He placed 6th in his speciality at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris; later that year, he exceeded Charles Hoff's world record in Tokyo, but his mark was never ratified.

[3][4][5] While at the University of Oregon, he was also the regular pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Cottage Grove;[5][6] after graduating, he left that post to become an insurance agent.

Spearow's jump has appeared in many listings of world record progressions since[15][18][19] but has never received official recognition from the International Association of Athletics Federations.

Bill Bowerman claimed the jump was statistically valid but Spearow's lack of an AAU permit to compete prevented ratification.

[6][21] Track and field historian Richard Hymans quotes eyewitness Jonni Myyrä as saying the height Spearow cleared was found to be below the world record on remeasurement; however, Martti Jukola, also citing Myyrä as his source, claimed Spearow failed on his three official attempts and only made the height on an additional exhibition jump.