Edward H. Bailey Jr.

Afour-year Andover student-athlete, Ted Bailey lettered in football, winter track, and spring track and field his upper and senior years.

It was Coach Steve Sorota P’55, ’61, ’63, ’70, who introduced Bailey to hammer-throwing his upper year. At the time, most track competitions were against college freshman teams, so on several occasions Bailey threw the Olympic-weight hammer instead of the high school weight. He was undefeated in the hammer-throwing competition as an upper—and took first place in the 12-pound hammer in the New England Prep school championships his upper and senior years. In 1958, Andover romped Northeastern’s freshman squad in their spring track meet. Bailey whirled the 16-pound hammer an impressive 147 feet 2.5 inches to break the school record by almost a foot.

Bailey continued competing in track and field events at Harvard. At the school’s freshman meet against Andover, Bailey beat his alma mater in the discus and 28-pound weight (the indoor hammer). He also threw the 35-pound weight as an extra event and set a new Harvard frosh and PA Cage record.

Bailey’s athletic career at Harvard culminated senior year with an all-time college record of 200 feet in the 16-pound hammer. Undefeated in hammer-throwing in major Ivy League and Eastern Collegiate track and field championships in 1962, Bailey qualified for and won the NCAA Championship and was named All-American.

Bailey was inducted into the Harvard Varsity Club’s Track & Field Hall of Fame Class of 1988.

After graduating from Harvard, Bailey earned a master’s degree from Cornell in aerospace engineering in 1966 and an MBA from New York University in 1973. After graduating from Cornell, Bailey worked at General Electric for 25 years. He became a principal of the Gabriel Group, a California consulting company, from 1988 until his retirement in 2006.