Shiley, Jean M. (Mrs. Newhouse)
Track and Field
b. Feb. 18, 1958, Dallas, TX
A high school star in basketball, field hockey, and tennis as well as track, Shiley was a member of the U. S. Olympic team in 1928, when she was only a junior in high school. She finished fourth in the high jump.
Shiley entered Temple University in 1929 and competed for Philadelphia's Meadowbrook Club because the school didn't offer women's track. She won the AAU outdoor high jump championship from 1929 through 1931 and she tied with Babe Didrikson on 1932. She won the indoor title from 1929 through 1932, setting a world record of 5-3 1/8 in 1931.
At the 1932 Olympics, Shiley and Didrikson had a long duel for the gold medal. They tied at 5-5 1/4, a world record and they both failed to clear 5-6. The bar was then set at 5-5 3/4 for a jump-off. Shiley and Didrikson both cleared that height, another world record, but officials ruled that Didrikson had used an illegal technique and Shiley won the gold.
She retired from competition after graduating in 1933. After her marriage in 1945, she worked as a volunteer in a Red Cross program to teach handicapped children how to swim.