Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-03
By Edward r. Bushnell.

Americas first outdoor track and field
meet for 1907 will be the University OF
Pennsylvania's thirteenth annual relay
carnival to be held at Philadelphia on April
"a. AS was the case q year ago, the num-
Der Of competitors will mount considerably
above 1,000-in fact. this number has
been growing 50 rapidly that the
management 10 fearful some means will
have to be taken to provide for the over
How. To this end q plan has been con-
sidered to devote two days to the meet,
holding the contests for school boys on
Friday and the college championship and
special events on Saturday According
to the present program 1t is necessary to
start the first event at l o'clock and keep
at them continuously for five hours in
order to get through in one afternoon.
Every big university in the east will
be represented in one Of the three cham
pionship relays at one mile, two miles and
four miles 1t is not expected that any.
have teams in all three relays. Several
however, will enter two championship
teams. Yale never fails to send down two
teams. and Cornell is usually as well repre-
sented. Most OF the other colleges con-
centrate their strength on a single relay in
stead OF trying to carry of first prizes in
two or three.
Although 1t Is now too early to attempt
to pick the winners Of the three champion
snip relays, 1t Is certain that Pennsylvania
Will be the favorite in the one-mile event
Yale In the two miles and Michigan in the
four miles. In the one-mdle event Penn
sylvania still has every member of her
mile quartet Of a year ago. Then she also
has Taylor, the intercollegiate quarter-mile
champion: who did not compete last year,
and with him the team should be
faster than ever. Cornell. with the
fastest quarter milers the Ithacans have
had In years. promises to be a serious con-
tender In this event. while Chicago and
yale viii also cause alarm. The fight for
the half-mile championship should be a
fierce one between Yale and Dartmouth
Dartmouth has won the event two years in
succession, but largely because Yale con-
centrated her strength on some other event.
This year Yale will probably put her best
men in the two miles. and with Parsons in
shape should win 1t.
The whole eastern college world would
like to see some team able to defeat the
University of Michigan in the four-mile
event. The Wolverines have won this
race four years in succession and have
come to be regarded practically I'M
beatable. Yale, Pennsylvania, Princeton
and Cornell have tried their hardest to
down the westerners. but without avail
This year 1t is likely that both Cornell and
Pennsylvania, both of whom are very
strong in the distances this year, will con-
centrate their strength on this one event
But Michigan Is just as strong as the east
erners When 1t comes to veterans. and 1t
will certainly take an average of 40 to
the mile to down Michigan.
No Cause for Alarm.
The latest Information which comes from
England concerning the next Olympic
games which are to be held in London In
1908 shows that President James E. Sulli-
van of the Amateur Athletic Union, as
we'll as many of our collegians was unnec-
essariy alarmed over the intention of the
English officials to limit the number of
competitors for the track and field events
At that time the writer pointed out that
the motives Of the Britons were undoubted-
ly misunderstood. and the latest informa-
ton proves this theory to be correct. There
was no disposition to discriminate against
American athletes. All the committee in
tends to do is to restrict the number of
competitors in such Way. that there shall
be no crowding in the events These re-
strictions will apply much to the Brit
ish as to the American athletes. Our men
will certainly have as good a show as the
English.
There is now every prospect that these
games will be the finest of any since the
Olympiads were revived. There are many
good reasons for this belief. The fact that