Frank K. Schmitz (September 4, 1945 – September 3, 1966) was an American trampoline gymnast who won four individual NCAA titles and a silver medal at the 1965 Trampoline World Championships.
| Frank Schmitz | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| College | Southern Illinois University Carbondale | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Career | 1964–1966 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | September 4, 1945 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | September 3, 1966 (aged 20) Morgan City, Louisiana | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Honors | |||||||||||||||||||||
| SIU Athletic Hall of Fame | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1966 NCAA Men's Team Gymnastics 1966 NCAA Floor Exercise 1966 NCAA Vault 1965 NCAA Floor Exercise 1965 NCAA Trampoline 1962 AAU Trampoline National Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life
editSchmitz was the son of William C. and Polly Schmitz and was raised in Lafayette, Louisiana. He had several accidents as a child. As a baby, Frank's stroller rolled off the front porch of his house. As a boy he found a live bullet that he put in a toy gun. The bullet exploded and part of it lodged in his liver. As a teenager, Schmitz was involved in a motor scooter accident. A head injury from the accident caused his head to swell to one and a half times its normal size. After Schmitz recovered, his parents pushed him away from contact sports, so he became interested in gymnastics.[1]
High school
editAfter taking up gymnastics he studied under Jeff Hennessy at the University of Southwestern Louisiana while he was in high school.[2][1] In 1962, he won the AAU trampoline national championship.[3] He came in second in Trampolining at the same event in 1963.[4]
While still in high school, Schmitz won the U.S. Invitational Championship in trampoline, floor exercise, and vaulting in 1962. In 1963 and 1964, he won the East-West Trampoline Championship. He also attended the 1964 inaugural South African Games where he won the trampoline championship.[5]
College
editHe began attending college at Southern Illinois University Carbondale where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity.[5] While at SIU he won four individual NCAA national championships. In 1965, he won the Floor Exercise as well as the Trampoline championships[6][1][7] In 1966, he was again the Floor Exercise champion as well as the Long Horse (Vault) champion.[6][7][8] In 1966, the SIU Salukis were also the NCAA team champion in men’s gymnastics.[9]
Schmitz won a silver medal at the 1965 Trampoline World Championships in London.[10][5]
Death
editSchmitz was killed when the plane he was piloting crashed near Morgan City, Louisiana on the night before his twenty-first birthday.[1][5] At the time of his death he was rated one of the best trampolinists in the world. He was also known for being able to perform the full and one and a half twisting dive roll on the floor exercise and the full twisting front vault on the Long Horse.[1]
After his death he was inducted into the SIU Athletic Hall of Fame.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e "Trampoline Champ Killed". Modern Gymnast. Vol. 8, no. 10. October 1966. p. 20. Retrieved July 22, 2022 – via Issuu.
- ^ "Jefferson T. Hennessy Papers". University of Louisiana Lafayette.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "U.S. National Champions - Trampoline and Tumbling". USA Gymnastics.
- ^ "Vega, Sakamoto, Mrs. Grossfeld Shine at Philly". Journal of Physical Education. Vol. 61, no. 1. September–October 1963. p. 13.
- ^ a b c d "Adytum on High" (PDF). The Emerald of Sigma Pi. Vol. 53, no. 3. Fall 1966. p. 406. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-16. Retrieved 2017-05-24.
- ^ a b "National Collegiate Gymnastics, 2002" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletics Association. pp. 68–69.
- ^ a b "Previous NCAA Winners". The U.S. Gymnast Magazine. Vol. 2, no. 4. April 1967. pp. 18&22.
- ^ "Schmitz of SIU leads gymnastics". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. April 3, 1966. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
- ^ "National Collegiate Gymnastics, 2002" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletics Association. p. 67.
- ^ "Timeline". USA Gymnastics.
- ^ "Saluki Hall of Fame" (PDF). CBS Sports. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-31. Retrieved 2017-05-24.