The Washington times., 1915-08-09
Western Athletes Hit
At Supremacy of East
Saturdays National Championships Develop More
Upsets Than Any Meet Held in Many
Seasons.

Although the national track and field
Championships at San Francisco were
not productive Of a single record that
will be placed In the books. they did
demonstrate beyond the shadow of
| doubt that the East can no longer
pride itself on possessing the backbone
of the athletic strength Of the coun-
try. OF the nineteen championships
decided. eleven were captured by ath-
letes coming from West Of the Alle-
ghenies. and the remaining eight were
divided among Boston. New York and
Philadelphia.
| Hardly q single meet in the entire
history Of the national championships
| can be turned to wherein there have
been so many upsets in form a. marked
the title contests on Saturday. Ted
Meredith. Hanes Kolehmainen. Eddie
REM. W. H. Meanis. Dan Ahearn and
Arlie Mucks were the onlv favorites
who performed to expectations. The
other new champions were not out
siders. but were not considered strong
enough to outrun such sterling per-
formers as Howard Drew. Norman Ia
Der. Fred Kelley and the others who
were favored before the meet.
-
The greatest surprise Of the day was
without question the defeat Of Norman
Taber. worlds record holder in the one
mile run. by Joe Ray. Of the Illinois
Athletic Club. Ray ran the mile In 1
minutes Is 1-6 seconds in the Western
tryouts a fortnight ago. but he was not
considered In Tabers class. As the
race developed. however, 1t was the
man who could nsht his way thruogh
track that won. Taber may have made
mista Ike in cutting loose at the begin
ming Of the SECOND lap. when he took
ming his race. and was fairly beaten in
the last lap when Ray. hanging back
and letting Iaber make the pace down
an eight yards victory over the Oxonian.
1t may be said not al an excuse but
perhaps as an explanation that Taber
went into the race. In every other re-
epect he was In top form. but the ef-
fects OF the cold probably weakened
him to such an extent that he was un-
the last drive to the finish. Aside from
proving that Taber Is not invincible, the
nile Ihs, rsGe s;s went a long way to show that
Ted Merediths victory in the quar-
more what has been known for a long
short iassy ds,snee fsas he is the
|
not beyond the bounds Of the probable
to find him lowering the records of
petition siomsn. a the Ae San 0"f frsneseo Cisco
. schooiboy. may make trouble for Ted
another year. but he has much TO learn
to master the R Quaker GetSse fIyer. ne can n0''
!, That the Coast has turned out an.
other phenomenal hurdler was shown
BY the superior performances of F.
versity athlete. who won both the high
and low hurdles over the standard dis.
;. tances. In each Murray equaled the
worlds record. but the wind will keer
Kelley did not even place in the high
hurdles. and In the low he was second
The fact that Murray had to beat simp
. son., the University. Of Missouri crack
4 however. Of his ability.
il There was more disappointment fol
!. the East when Mucks won both tn.
y shot-put and the discus throw. Law
!. be the best shot-putter in the games
e and Jim Duncan. Of New York. al
% though not consistent. was considered
i, the best man in the discuA Mucks
i. easily. With Murray he was the onl,
!. double winner Of the day.
=. zoe. Joe LOOMS; Of M tho Chicago 4: G:
10 Drew in the loo-yard dash. and Rober
i, Morse. Of the Salem Crescent Club
y sprapg bigger surprise by winning tn,
>. furfong dash. In both Alvan Meyer
IS OF the lrish-American A. c.. wa
S second.
l. From all accounts, Oliver Millard. o
d the Olympic club. is the best native
b: born long distance runner the countr!
y has developed. He forced Hanes Koleh
:, mainen out to the last notch in the Ave
b. mile run and was beaten by only a yard
: Millard has been running well on tn
!. coast for several seasons but so far a
t. the rest of the country was concerne,
1t he was hiding his light under a bushel
l. For once the five-mile title almost Wen
y to q native born American.
The high jumping was woefully poor
i and the fact that George HORNE wol
at six feet and three-fourths of an incl