in memory of Mr. Neufeld's many accomplishments.

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