Evening star., 1934-02-19
HOLD BACK SPEED
UNTIL FINAL HALF
Bonthron, Cunningham Take
2::14 for First $50 Yards
of Race Run in Ala.
BY ALAN GOULD,
Associated Press Sports Editor.

n IEW YORK, February ID
nj Honors in the all-Amer-
lea battle for mile-run-
ming supremacy rest to-
day with Princeton's black
haired Bill Bonthron, the boy
who says he hates track sports
and doesn't seem to care what
old Pop Time thinks about it.
Bonthron outsprinted and beat his
Kansas rival, Glenn Cunningham,
Saturday night in the first and per-
haps only time these two great col
lege runners ever will meet at the
mile distance. His margin of victory
was by inches, gained in the last
sweeping stride Of hair-raising finish
that provoked a highly emotional out
burst by crowd Of 5000 spectators
in Madison Square Garden.
The result was, perhaps, no more
conclusive than the margin Of one
solitary vote by which Cunningham
nosed out Bonthron for the priced
Sullivan Memorial Award for the out
standing amateur athletic perform
ance of 1888.
The fact is their intensiyely dra-
matte battle for supremacy may never
be satisfactorily settled. They meet
again this Saturday at 1900 meters
in the national A. A. U. champion
ships at the Garden, but thereafter the
paths of these young rivals are un-
likely to cross. This is their last year
in college.
Run Wild in Last Half.
TOO much ballyhoo spoiled the
i possibility that either would
make the classic Baxter mile a
record-breaker. Both took the meas
ure Of the man who set the indoor
mark of 4:10 in this event two years
ago. Gene Venzke of Pennsylvania, but
they were entirely too wary Of each
other to pay much attention to the
challenge of the .stopwatch.
They appeared in shape to blast all
existing records for the mile, and
under full steam all the way might
have cut eight seconds of Bonthron's
winning time of Ala After fairly
cantering the first half mile in only
2:l4, with Cunningham refusing to
make the pace and Bonthron merely
dogging his footsteps. they whirled the
last $50 yards in minutes fiat.
They were never more than a stride
apart and Bonthron, completely re-
versing his tactics on the day he
bowed to Jack LOvel0ckS memorable
4:07.6 mile last Summer. never at
tempted to pass the Kansan until
they hit the last turn into the stretch.
Here Bonthrons famous kick was
more than Cunningham could match,
but it was so close the watchers could
not tell them apart.
Venzke was yards back Of Cum
ningham. Bothrons times by quar-
ters were Sc, 68, 81 and SO seconds.
World Records Hit.
VXIORLD records bloomed before
w and after this dazzling mile
finish to sustain the habit Of
the annual New York A. c. games
in adding luster to track and field
history.
Keith Brown Of Yale lifted his own
indoor pole vault mark to IA feet
inches, Walter Marty of Fresno
(Calif) State College hoisted himself
to a new record of 6 feet 80 inches
in the high jump and John Collier
OF the Boston A. A. twice eQualed the
world standard of IA seconds for the
6O-yard high hurdles.
Brown added 2i4 inches to the in
door record he set last year and beat
Bill Graber of Southern California.
whose outdoor mark of IA feet 43a
inches, made in the Olympic tryouts
at Patio Alto two years ago, is the
only performance superior to the
latest achievement of the Eli ace.
Graders best Saturday night was 13
feet inches.
Marty swept from the books the
! record made by George Spitz of New
York University in negotiating the
greatest height man has ever jumped
without some artificial assistance. The
blond Californian, who attempted
feet 9l2 inches after his first rec
ord jump. topped Spitz's previous
world indoor mark of feet s11
inches and his own unofficial outdoor
standard of feet S3s inches, made
last year. Spitz cleared 6 feet
inches Saturday.