Evening star., 1926-05-27


OF this event by American collegians
I'm these days. when anything short
Of a 13-foot performance is considered
hardly worthy Of attention. it is easy
to overlook that the 12-foot mark in
pole vaulting was reached for the first
time by an I. c. A. A. A. A. compeh-
tor only II years ago. The improve
ment can be traced in no small degree
10 the adoption of the bamboo pole.
simultaneously came the Introduction
OF the slide grip which helped greatly
IN the development of technique.
Yale Men Make SLAM
In 1907, at the I. G.. A. A. A. A.
meet. Walter Dray Of Yale came with
IN a inch Of the 12-foot mark. The
following year four Yale men-Dray.
Gilbert, Nelson and Campbell-swept
all the points in the pole vault, and
80 far know that Is the only time
on record that a slam was scored by
q single college. 1t was then the BAN.
boo pole made its appearance. Since
then progress has been steadily up.
ward. even though the present record.
Of Is feet ] inch has been on the
hooks since 1912 to the credit OF A
Yale man, Robert A. Gardner now
captain OF the American Walker Cup
golf team.
While the pole vault has been on
the program since 1877. there were no
noteworthy performances until the
early 'a0s. Before that the champion
ships had been won at less than 8
rect and rarely better than 9la feet.
The first American to introduce any
real skill was Hugh Fl. Baxter OF
New York Athletic Club, who made
new American record of il feet
inches either in 1885 or 1885. This
was a wonderful feat with wooden
pole and it was not until 10 years
later that c. T. Rucholz of Penn
cleared II feet in the !. G. A. A. A. A.
games to become the first college man
to make that height.
Another Big Advance.
The next substantial advance was
made by w. McLanahan of Yale In
1904. when he cleared the unheard OF
height of 12.feet. half an inch. Yale
then ruled the roost for eight years.
Then Harry Rabcock of Columbia
came along with a new record OF
u feet and q fraction inches
only to have Gardner break his mark
the next wear with the amazing per
roruance OF 13 feet inch-the
first 13-foot performance in history
believe.
The only o,her man 10 reach Ii
feet in the championship, meeting
was Nelson r. Sheriff. ir. Of Penn
sylvania. holder Of the indoor IN
tercolleSiate mark of IS feet. who dlo
the same height at the 1898 outdoor
championships.
Perhaps by the time the j. e.
A. A. A. is on the eve of Its
centennial celebration the Introduction
Of some new scientific vauitins
methods will have created the
possibility of Is or 1G foot vault.
Hard Records to Beat.
By the Associated Press.
PRINCETON. n. j.. May 27.--The
history of the championship track
and field meet of the I.C.A.A.A.A..
which celebrates it's golden anniver
sary at the Harvard Stadium to-
morrow and Saturday, has nothing
more unusual than the fact that only
one man in 2S years has equaled
the championship low-hurdle record
Of % 3.5 seconds set by Alvin e.
Kraenzlein Of Pennsylvania in 1898.
That one man, said Keen Fftz'
patrick. veteran Princeton coach. was
James Wendell Of Wesleyan. who TIED
the mark in 1913.
There have been other good low
hurdlers, such as Johnny Garrels OF
Michigan and Coard Taylor of Prince
ton. who have won titles in fas
time" Fitzpatrick declared. Las
wear Kenneth Grumbles of southern
California won the title in "a seconds
fat. He is another Of the rangy type
hest fitted for low hurdling.
Must Be Sprinter.
The man who does it must be z
lo-second sprinter, as was Kraenz
lein. l have heard stories to the ef
feet that the Pennsylvania ire wat
aroused when he went to the mark III
the 1898 final. AS I recall it. the tract
was mud covered, yet kraenzleiI
clipped one full second off the record