Niles Lee Perkins, Jr. (July 1, 1919 – April 25, 1971) was an Americanathlete andphysician. Perkins wasUnited States champion in men's 35-lbweight throw in 1940 and held the weight throw indoor world record for nine years. He was also a goodhammer thrower andfootball player.
Perkins was born inAugusta, Maine on July 1, 1919.[1][2] He became an athlete atCony High School in Augusta, setting a school record in the hammer and playingtackle on the football team.[2] For one year he attendedGovernor Dummer Academy,[3] where he threw the 12-pound high school hammer 201 feet in training (thenational high school record was 196 feet)[4] and was named 1938's top high school hammer thrower in the United States.[5][6]
After graduating from high school Perkins went toBowdoin College; his track coach at Bowdoin wasJack Magee, whose previous pupils included 1924 Olympic hammer throw championFred Tootell.[7] At the 1939national (AAU) junior championships Perkins placed third in the hammer and second in the 56-poundweight throw; both were won byStan Johnson, a fellow Maine thrower.[8] Perkins also continued to play football; he was noted as a goodfield goal kicker, and in one game againstColby College he scored Bowdoin's only points in a 6-0 win with his two field goals.[9][10]
At the 1940national indoor championships Perkins won the 35-lb weight throw, throwing 56 ft 1+1⁄2 in (17.10 m) and defeating former championsHenry Dreyer andIrving Folwartshny.[11] Two weeks later, on March 8, 1940, Perkins threw 58 ft 7+1⁄2 in (17.86 m) and broke Dreyer's world record by three inches; Perkins held the world record for almost nine years, until Jim Scholtz broke it in the 1949 IC4A indoor championships.[12][13] In training Perkins reportedly threw over 59 feet, and 61 feet on a fouled throw.[14]
After two years at Bowdoin Perkins switched to theUniversity of Maine to studyengineering,[3][15] and his athletic career trailed off; although he attempted to defend his indoor weight throw title at the 1941 championships, he was no longer one of the favorites,[16] and only placed fifth as Dreyer regained the title.[17]
In 1941 Perkins got a job as amachinist forBath Iron Works, staying with the company until 1944 and becoming its production and planning supervisor.[18] During the last years of World War II he served in theUnited States Navy,[3][18] but started suffering from serious health problems, includingmeningitis andpoliomyelitis.[2][3] After recovering and receiving his discharge from the Navy in 1945 Perkins embarked on a new career as aphysician, returning to Bowdoin for a one-yearpre-medical course and then enrolling atTufts University School of Medicine.[2][18] He served as assistant track and field coach at both schools while studying; at Tufts, he coachedTom Bane andBob Backus,[2][19] both of whom also set indoor world records in the weight throw.[20][21]
After completing his internship at theMaine General Hospital Perkins returned to Bath Iron Works, this time as an industrial physician; he also worked as a private practitioner.[18] In 1955 he became full-time mill physician for the Oxford Paper Company.[18] Later, he moved toPortland, where he specialized incardiology andinternal medicine;[2] in 1965, he received theA. H. Robins Award for outstanding community service by a Maine physician.[22] He was instrumental in the creation of the Penobscot Bay Medical Center, and became its first executive director.[2][23]
Perkins drowned in theMiramichi River inNew Brunswick,Canada on April 25, 1971 while on a fishing trip.[24] His canoe capsized, and in heavy clothes in the cold water he was unable to swim to safety;[24][25] although he was presumed to have drowned, his fate was not known with certainty until his body was found washed up on the shore inBlackville, New Brunswick some time later.[24]
After Perkins's death, the Penobscot Bay Medical Center named its ambulatory care unit and library after him.[2] Perkins was posthumously inducted in the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1982.[2][26][27]
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| Preceded by | World record holder in men's 35-lb indoor weight throw 8 March 1940 – 26 February 1949 | Succeeded by |
