Creed Haymond, DDS, Athlete, Earl Cazier’s Mission President

Creed Haymond was born December 2, 1893, in Springville, Utah. I don’t know much about his early childhood, but I do know one Sunday in 1903 his mother took him to Provo for a special church meeting where one of his church leaders spoke about keeping our body free from alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea.


After the meeting his family went to spend some time with an older sister living in Provo. They stayed there until nearly midnight before driving the six miles to Springville in their horse and buggy. Along the way his mother stopped the buggy, took hold of Creed’s hands, and asked him whether he would abstain from the substances mentioned at the church meeting and he replied, “Yes, Momma, I will.” 


Creed was a talented track athlete who eventually ran for the University of Utah for three years before being accepted into the dental school at the University of Pennsylvania where he also competed on their track and field team.


In the spring of 1919, the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America held their annual championship track meet in Boston, Massachusetts. Creed was the captain of the University of Pennsylvania track team, which qualified seventeen men for the semifinals. They were favored to win the championship.


On Friday, Creed won his heat trials and qualified for the semifinals to be held the next day. That night, just as he was about to go to bed, Coach Robertson visited him and offered him a glass of Sherry wine and asked him to drink it. He assured Creed that this little bit of wine would help him relax and run better the next day. He explained that he understood Creed’s  belief about alcohol but for the good of the team he asked him to drink it.


Creed  assured his coach that he would be ready to run the next day and that he didn’t need the wine. 


The coach was upset and just before leaving the room he said, “ … I think you ought to take my advice, for your own good.”


Once again Creed refused and Coach Robertson parted with one more digging thought, “Alright, but if you lose tomorrow, and the University of Pennsylvania loses, I’m going to hold you personally responsible.”


Early the next morning the coach came to Creed’s room to ask how he was feeling. Creed told him that he had slept very well and felt fine. Then Coach Robertson told Creed that his other sixteen teammates were sick, probably from the wine they drank the night before. As it turned out, some of these men were not able to compete that day and those that did were not able to perform at their expected level and scored fewer points than expected.


That afternoon Creed won his semifinal heat in the 100-yard race, which qualified him to race in the finals later that day. He would be facing the six fastest men in college. 


In 1919, they didn’t have starting blocks like today’s track athletes, so to brace their feet for the start of the race, the racers would dig a starting hole in the cinder track. This provided them with the support they needed to push off at the beginning of the race, helping them to a better start.


Unfortunately, when the gun went off, Creed’s starting hole broke as he pushed off and he slipped and fell. Not wanting to quit, he picked himself up and started running to catch up. By this time, he was about 3 yards behind the others. At 75 yards he was in last place, at 90 yards he was in second place, at the finish line he broke the tape to win the 100-yard sprint championship.


The next strange thing to happen occurred later that afternoon when Creed ran the 220-yard race. Just before the start of this semifinal event the announcer told the audience that Creed Haymond was going to try for a new world record. Under pressure, he pushed hard to accomplish this feat but missed by 2/5ths of a second.


A few minutes after finishing this semifinal race an official came up to him and told him to get back to the starting line because the finals for the 220 were starting immediately. Creed approached the starter and asked if he could have more time to catch his breath. Initially he was given 10 minutes to rest but just then the telephone rang. It was the referee giving orders to start the race.


The racers grumbled a bit but took their marks and they were ready to go. When the starting gun went off Creed got a great start and ran the perfect race, finishing several yards ahead of the nearest competitor, setting the world record.


Creed always  attributed these remarkable feats to the promise he made to his mother to never taste alcohol, tobacco, tea, or coffee.


Creed Haymond finished dental school and returned to Salt Lake City to practice dentistry. In 1945 he was asked by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be the mission president of the Northern States Mission. He served in this position until 1950. 


In  November 1948, our family was touched by this great man. At the age 58 my grandfather, Earl Cazier from Afton, Wyoming was asked to leave his family and his farm and serve a six-month mission to the Northern States Mission with Creed Haymond was the mission president.



Happy Failing Forward,


Calvert Cazier