Evening journal., 1916-01-04
1915 Record Year
FOR Field Marks
Brings Into Existence Many
New Track Cham
pionS
TABER'S MILE
RACE THE BEST

many Of the records established were
in classic events, the one-mile mark
Of Alp g-5. established by Norman
Taber in the Harvard stadium, on July
IL. stands out as the most remarkable /
performance in track and field sports
OF the year
BY travelling the mile In Alp 80,
Taber not only smashed the amateur
record. but he clipped a fifth of sec
ond from the long standing proies-
sional mark hung up by w. G. George,
IN England.
During the last decade. practically
every coach in the country has primed
his best middle-distance men for the
one.milo event in an effort to wipe
( Georges record from the books. AS
result America produced the greatest
millers in the history Of athletics in
This country John Paul Jones of Cor
ncu. Wilton Paul, of Pennsylvania,
Abel Kiviat and Melvin Sheppard, of
the Irish-American Athletic Club,
were pointed for this mark at different
times. Each Of them failed. Each
came within striking distance of tho
mark and Jones succeeded in smash
ing the long standing amateur hgures
OF ans 3-5. established by Tommy Con
nefi in 1895.
In 1911 Jones clipped a fifth OF a
second from Conneffs record, and III
1913 came back and chopped anct ther
second from the amateur figures In
both of these contests experts agreed
that Georges record was doomed anu
that Jones could have smashed II II
no had uecd better Judgment
In 1914 several attempts were made
10 beat Georges figures, but all were
failures. and early last year it seemed
that the mark would stand as there
were no millers who had shown form
rood enough to warrant the belief that
thew could smash IT, Then came Taber.
He had won fame here and abroad,
where he was a member Of the Ok
ford University team, but few believed
Y he would prove a record breaker until
some experts saw him in training
So fast were his trials that the event
was arranged for the stadium track
which Is considered the fastest in the
world On IL Tabor ran as he never
did before, and the timers said he
clipped One-fifth Of q second from
Georges record. Taber was paced in
this event and there was doubt as to
whether the record would be allowed
but at the annual convention Of the
Amateur Athletic Union last month
Tabers record headed the list OF those
approved by the record committee.
There were two other surprises dur
ing the year They were the victory
of the Olympic Athletic Club in the
national championships and the vic
tory OF Maine University in the inter-
collegiate cross-countiy run For the
Pacific coast athletes to beat the rep
resentatives OF the eastern clubs for
( the point trophy seemed impossible to
3 followers of the sport. On past per-
formances the lrish-American A. c.,
4 the New York A. c., the Boston A. A.
and the Illinois A. A. seemed far SUI
s perior. But when the championships
y ended at the Panama-Pacific Exposi-
fion ground the Californians had
& scored more points than any Of their
opponents.
q The success OF Names team came
4 like a thunderholt out of a clear sky
to followers of the sport. Several col
4 leges had strong teams, but none was
= considered 10 have a chance against
a Cornell
The lthacans were considered in
NNAn'
believed to be about the worst OF tn,
X pack But in the contest Maine proved
10 be far superior to any cross coun
X ay team in the country
5 TED Meredith the great middle
= distance runner OF the University o
NJ Pennsylvania. again proved that h
- was the best middle-distance runne
RI in the world. In the intercollegiate
& Championships he hung up a new rec
ord in the quarter mile and a foN
4 minutes came back and defeated
~ bunch OF stars in the half-mile event.
T" Roy Z. Morse. youngster belong
~ ing to the Salem-Crescent Athleti
|t Club, jumped into fame at the ma
IL tional championships when he won th
~ 220-yard dash. Morse is a negro. n
unassuming fellow. who is very POP
H. ular with every athlete with whor
~ he has ever compete In the furlon
III dash he defeated the best sprinters /
the country in sensational style /
II the record time p 1-5 seconds.
a. slight wind aided him. and as a r,
a suit he was not credited with the re,
81 rord. Lawson Robertson and other e.
a. perts who have seen him race declai
III he will soon develop into a bett,
r. sprinter than Howard Drew. holder
III the worlds amateur l00-yard mark
George Golding. the great Canada
# walker. added several marks to h
al credit during the year and won Il
IA American national championship
seven miles. held at New Brunswic
n j.. in record time.
In the distance events Ham
Kolehmainen. the great Finn, who ca
ries the colors Of the Irish-Americ,
|5 A. c.. reigned supreme. He Won d
hve-mile championship. the eros
country championship. the ten-m
X championship and the championsh
< marathon.
Throwing the weights. Pat Rys
the giant OF the Irish-American A.
was best. despite the fact that
was beaten in the championships
San Francisco. He won the hamm
events in the championships. but "
beaten by Lee Talbot throwing [
J6-pound weight Despite this def,
& he proved time and again that as
weight thrower he was far superior
Talbot. When Talbot defeated hi
Ryan met with bad luck. Several
his throws were better than Talbo