Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-14
ATHLETIC RECORD BREAKERS
New Marks Made on Track and Field
for 1909.
ATHLETES LOOK FOR SOFT SPOTS
Half Mile, 1e-POund Hammer and
1O-Pound shot the only stand
ard Records 60 BE Al
tered.

and though there were no Olympic games
or international fixtures to stimulate the
athletes. number OF new marks will be
recorded on the annals. A majority of
those are for odd events and some old
stager performances that have remained
untried on the lists for years, but 1t Is
remarkable that three standard charm
plonship contests got a bad shaking.
The sixteen pound shot record was shat
tered twice under official scrutiny and the
mark for the sixteen pound hammer was
improved no less than half dozen times,
but the most meritorous Of all was the
new half mile record. and It is a pity that
a doubt hovers round the genuineness OF
the feat Except the runner duplicates the
figures Of some future date there will al
ways be a shadow of suspicion thrown
over II and II will be regarded much the
same as the record for the 100 yards.
OF course, the half mile mark will be
accepted by the Amateur Athletic union
record committee, which has been supplied
with a raft OF material proof in the shape
of affidavits as to the timing Of the race
the measurement Of the track and other
details One of the leading features OF the
years campaign was the visit Of the New
York Athletic club team to the Pacific
coast, the Amateur Athletic union cham
pionships at Seattle and the triple
meet at san Francisco being the chief
points Of the itinerary. Though the men
did not capture the biggest slice Of the
honors they showed the enterprise Of the
winged foot in being the first team from
the east to make such journey.
Keep Up Popularity.
sprintinE maintained it's popularity dur
ing the season though there was moth
ing startling in the way OF new figures
for the standard events, and with one
exception for the intermediate distances.
The mark of s9 seconds for the 100
Yards remained high and dry on its pin
nacle Of security, and neither here nor in
the old world was It in the least danger
of being displaced. Walkers visit TO Eng
land resulted in his winning the champion
ship. and that and his subsequent top
notch efforts only showed the even 10
seconds for the century"
For a time It was thought that the South
African flyer would pay a visit to America,
and there was all sorts Of wild calcula-
tions about his meeting Jim Rector of the
University of Virginia. But Walker did
not come and Rector did not run, facts
which were greatly regretted. Neither
did the district or Amateur Athletic union
championships reveal anything above the
ordinary and only mediocre form was ex-
hibited.
Even in races shorter than the hundred
there is nothing new and the old marks
for. twenty, thirty-five, forty, forty-five,
fifty. fifty-one, fifty-seven, sixty, seventy
seventy-five, seventy-eight and eighty yards
remain unaltered. Above the hundred the
only old mark to be distured was that OF
1s seconds for 100 yards, made by
Wendell Baker at Harvard on May %, 1886
At one OF the indoor meets in the Forty
seventh regiment of Brooklyn, Robert
Cloughen Of the Irish-American Athletic
club ran the distance on the board floor in
12M seconds, but while Cloughen's mark is a
new indoor record, it does not supplant
Bakers time out-of-doors.
New Names on Honor List.
The intermediate distances between the
100 yards and 220 yards passed unscathed,
and the names of B. j. Wefers, G. H.
Sheriff. and Wendell Baker, respective
holders of old records, will adorn the scroll
of fame for at least another season. For
the furlong nothing like Wefer's 2lB
seconds was seen, but the most meditor-
ious performance stands to the credit Of
w l.. Dawbarn OF Princeton university,
who represented the New York Athletic
club in the Amateur Athletic union national
championships at Seattle. With a stiff gale
blowing in his face he won his trial heat
in "a seconds, which was as good as 2l9s
under fair conditions. Nak. j. Cartmell,
formerly Of the University df Pennsylvania
and who lately turned professional, visited
England and won the go yards champion
ship in "a seconds, which is the best cham
pionship over there. though It is a fifth Of
second slower than the British record.
The 800 yards was frequently seen both
on the indoor and outdoor programmes, but
the top speed shown yards behind the
old record of SOas seconds, made by Wefer
In 1895 In England a young runner named
E II. Haley showed some form for the
distance by doing s1Fs seconds at the annual
fall games OF the London Athletic club,
and these figures held the British record,
held Jointly by Lieutenant Halswell and
c.. G. Wood
some Tricks Passed Up.
Though the sprinters were oGs Tor soft
spots on the record table here and there,
yet no one tried such an old stager as 80
seconds for the $50 yards made by Lon
Myers twenty-eight years ago; neither did
they attack the $50 yard mark Of $685. sec
onds and the 400 yard mark OF 42h seconds.
both made by Maxey Long. These were
made In the course OF his famous 40 yard
record Of AZ seconds, a feat that looks as IL
II might grow mOuluy IN lhe nlche OF Lame
ere II will be replaced. Longs circular
track record OF as seconds win take some
beating. 1t has easily outshone all the
efforts OF the long sprint brigade for the
last nine years. and except some phenom
springs up or that some tricks might be
perpetrated with slow watches and short
tracks, Il should hold It's own for another
generation.
But Il is hard to know what is bound
10 turn up in these sensational years OF
athletic record grabbing craze. For in
stance there was a positive case OF the
unexpected this year at the Canadian
championships at Montreal, w. c. Bob
bins won the 40 yards in the
slashing time OF ass seconds, and for 4
moment the world stood aghast al
the amazing turn OF speed sud.
denly shown by this runner. His case wal
perhaps the most peculiar In the history
OF athletics. for his speed gradually de.
serted him, and the climax came a coupl,
OF weeks ago when he was beaten in In,
wretchedly slow time OF 53 second,
by young runner named Hayes
However. Bobbins' time must go down a,