The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-06-18
MiddleWest I@anS Think
 Carl Johnson Can Make
 New Broad Jump Record
University of Michigan Athlete Is Given BOOSt-Other News. Of the Cinder Path Men Here and Elsewhere.

Johnson of the University of Mich fGan Is capable of breaking the
 worlds record for the running broad
 Jump, which is down on the books to
 the credit of Peter O'Connor of Ire
 laho- oConnor's record, about which
 there is bit of doubt in the minds or conservative athletic thinkers be- cause of the tale circulated that tha ground over which Peter jumped was Dit down hill, is 24 feet II 3-4' inches. The nearest approach to the per- romance of O'Connor was that of A l.. Gutterson, the lanky Vermont how who cleared 24 feet II 3-S inches at the Stockholm Olympic Games back III I91Z- It is interesting to note thai
 iiao Gutterson not strained his back severely on his first jump that dav a new worlds record of over twenty nVe feet would undoubtedly have peen made right then and there. twice in competition Johnson has beaten the coveted 24-foot mark He olo 25 feet, 10 1-2 inches at the "in- | ter-coilegiates'' last month in bis | rIals on the first day of the games. | After taking part in the final heat of tiie Ioo-yard dash and the high jump
 on Saturday Johnson was taken i'll else still another 24-foot performance would have resulted. The lean Mich, gan athlete is said to have beaten. l twenty-four' soundly in pra ctica l more than once, which, together with 1 his wonderful jumping in competition | would indicate that Johnson is the | nrst broad jumper since Gutterson i who has a chance to se+ ra-,, l record. l Steve Farrell, the Michigan coach, | IS not willing to state that Johnson l IS a worlds record jumper Farrell | IS not given to boosting his own ath l letc wares. When questioned recent. | ly in the subject of Johnson's break ing the broad jump record Farrell | IS reported to have answered: "John- l son is great athlete" It is hardly
 possible. though, that Farrell doubts | the ability of his protege, given per- | feet condition and perfect conditions ] to do 25 feet
 To Jumper who can clear 24 feet
 inches. as it is reported Johnson
 has done in practice the additional
 half foot is just matter of perfect
 Jumping arrangements and the prop | CT inspiration.
 Next year will doubtedly be John
 sons best This remarkable athlete l by the way, is said to care not ar
 awful lot for the game, except for the
 honor that his work brings to his | university
 He will probably rest all summer
 and come out for training in the fall
 much better for it. Johnson is of the | type of athlete that thrives on lone | periods Of inactivfty-long, lean, and | lanky. With from five to ten pounds i more of hard muscle on his franc
 the Michigan wonder should rise to
 even greater athletic greatness in an | other seasons activities.
 l It is perfectly plain that, in spite l Of his fine all-round ability, the or | event through which Johnson is cap
 able of entering the athletic hall of
 fame is the running broad-jump. It was not until he cut out all-round
 work in favor of specialization thai Gutterson, the great Vermont jumper, l achieved his 24-foot form, and it is
 highly probable that a similar move
 on the part of Johnson next spring
 or summer would yield him a new
 worlds record.
 Johnson's jumping form was the
 wonder of the eastern athletic sharps
 who saw him in action in the Har-
 ward Stadium last month. The Mich- ; l igander gets higher in the air than
 any jumper within the memory of the present generation. Right in the , middle of his flight through the air
 Johnson gets a lift by swinging his long arms forward, that gives added
 height and distance. By this moye- ment Johnson lands in a position
 from which there is little danger of a
 less of distance through a backward
 fall.
 l The scratch men had a tough time
 of it at the first outdoor games of
 the Robins Dry Docks A. A. at Todd Field, Brooklyn. Sunday. Homer
 Baker and Jack Sellers were shut out of the prize list ia the 1,ooo-yard run and Loren Murchison, the national 220-yard champion, suffered a similar
 fate in the 30O-yard dash. Pat Feerick, the University of Pennsylvania dental student will ; train at Travers Island, N. Y, this summer. He turned a clever quarter in the Robins A. A. games Sunea. when the N. Y. A. c. four finished in the runner-up position in the milo l relay.
 Jack Sellers, the sensation of the indoor season, is getting back his edge. He led Homer Baker over the l line in the 1.000-yard race in Brook ; lyn. Sunday. If Sellers avoids doing , too much work he Should be hitting the high spots again before the sum- mer is over.
 Joie Ray failed by many yards to } touch the one mile record of Norman Taber (4:12 3-5) last Saturday in his attempt at the Meadow Brook games r held at Franklin Field. Philadel- i phia.
 a Joie had weather and track con-
 ditions in his favor In the trial for the
 mystic figures, but he finished ''all I in" five seconds slower than Tabey
 did at the Harvard Stadium nearly four years ago.
 2 All of Rays best performances e have been made on the small indoor a board tracks. His mile at Philadel- f phia last Saturday is the fastest he k ever run on an outdoor track. In the
 1915 national championship he did 9 4:23 Is: 1917, 4:1S 2-5. and lass