Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-06
BIG BOOST
FOR RUNNERS
Cross-Country Races Receiving Due
Recognltion--MIehlgan VIII Send
Team to the Championship
Events in East

CHICAGO, April 5.--One of the great
est booms that cross-country running
ever experienced in any country is due
as q result OF the action of the inter-
collegiate A. A. A. A. assuming COM
plete control of this sport, and SO
changing the rules as to bring into the
annual championship run practically
every college in the association, says
e. r. Bushnell. This form of ath-
letics reached the highwater mark last
fall when eight universities sent teams
to the annual run, seventy-two atm
letes being starters. But this rail-, al
though several of the smaller colleges
may not be able to enter teams, 1t Is
practically certain that there will be
nearly twice as many teams competing
and before many years It will not be an
unusual sight to see upward of ZOO atm
letes on the starting line.
Eastern men have every reason to be
pleased that Michigan has decided to
send cross-country team to the cham
pionship run. There is good reason to
think that Michigan may be serious
rival for Cornelrs hold on the cross
country championship. At least, If the
Wolverines are as strong In cross
country running as they showed them-
selves to be in the distance races at
the intercollegiate championships last
fall. In the three distance runs at the
last intercollegiate championships, the
half mile, the mile and two-mile events,
Michigan, with a total OF four men,
scored ten points each. Micnigan,
therefore, ought to be unusually well
fortified for entrance into the annual
cross-country championship events.
Besides the move to bring the smaller
colleges into the annual run the asso-
hn
limiting the scoring men to the first five
men on each team.
By its action in reversing the de-
cision of the executive committee,
recommending that the annual track
and field games be held in Harvard 8
stadium and awarding them to the
University of Pennsylvania, the I. c.
A. A. A. established a precedent which
will probably make 1t impossible for
any university to get these big games
for more than two years in succession.
This makes the second time tnat the
thing has been tried and on each oc-
casion the association has interfered
When the games were held at Frank
lin field, Philadelphia, in 1904 and 1905,
the Quakers applied for them the next
year also but the association thought
two years enough and gave them to
Harvard After they had been held
in the Harvard stadium once the red
and blue again came forward with an
application for holding them, but the
association gave them to Harvard a
second time, with the tacit agreement
that they be awarded to Pennsylvania
in 1908, unless some neutral grounds
were available.
There was a spirited controversy this
year between Pennsylvania and Har-
ward over the honor of managing the
games. When Princeton's representa-
tive moved that the games be given to
Pennsylvania he stated that the
Quakers, being the intercollegiate
champions, should have the prior claim
to the games. This sort of an argu-
ment was a new one. Heretofore 1t
was felt that the fact that a certain
university held the championship con-
stituted a very good reason why 1t
should not hold the championship
meet. The Princeton man exploded
this myth. for there has never been
any evidence that home grounds helped
any team. In fact, the evidence is all
in opposition to this, for to date no
college has ever won the championship
on its own grounds. AS matter of
fact the association, not being in any
need of money, would much prefer to
see the games rotate from college to
college, provided, of course, that its
field was fairly accessible to the COL
legeS in the association.