Sport: Track & Field
Born: January 23, 1906
Died: February 1, 1971
Town: Leonia, New Jersey
Maybelle Montgomery Gilliland was born January 23, 1906 in New Brunswick, Canada. She was one of eight children born to Mary and William Gilliland, an Episcopal minister from England. The family emigrated to the US and settled in Bergen County when Maybelle a girl. An excellent athlete with a smooth and fluid running style, she easily beat the neighborhood boys in footraces. She enrolled at Leonia High School in 1919, where she was coached by Suzanne Becker and, later, Marion Burns.
In 1921–22, Maybelle, a junior, was named captain of the school’s basketball team, which regularly defeated opponents by 30 points or more. The star of the team was Martha Nysquist, who was regarded as the top schoolgirl cager in the state. They went undefeated and claimed a share of the state prep title.
Maybelle was Leonia’s fastest runner and was nearly unbeatable in short sprints. In the summer of 1922, Leonia’s coach Suzanne Becker took a group of her girls to compete in the first national track and field competition, at the Oaksmere School in Mamaroneck, New York. The meet was held to help determine which athletes would represent the US in France at the first international women’s track and field meet. Maybelle won the 50- and 100-yard dash—setting an American record in the 100 with a time of 12.4 seconds—and made the US team along with classmate Elizabeth Stine, who excelled in jumping events and sprints, as well. Stine had finished third in the 100. Another Jersey girl, Camille Sabie of Newark, finished second to Maybelle in the 50. All three sailed to Paris.
Maybelle was not at her best in the sprints and failed to make the finals of the 60-meter and 100-yard races. She returned to Leonia to complete her senior year and was a member of the team that returned to Oaksmere. She won the 50 and 100 again, as well as the basketball throw, which was an AAU event.
In the summer of 1923, Maybelle competed in the first women’s AAU Outdoor Championships, held in Newark’s Weequahic Park. Running for the National City Bank Club, she finished fourth in the 100-yard dash and second as a member of the 4 x 440 relay team. In the spring of 1924, the National City team set an indoor world record in the 440 relay, with Maybelle running the anchor leg and breaking the tape at 54.2 seconds.
In 1924, Maybelle went on to study at the Savage School in New York, which trained Physical Education teachers. Stine and Nyquist would also enroll there and all three suited up for the school’s six-on-six basketball team. Maybelle competed for Savage at the 1925 AAU Championships in Pasadena, finishing fourth in the 100-yard dash and second in the 50. At the same meet, Stine won the high jump. In 1926, Maybelle helped lower the 4 x 440 indoor record to 52.9 seconds on a team that included Loretta McNeil, Frances Ruppert and fellow New Jerseyan Eleanor Egg.
Women’s track and field was added to the Olympics in 1928 and Maybelle (now running for the Paterson AC) entered the trials, which were held in Newark. She did not finish high enough in the 100 meters to earn a spot on the team. And since the 440 relay was not going to be an event, she had to make the team in the 800 meters (half-mile), but failed to make a good showing.
After the Olympics, Mabel competed as a member of the Millrose Athletic Association in New York and began specializing in the 440 relay under coach Mel Sheppard. In 1929, she entered the AAU Indoor Championships in Boston and outdoor championships in Chicago. In Boston, Mabel ran the anchor leg for the winning 4 x 440 relay team, along with Jessie Cross, Carrie Jensen and Loretta McNeil. The foursome also did well that summer at the Metropolitan championships in Brooklyn, earning a spot in the AAU outdoor competition in Chicago. The New York Journal-American picked up the travel costs for the New York and New Jersey girls.
Betty Robinson, a gold medalist in the Olympics, was the star attraction in Chicago and she did not disappoint the crowd of 4,000, winning the 50- and 100-yard sprints. Maybelle won the 220-yard dash in a record-tying 27.4 seconds. The Millrose squad also won the 4 x 440 relay, with Maybelle running the opening leg for the same team that won in Boston.
In 1930, Maybelle ran the opening leg of the 4 x 440 at both the AAU Indoor Championships in Boston and Outdoor Championships in Dallas, with the Millrose team winning both times. She competed in the 220 but finished far behind winner Stella Walsh at both meets. The 1931 AAU Championships in Jersey City marked Maybelle’s final bit of track and field glory. The Millrose women competed in the 4 x 440 with Maybelle running the third leg, and just lost out to the Illinois A.C.
Maybelle announced her retirement from track early in 1933, along with the rest of the Millrose relay team. Their event had been in the only “ladies” event at the Millrose Games for several years and Sheppard told them there was no point in trying to find four more women who could make up a dominant relay team.
“Marvelous Maybelle,” as the sporting press had come to call her, was hailed as the greatest Bergen County track athlete at the time. She became an officer in the New Jersey AAU and, in 1936, she volunteered to help develop runners for New Jersey’s Track & Field Committee. With time on her hands, Maybelle took up tennis and became a superb doubles player, competing in many club tournaments. She was also a crack bowler.
In 1936, Maybelle married Clarence Cotterill. They had two daughters and moved to Lakehurst before retiring to Dunedin, Florida. She passed away at 65 in 1971.