Evening star., 1928-04-26


Famous Runner World and Olympic Cham
e coryrixht 1925, in all countries by North
American Newspaper Alliance.
T HE pole vault is an American
event. The record has been
out of the United States only
4 once. and then for but f1ve
years.
Charles Hoff. Norway, in 1922, vault
= ed IS feet 6 inches. Two years later he
did IS feet Ii& inches. That mark
stood until last May. when Sabin Carr
Yale. cleared IA feet in the intercolle--
giate meet, and gave back to the United
States its coveted worlds record,
This las. Winter. Carr bettered his
mark by an indoor vault Of IA feet i
trch He still is in college, and prom
ises to maintain the standard he has
set during the last two years.
One of the most conclusive proofs
that the United States is we'll equipped
with pole vaulters for the coming
OlvnlpicS in Amsterdam was the COM
petition which went on during the
contest in which Carr cleared IL feet,
Lee S. Barnes. Southern California,
was right on Csrr's heels all during
that afternoon, and was eliminated
only after he had vaulted Is feet si2
inches. The third-place winner was
eliminated after clearing iS feet 6'4
inches, which was 4i2 inches above the
former intercollegiate record. Fifth
place went with a vault Of lS feet.
Nehraskan Good vaulter.
This was by far the best vaulting of
the season. and the best mark other
than in the Eastern meet was made
hv Wirsig. Nebraska. in the Missouri
Valley Conference. He vaulted i3 feet
2T-64 inches
In 1924. when the United States
Olympic team for that year was picked,
Sabin Carr could not make the grade.
He was then at Hill School. Pottstown.
Pa. and doing 13 feet. Two other
schoclboys made the team. however.
One was the same Barnes beaten by
Carr when the present record was
made. The other was Glenn Graham,
another California lad.
In Paris these two schoolboys were
destined to battle it out for first place.
The result was q tie at IL feet li1s
inches. Graham did not continue in
college athletics. but he still is vault
ing In competition he continues TO
do more than l3 feet. and he Is In the
running for another Olympic try.
Harry Smith, Los Angeles A. c.,
former national champion. is another
fsom the Far West who is doing
around i3 feet.
E. z. Meyers. Chicago A. A.. and a
former Dartmouth star. was a member
Of the 1e20-24 Olympic teams. and Is
q keen competitor for this years trip.
'Iladdie" Is consistent at Is feet. and
has mere experience than any of the
other vaulters.
Little Foreign Competition.
Abroad. vaulting is far from being of
this caliber Hof, Norway, visited the
United States two years ago and got
into difficulties with the A. A. U. That
body did not find his amateur standing
bad. but on his return to his home
country the amateur body there re-
fused to allow him 10 compete.
With H0ff out, there seems To be no
competition for the men from the
United States. The best vault recorded
last year in national championship
meets abroad was $50 meters tI2 feet
Sa2 inches. by Petersen. Denmark.
There are fully 90 vauiters in the
United States capable OF clearing IL
feet inches, and dozen with records
OF IS feet.
Olympic meets seldom bring out the
best heights in the vaulters This Is
because ii is q tTo-day affair, drawn
oalt most Of an afternoon. A height is
ser for qualifying, and, no matter now
many clear that. they 60 no higher.
The next day they vault until the re-
CURED number are eliminated for the
final, and then the fnaiists fight 1t
out. This puts a long strain on the
arms Of the yaulters. and the winning
height is not what might be expected
from performers Of such caliber.
Next--290 Meters.