Only 5' 5", Greg Rice was nicknamed "Little Dynamite" and the University of Notre Dame graduate dominated the distance running scene in the early 1940s. At one point, he won 55-straight races and his exploits earned him the 1940 Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete. Rice was particularly dominant indoors. Overall, he lowered the world indoor bests for the two and three miles eight times. He improved the record in the two-mile run by more than six seconds from March 1940, when he clocked 8:56.2, to March 1943, when he ran 8:51.0. During his career, he won nine national titles, including five outdoors. As an undergraduate at Notre Dame, Rice was a six-time All-American and two-time winner of the NCAA two-mile run (in 1937 and 1939). Like many during that period, Rice was prevented from competing in the Olympics because of the outbreak of World War II. Rice's last race occurred at the 1943 National AAU outdoor championships when he lost to Sweden's Gundar Haegg. Rice remained active in track for many years as an official.
American Record: 3 mi. - 14:13 (December 28, 1941 - )
1937 NCAA: 2 mi. (1st) 1939 NCAA: 2 mi. (1st)