Les Steers (June 16, 1917 – January 23, 2003) broke the world record in high jump three times in 1941 when he was competing for the University of Oregon. He jumped some of his greatest heights inside McArthur Court, including his unofficial personal best of seven feet two inches.
Steers attended Palo Alto (CA) High School, winning the California state meet three years in a row from 1935-1937 and competed for San Mateo Junior College before coming to Eugene in 1941.
Steers was a great all-round athlete who also competed in javelin, shot put and high hurdles as well as the high jump. He had all the makings of a multi-sport athlete.
High jump would prove to be his most successful event. Steers was NCAA champion in 1941, 3-time AAU national champion (1939–1941), and a gold medalist at the World University Games in 1939 where he also won silver in the javelin and bronze in the pentathlon) As a jumper, Steers used the ‘Belly Roll’, a variation of the “Western Roll.”
Les' record setting spree covered just 52 days in the spring of 1941. First, he cleared 6-10 3/4 in Seattle, then 6-10 7/8 in Los Angeles and finally 6-11, again in LA. That won the Pacific Coast Conference/Big Ten meet. The 6-11 mark was the only one ratified by the IAAF as a world mark, it would stand for the next twelve years.
His other PBs were 15.1 in the 120-yard high hurdles and 205-2 in the javelin. Steer's athletic career was interrupted by World War II, but he returned to the state and still was able to clear 6-7 competing for the Multnomah Athletic Club in 1947.
Les Steers is also a member of the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame and the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame.