New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-05-20
FLEET TRACK ATHLETES.
CLOSE CONTESTS EXPECTED AT THE
COMING INTERCOLLEGIATE GAMES
PRINCEToN's RISING STAR.


The prospect is for hard. close fight at the
intercollegiate athletic games, to be held at
Columbia Field in this city. next Friday and
Saturday. The University of Pennsylvania is
not going have the walkover that she has
had for the last two years Harvard. Yale and
Princeton all have some excellent point getters
and while the Quakers stand a good chance to
retain & hold on first place. they will be close
pressed by all three Of the other leading teams,
and perhaps beaten by
The preliminary athletic season track and
field this year has been of unusual interest for
the number of interuniversity contests has been
greater than ever before. One of the note
worthy features of the season has been the en-
trance of the University of CALIFORNIA; ath-
letes into the Eastern lists. College men will
remember the excellent record which the men
from the Pacific Slope made on their Eastern
trip five years ago. when they beat princeton,
tied with Pennsylvania and won the intercol-
iegiate meet which held at Chicago This
season the California team has made a plucky
frht on three successive Saturdays against
Yale at New Haven and Princeton at Prince
fen and on May 10, at the time of this writing
the Western men are measuring their prowess
against the Quakers at Philadelphia Three
such hard contests so close together are enough
10 wear down the strongest men, and 1t would
not be surprising if the Californians entered
The intercollegiate meet next Saturday rather
the for They were defeated de-
cisively by Yale two weeks ago, and Princeton
won from them week ago by point better
than Yals's score The California men. how
ever seem to be strong in securing second and
third places and had it been arranged to have
points count for second and third places, their
scores against both Yale and Princeton might
have been better. At any rate the men from
the Golden Gate showing most commenda-
BILE pluck in journeying three thousand miles
and then meeting the flower of the Eastern
athletes. And every one will hope to see them
win an honorable place at the intercollegiate
games.
HARVARD WINS OUT HANDILY.
Among other dual meets, those of chief i'm
portanee have been the ones between Princeton
and Columbia. the Tigers proving fairly easy
winner and between Harvard and Yale, the
Crimson surprising everybody with victory
by a margin of 90 points. Yale nonplussed
by this decisive Crimson triumph. for the New
Haven men had figured out that the chances
were in their favor The games were held at
Cambridge on May II. and although Yale start
ed in with a rush, winning four out of the first
five contests. Harvard then came to the front,
showing especial strength in the number Of
second and third places which she captured. and
making her victory before the games were
three-quarters over. Harvard scored In every
contest, while there three in which Yale
failed take a point-the broad and high
Jumps and the two mile run. Haowell did
especially fine work in the hurdles, and Har-
ward was good at the long distance runs. The
sntroduction of the two mile run is more or less
OF a novelty in American intercollegiate sports.
Years ago IL had a place in the list. but was
dropped for long time, and was revived only
last year with a view of competition against
Oxford and Cambridge athletes. This competi
ton in which Harvard and Yale represented this
side of the water showed that the American
athletes We're extremely weak in long distance
running and the two mile will be a regular
feature of the intercollegiate meetings here
after being test of endurance and logged per-
sistence.
The dual meet between Harvard and Yale
marked the first of the series of games for
the cup which has been put up by promi-
nent graduates of the two ivArsities. 1t will
be remembered that the first cup. after being
competed for for nine years, beginning with
1891, was by Harvard and Harvard is fort
innate enough to be the first to have her name
inscribed the trophy. Yale's hopes for
a creditable place in the intercollegiate games
next Saturday, while somewhat dampened, have
not been wholly extinguished for there is prece-
dent for a Harvard victory in the dual meet, fol-
lowed tive weeks later by Yale triumph over
Harvard at the intercollegiate games. Never
theless, there comes a plant from New-HaVen
over Yale's continued defeats, and there is tust
now good deal of speculation to the causes
therefor. Some Yale assert that the
spirit of the undergraduates is changing; others
say simply that not many good athletes have
been coming to Yale Of late; still others declare
that the best graduate coaches have been called
away by business, while there are not few
who believe phiosophically that Yale is passing
through the same slough Of despond that was
Earvard's portion for many weary years, but
which Harvard seems to have we'll struggled
out Of There is, however no cause vet for too
much Yale despondency Her athletes are likely
10 give a good account of themselves all along
the line this spring.
WHERE THE FIGHT FOR VICTORY LIES.
IT is a far more difficult matter to pick out
winners when many colleges are contesting
than when a struggle is simply between repre-
,entatives of any two universities. 1t is this
reason that makes all figures in regard to the
big games next Saturday purely probematica1.
One sees every year dark horses from two or
three fresh water colleges dash in and win
contests which had been thought to be sure
victories for some of the more illustrous
athletes from the leading universities. Calcula-
.ions like these are upset with the regularity
of cIockwork But, basing prophecies purely and
simply upon the records Of the season to date
and upon what the athletes are now doing in
practice, unbiased opinion would indicate
that FIRST place lies between Pennsylvania, the
victor of the last two seasons, and Princeton.
If by chance Princeton should capture the first
place il would be wonderfully creditabe vic
tory for the Tigers, for last year they could do
better than fourth place and at that only
ahead Cornell