The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-11-05
Juniors and
Sophonnores
MADE 4a POINTS.
High School Athletes Ran
A Real Cross-Country.

"A very lew runs, ike THAI VI yeoteI-
day afternoon, will make cross-country
running a decidedly popular as well as
profitable sport among the high school
students.
1t was the second run in the series
that the directors of the Athletic AS
sociation are holding this fall. The
course instead of being along beaten
highways, as in the first run and in
nearly all cross-countries, was over
stone walls, through fields and swamps,
up hill and down dale, with here and
there places where the runners could
use the highways.
The run was decided success from
every point of view The field of start
ers was large; the race was closely con-
tested; the men finished we'll punched
and in total number of points scored,
the seniors and the sophomores tied on
43 each. The seniors, however got a
lead in the initial run, one week ago, so
the relative standing of the two classes
remains the same. The juniors did bet
ter than in the other run, but cannot
hope to score enough points the next
time to bring them out of tail-end posi-
*.
1he course was a little over two miles
and a half, by the way the crow flies.
But crows get over patches of wood
land that cross country men can go
around to better advantage and as
result the men undoubtedly covered
very close to three miles. The starting
point as well as the finish was at Bliss
field, back of the Polytechnic Institute,
and the prescribed course was to New
ton square, thence to the Highland
Military Academy on Salisbury street
and back to Bliss field.
To get over this three cornered course
the shortest as well as the best, the
men ran off down the steep field leading
to the Boulevard, coming on to the ave-
nue. near the Sunnyside fork Then in
stead of cutting cross that corner for
some unknown reason, probably be-
cause the leader did not, the entire field
ran down the Boulevard turning up
Highland, then continuing straight out
to the square. The second leg of the tri-
angle was wholly through fields,
sWamps and over stone walls and fen
ces. AS soon as the men had turned the
stake they headed for peat meadow and
IN single file ran through that marshy
land, the water in places oozing up to
their ankles Next a strip of woodland
had to be ~circumvented and finally
after running up steep hill the High
land Military Academy came into view.
The remainder of the course-the
third leg of the triangle-was compare
lively easy sailing. The field ran down
salisbury street, some in the road and
others upon the dirt sidewalk until
nearly opposite the Baker residence.
Here a short cut was taken across the
large field at the corner of Salisbury
street and Park avenue. Crossing the
Boulevard they ran through some Of
Mr.. Salisbury's lowland and then began
the ascent leading to Bliss field and
the finish. About 200 yards from home
barbeq wire fence, always "a mean
thing to get on the other side of, es-
pecially when one is In hurry, had to
be negotiated. Then the final stretch
was easy running This barbed wire
fence was undoubtedly the biggest
stumbling block of the run. Many a
man who made poor work of getting
over, under or through it, as the case
might be, lost his prospective position
at the finish by becoming hopelessly
Tangled up in the wire and there passed
by others close behind.
1t was this barbed wire fence. too,
that was undoubtedly responsible for
the fact that the sophomores did not
WIN the run. st. John, who is one of the
strongest runners on the 1901 team,
came up the hill to the fence running
fresh and strong. Cushman and Nc
Aullfte running behind him on a clear
course could never have passed him. st.
Johns friends, however, in their desire
10 make their man sure of the place
undertook to help him through the
renee. Referee Delaney, who ran along
with the men from the Highland Acad-
envy, happened to come up at that time
ana put st. John back two places on ac-
count OF the assistance he was receiy-
ing. This gave the seniors-for Cush-
man belonged to '99-an extra point. at
me same time depriving 1901 of points
when would have made the score 40
10 ~ IN faVor of the sophomores
Several of those to win points in the
llrst run failed to come out yesterday
afternoon, but in their places there
were plenty of new men, thus making
the field nearly twice as large as be-
fore Several new men bobbed to the
SURFACE yesterday and won good-sized
numbers of points. Hennessey, the
winner, was a surprise, for he had been
running in the ruck all the way around
put showed a terrific burst of speed
coming up the hill, and beat out every
one OF the half dozen or so ahead of
him. Clifford, the winner of a week
ago, this time scored IL instead of Is
points. He has been troubled with
lame ankles and did not exert himself
Thompson, one of the surprises of the
first week showed he was about as
good in cross country work as road
running, and again stood third at the
finish.
The pace all the way out was fur
nished by Johnny Weiss, who, like so
many other green and enthusiastic run
ners, found after he had been over
about two-thirds of the course that
he had about all the running he rel
ished When the bunch began to spread
out. Weiss was one of those who stay
ed behind. He did manage to wiggle
himself into fourteenth place at the
finish, with Russell, his classmate
scoring the single point. Halpine, who
logged Clifford so well a week ago, evil
IDENTIFY did not take at all kindly to run
ming where the footing was not of the
best He dropped down from second to
ninth place.
The point winners were as follows:
= Names; ss 1905. 1901
Clarkson OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. IA
Thompson ................... 10
Carpenter .................. =. II
Clifford IL