On this day 80 years ago, Alfred Van Ranst ’35 led the Cornell University track and field team to a one-point victory over Princeton.

The former Brooker won the shot put with a heave of 45′ 8 3/8″, then took second in the discus (126′ 9″) in the meet’s final event to ensure Cornell’s 68-67 victory. One year later he would finish 3rd in the shot put at the Ivy League Championships (46′ 3.5″) before setting the school’s indoor shot put record in 1939.

Van Ranst was also a standout on Cornell’s football team, earning Honorable Mention All-American honors in 1937. In 1938 he distinguished himself as a team captain and the team MVP while also earning the Carl G. Snaveley Award for aggressiveness and a spot in the North-South game in Alabama.

In 1989 he was inducted into Cornell’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

While at the Brook, “Van” earned varsity letters in football, wrestling, track, and baseball, and was the president of the Athletic Association. However, his senior bio in Res Gestae 1935 indicates that he may have been best known for his prodigious appetite:

It is natural that a fellow who weights a hundred and ninety pounds and who labors so vigorously in student enterprises should eat a great amount of food, but the immense supplies which Van consumes make both the chef and the school treasurer wonder from what source the school's next meal will come. However, it is better for the school to be without food than without Van.

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