Evening star., 1930-06-22

nearness of the big race. And yet the Cornell
varsity, with eight nsw oarsrnen pulling the
sweeps, won the race that year
The second occurred in 1913. The inlet lead
ing to the boat house was being dredged that
year and Courtney found it impossible to keep
more than two crews at time at the regular
boat house. The others were quartered nearby
Some of the men assigned to the latter felt
that they had been sighted by the old man"
and were rash enough to express themselves
the matter. In some way the coach heard
of the grumbling and the squad waited for
bombShel 1t came. Cornells entire squad
125 candidates, was dropped, the innocent along
with the guilty
1T was thought that such vigorous measure,
- entailing the training of a complete new
squad of candidates, would put Cornell entirely
out of the running. But Courtney worked
miracles with his new, unframed candidates
The regatta with Harvard was won and the
Ithacans placed second at PoughkeepSie. Such
Courtney's genius!
THE Old Mans" won the 1915 classic
and finished second in the 1915 race, the last
regatta at Poughkeepsie that he was to see.
For the next year came the war; and with it
a three-year suspension of college rowing In
1920 the college crews again took to the water
but the intercollegiate regatta was not held
the Hudson. Instead, Cornell, Syracuse,
Columbia and Pennsylvania engaged in a re-
gatta on Lake Cayuga, and in his last year of
coaching. Pop" Courtney his varsity bow
to well coached Orange boatload which won
by length However, the Red Junior and
freshman crews won their events.
just a few weeks afterward, the maker of
champions died in harness He boating
ON his beloved Lake Cayuga when he
stricken, victim of apoplexy. With his death,
Cornens glory faded. None of his successors
has been able to turn out crew that could
match the famous ones he magical1y brought
to annual perfection
There was really no magical Courtney system,
no magic stroke that made his men invincible,
but he a stickler for form and trained his
men well that they had enough endurance
to maintain perfect form through to the finish.
That's what won the races; there was no
necrOmancy about it. His 1901 crew one
of the best he ever trained. 1t set record for
the Poughkeepsie course that stood for 81 years.
Then, in 1928 California, Columbia and Wash
ington came along and smashed it to
smithereens.
Courtney trained his men well, but it was
his dynamic personality that urged them on TO
do better than they knew. When he died he
was succeeded by John Hoyle. who for years
had been The Old Mans" head rgger and boat
builder and knew his system to 1t" 1t was
hoped that Hoyle would be able to carry on
the great tradition. But though Courtney's
system remained his personality was gone
and Cornell rowing entered upon its lean years.
Hoyle succeeded by Pop" LuedeT, and
after several years of unsuccessful effort to
stem the tide of defeat Lueder gave way to
the genial Australian, Jim Wray. He had
successful record as a sculler, club coach and
mentor of the Harvard navy behind him and
his personality began to be felt as soon as he
was well settled at Ithaca. Last season ne
developed three fine crews, the most remark
able being the junior varsity eight, which won
a smashing victory in the championship three
mile race at Poughkeepsie.
Coach Wray has builded well this year. Al
varsity n Vale
crew in their first regatta of the year on Lake
Carnegie, they rowed good race and finished
ahead of Princeton. The following Saturday
the Red oarsmen showed surprising improve
ment and all three of their races with
Syracuse and Harvard in the annual Spring day
regatta on Lake Cayuga. Rowing along evenly
and at comparatively low stroke they came
from behind each time to win going away, and
many who watched the big varsity combination
win with ease remarked that it looked for all
the world like another Courtney crew.
Hod Shoemaker, who paced the juniors to
their POughkeepsie victory last June, is stroking
the varsity now and upon him Comedians
are pinning their hopes for success on Thurs
day. And all the old-timers asking Can
Cornell come back? Can she shake the jinx
that has trailed her so long? Can she regain
the title she held with such monotonous regl-
larity when Pop" Courtney ruled the roost?
nF the thousands who will be watching
- Cornell through the last back-wrenching
mile and thinking of the Courtney tradition
there will be one man who was Courtneys
greatest rival on the river during the decades
Of Cornells rowing fame. He is that indefat-
gable octogenarian, Jim Ten Eyck, head coach
at Syracuse these many years. When Courtney
didn't win the Poughkeepsie regatta, Ten Eyck
did. They seemed to have monopoly on it.
Ten Eyck who is now dean OF all coaches
viii not admit his age. But at Poughkeepsie
last June lifelong friend of his told me that
Jim was close to IS. This may not be strictly
accurate but it shows which way the wind is