Billy Brown (athlete)

[2] Brown won his first national (AAU) senior championship title in the triple jump as a high school junior in 1936; he jumped 49 ft 2 in (14.98 m), defeating both defending champion Rolland Romero and 1934 champion Dudley Wilkins.

[3] After graduating from high school he went to Louisiana State University (LSU), where he was coached by Bernie Moore; Moore's coaching emphasized the sprints and the long jump rather than the triple jump, which before 1959 was not contested at the NCAA championship meet in non-Olympic years.

[2] In April 1939 Brown set his personal long jump best (25 ft 4+3⁄4 in / 7.74 m) in a triangular meet against Rice University and Texas, but was then sidelined by injuries.

[7] Brown graduated from LSU in 1941 and joined the United States Navy, but continued his track career.

[2][7] After receiving his discharge from the Navy Brown had a long business career with Kaiser Aluminum, eventually becoming the company's vice president; he retired in 1983.