Evening star., 1909-04-25
Harvard's Powerful Eight.

The ease with which Harvard defeated
the Columbia eight in a race Of one and
seven-eighths miles suggests that Har-
ward has a very fast crew. and one that Is
exceptionally we'll advanced, rather than
that Columbia is weak. This Columbia
crew contained majority Of the men,
bers Of last years strong eight, and had
been rowing together fully as long as
the Harvard combination. After the race
Coach Rice of Columbia declared that
his crew didn't do itself or the coach
justice. Very likely the crew did give
this impression from the banks, but this
is not infrequently the case when an in
ferior crew meets superior combina-
tion 1t seldom fails. either, that the
winning eight rows the longer stroke
There is nothing more tantalizing to a
crew to discover that, no matter how
high a stroke it rows. another eight
with a much lower stroke, Is rowing
steadily away, from it. The race be-
tween Pennsylvania and Yale the week
previous was marked by precisely the
same thing
But. dismissing the comparative strength
OF the two crews, the exhibition of Har-
ward has caused considerable uneasiness
at Cornell, whose eight is the next to
row the Crimson. year ago Harvard
defeated Cornell for the first time in
four years. Coach Courtney evidently
expected that defeat. but he has been
working with renewed strength to de-
velop a crew able to turn the tables this
year. His eight has been meeting. with
first one and then another handicap all
spring. and even Cornell men, with their
usual confidence. are fearful that another
defeat Is in store for them from the
Harvard oars.
Coach Kennedy and the Yale rowing
authorities refuse to believe that their
defeat at the hands of Pennsylvania
should be laid to their English rigging.
Mr.. Kennedy has merely concluded that
his eight was not boated to the best ad-
vantage. In consequence he has deposed
Capt. Howe from stroke and placed Wal
lis In this position, with the result that
the change has improved the crew. As
for the English rigging, he insists that
this has not had a thorough test, and
he will not abandon 1t. at least not for
the present He enlightens the college
world with the statement that another
university (not Harvard) has been using
an English-rigged shell for some years
without the knowledge of outsiders. but
with exceptionally good results. This
university Is understood to be Syracuse
and II the latter's victory at Poughkeep-
sic in 1908 was due to the English rig
ging 1t certainly proved its efficiency.
Track Outlook Changing.
The recent work OF the Yale and Har-
ward track athletes. taken In connection
with the gloomy reports from Cornell.
has put an entirely different aspect on
the coming intercollegiate championships.
Both Harvard and Yale have shown un-
expected strength. while Cornell has
seemingly lost some Of the points pre-
viously conceded to her. The most i'm
portant piece Of news is that Cook, tho
winner OF the broad jump last year and
who tied for first in the pole vault at
the Olympic games in the summer, has
abandoned pole vaulting and will confine
himself to the broad jump and the hur-
dies. Cook injured his jumping foot
last summer. and is apparently afraid to
risk further injury to it by trying for
pole-vault honors. 1t requires an ex-
ceptionai athlete to accomplish anything
in the pole vault and compete In another
event also. Unless Cooks jumping foot
goes back on him he should win the broad
Jump with certainty. What he can do
in the hurdles is unknown In the high
| sticks q victory for him would merely cut
out his team-mate Talcott. who is an
exceptionally good man. having been sec-
ond to Shaw last year
| 1t now looks as though Cooks scoring
ability will be somewhat reduced. On
tcp OF this announcement comes the news
that Young, second In the two-mile race
last year and winner OF the cross-country
championship, has left the university on
account of illness and may not return.
II this proves true. 1t will seriously hurt
CornelPs chances.