Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-08-15
COLLEGES BOOMING
COUNTRY RUNS
Most Potent Health Producer
in List of Regular
Sports.
By Edward r. Bushnell.


fall promises to be record breaker in
the attention devoted to cross-country
running on the part of college men. This
due to a variety of reasons. One of the
the most important is the sentiment
which has been created in favor of this
as one OF the most potent health pro-
ducers in the curricua of college sports
Not only do many athletes take 1t up for
the physical good it does them, but uni
versity authorities have come to look
upon it as some relief from the hysteria
which invariably surrounds foot ball dur
ing the fall of the year
But not the least important factor is
the action of the Intercollegiate A. A. A.
A. in assuming control Of this sport as
well as track and field athletics in the
spring This action resulted last year
in the appearance of the University of
Michigan as contender for crOss-coun-
try honors for the first time. And as the
l. Z. A. A. A. A. has some twenty col
leges In its membership. all of which are
eligible for participation in the annual
run. it is likely that there will be sew
eral additional teams among the COM
petitors this coming November. In fact.
with the increasing interest 1t is not I'M
likely that the prediction of one of the
! VI oLltldlS OF lnlS ASSOCIATION tHdt
a few years will see at least 200 athletes
facing the starter at the annual run, will
shortly be fulfilled.
Distance runners themselves have come
TO regard croSs-country running In an en-
tirely different attitude. 1t was only a
few years ago that half and mile runners
objected to running cross country out of
fear that it hurt them for their spe-
cial events. But the experience OF sew
eral middle-distance runners in winning
the longer run dissipated that idea to a
great extent. In this class may be men
toned Guy Haskins of Pennsylvania, the
former intercollegiate mile and half-mile
champion of two years ago, not to men
ton many other half and mile runners
who have finished close to the front. In
this connection it is interesting to re-
call that a few years ago one of the best
runners on Pennsylvania cross-country
team was Lloyd Whitman. whose spe-
cialty was the 220-yard and the quarter
mile. yet he said that his cross-country
running did not hurt his sprinting.
Cornell and Penn Strong.
Naturally Cornell is expected to retain
her supremacy over hill and dale. The
Ithacans are able to get out twice as
many candidates as their rivals and also
have better natural advantages for train
ing. These advantages have kept them
in front for nine out of the last ten years,
and unless it be Michigan it is difficult
to find a team which can crowd them out
of first place.
1t looks though the fight for the
individual championship will be between
those two wonderful runners, ". c. PAUL
of the University of Pennsylvania. the
one-mile record holder. and P. j. Taylor
of Coornell, the two-mile champion and
record holder. All things considered, the
chances favor a victory for the Quaker.
no fx1 I, G~ic k1I ,Ixr
fourth a year ago.
West Criticises Eastern Indifference
Unknd feelings are reported from the
far west over the failure of the various
athletic clubs in and around New York to
send a better representation of athletes
to the national A. A. L. championships
held at Seattle in connection with the
Alaska Yukon exposition. Hardly dozen
athletes went from the great section of
the country east of Chicago. though the
band that did go consisted in the main
of champions.
The western contingent thinks 1t most
ungrateful of the east to send so few
athletes, especially when the authorities
of the exposition offered to defray most
of the expenses. In explanation of the
disinclination of the eastern men to make
this trip Martin Sheridan. the A. A. L.
all-around champion, said to the writer
a few days ago:
THE majority of people have a very
hazy idea of the difficulties encountered
i'm making such a trip as this. 1t takes
about five days to get from New York to
Seattle by continuous travel on trains
For my part. l would sooner take a trip
across the ocean than this transconti-
mental trip. At any rate. a man could
more easily keep In condition through
the ocean trip than by train. Still the
east sent some mighty good athletes,
though the team was small one"
Within the last ten years the Pacific
coast has been coming rapidly to tho
front in track and field athletics and
with the east Enumeration of a few
of the Pacific coast champions is proof
of this. In the sprints California a few
years ago produced Charles Parsons. 4
consistent 945 seconds man. not to
mention Dan Kelly, who Is still credited
with the world record performance of
Q 80 seconds. The west has been a bit
shy on champions at distance running.
In the hurdles there is Smithson. VINO
halls from Portland. Greg, and is or
of the decade after Kraenzlein. His
performance of Is seconds for 11U
meters I21 YARDS at the Olympic
games In London on grass is a record
which is likely to stand for a good
many olympiads. In the broad jump
nence in Kelley who was bona Tide
champion at this event. In the high
jump also it had kerrigan. consist
ent performer at 900. The state Of
Oregon comes to the front once mora
with A. C. Gilbert. the Yale champion.
In the pole vault Gilbert was the world
champion on two different occasions
and was the first man to vault over
twelve feet. He also tied for first N
this event with Cook of Cornell at the
Olympic games.
In the weight events the west can we'll
boast of the prowess of Ralph Rose, the
world champion with shots of nearly
every weight and mighty hammer
thrower as well. In addition to Rose the
west gained considerable fame for a num-
Der of years with Plaw. the California
hammer thrower.
In this same connection mention should
he made of the fact that Leland Stan
ford University finished second in the
western conference track meet at Chi
cago this year. The performances emu
merated here are conclusive proof that
the west is coming along with great
strides, and before long may be outstrip-
ping the east
Foot Ball Coaching Problems.
Foot ball coaches are beginning to won
der what will be the effect of the new
rule reducing the value of goal from
field from four to three points. Some
have paid more attention to the
kicking game than others. while others
rarely ever score In this manner The
class of colleges which have made a
specially of the kicking game will find
their effectiveness reduced by the change
In the rules. Such teams will have to do
to counteract the effect of the
new rule.
The new rule is manifestly in the in
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