The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1935-05-17
OWENS RUNNING
| NEARER TO TITLE
FASTEST HUMAN
Ohio State Sophomore
Was One-Man Track
Team in High School
BIZ TOMMY DEvINE
(Unitea Press STAN Correspondent

tOMAtCAA 1ECcS 6toA fOONEGSkSOAhNAGHSy
Columbus, o. (UP).-To the
rhythm Of his own flying feet.
Jesse owens swings along along
to the duel title Of the worlds
fastest human and its greatest
broad jumper.
The perfectly proportioned, good
natured Cleveland Negro, who is
sophomore at Ohio State hoped
into the track spotlight during his
prep school days at Cleveland East
Tech and he's been there ever
since.
Owens was East Techs one-man'
track team. He ran the 100 and
22o-yard dashes, was on the relay
team, a fine 120-yard low hurdler
sen took part in the broad and
high jumps. Everything he did was
Of record, no near notwithstanding
proportions.
Stadtel as Dash Man
When he came to Ohio State,
Track Coach Larry Snyder imme-
diately put an end to his versa
tility. He pointed out the bene-
fits Of specialization and so Jesse
is strictly q dash man and broad
jumper now. The boy still has a
hankering to hurdle, but Snyder
doesn't want to risk injuring him.
Owens is an ideal physical spe-
cimen. He is s feet IL inches tall
AMI weighs 165 pounds. Il
Jesse5s best accredited time for
the 100 is 9.5, a tenth of second
Off the acceptde world and AM
erican records held by Frank
Wyckoff, former Southern Cali
fornia speeder, and the collegiate
record held Jointly by Wyckoff.
George Simpson, another Ohio
State great; Hubert Meier, Iowa
State. and Ralph Metcalfe, Mar
quette's great Negro runner.
But If you take the word OF
Snyder, Ohio State coach, 1t s
only a matter of time before the
Cleveland boy breaks all existing
marks.
Amy Day
When will it be? Larry answers,
"Any day now. It may be some
time when he is running against
very ordinary opposition, or it may
be this summer when we go west
to meet California in a dual meet
and remain to compete in the Ma
tional Collegiates."
owens starting has been poor.
Coach Snyder knows the reason
and is working with Jesse to cure
it. Larry explains the poor starts
like this:
"Jesse was so fast in high school
that when he went to the starting
line he never watched the gun. In.
stead he always waited for the field
to leap away from him. The step or
two he lost didn't mean a thing,
because he knew he would catch
them before they'd gone very far.
But that has passed. He Is watch
ing the gun now and improving his
starting rapidly"
Owens last winter broke the in
door broad jump record with leap
Of Is feet ola inches. In the
recent Drake relays he added the
American outdoor record to his list
with a jump Of rs feet "a inches.
Is that his ultimate? Jesse and his
coach both believe he can do 81
feet. The present worlds record
set in 1881 by the Japanese star,
Chuhei Nambu, is 26 feet 2 IL
inches.
Doesn't Use Kick
The Ohio State star doesn't use
a kick of any kind in his jump as
It was found it hampered the tafie-
off by tending to make him shorten
his stride. He merely bundles his
knees up under his chin, carry
over from scholastic high jumping,
and sails.
In addition to records in his two
specialties, Jesse has run the 220
in 20.7 seconds which is only one
tenth Of a second off the accept
ed worlds mark of Nebraska's Ro-
land Locke, made in 1926.
What is It that makes Jesse
"tick'', in the fashion he does?
Perfect vo-ordination of every
muscle in his body" Snyder an
swers.
owens is characterized by his
coach as being the perfect tqpe Of
athlete, He trains himself and
never needs a word Of caution
regarding excvesses of any kind.
He loves to run and jump and is
willing to make the sacrifices de-
rl-srded. Despite his fame he isn't
"cocky," is well-liked by his team
mates and is a better-than-aver-
age student.