Rick Wanamaker


Rick Wanamaker is an American track and basketball athlete, known principally for winning the decathlon in the 1971 Pan American Games and for blocking a shot against Lew Alcindor in the 1969 NCAA national basketball semi-finals.
Rick Wanamaker attended Iowa Valley High School in Marengo, where he played basketball. He earned a scholarship and attended Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where he studied advertising. As a freshman, he wanted to participate in the Drake Relays, and chose the decathlon.

Track and field

Wanamaker was a top ten U.S. decathlete from 1970 to 1974. He was the 1970 NCAA national champion and an All-American in decathlon, the 1971 AAU National Champion in decathlon, with a score of 7989,and was the 1971 gold medalist in decathlon at the Pan American Games with a score of 7648.
He was injured prior to the 1972 Munich Olympic trials, and did not qualify for the 1972 Summer Olympics.
Wanamaker is one of the tallest successful decathletes, at 6'-8", 210 lbs in 1971.
A photograph of Rick Wanamaker running in the 1970 Drake Relays taken by Jeff Jacobsen was named the National Press Photographer’s Association best sports photo of the year.

Basketball

Wanamaker was a member of the Drake Bulldog basketball team that finished third in the 1969 NCAA basketball tournament. He is best known for blocking a shot against Lew Alcindor in the 1969 NCAA national semi-finals in Louisville.
Wanamaker's block of Lew Alcindor 's shot is one the 100 top plays in NCAA tournament history, according to www.BleacherReport.com.