A FORECAST OF SUMMER SPORT 



Potpourri of the Diamond, Cinderpath and Field of the Big Colleges 



BY EDWARD M. WEST. 



April with its showery face wears a glad 

 smile of welcome for the college man. It 

 means the opening of the spring season of 

 outdoor, contests and relief from the dull 

 grind of gymnasium practice. If the oppon- 

 ents of athletics in college life knew and ap- 

 preciated the sacrifices these earlier months 

 of training involved, they would regard more 

 leniently the sportive side of education and 

 place athletics on a higher plane as a moral 

 exercise and character developer. 



Baseball takes precedence chronologically. 

 All the college teams have completed their 

 preliminary work and are about to take the 

 field for actual play. Of course the cham- 

 pionship games come later, but already the 

 devotee knows the calibre of his team, and 

 can forecast with wonderful certainty the 

 issue of the big games. 



LAST YEAR'S CHAMPION STRONG. 



Princeton, the champion of last year, ap- 

 pears first in the probabilities. While losing 

 several of her players by graduation, she still 

 retains a nucleus that should be welded into 

 the strongest team if no accident befalls 

 her. Harvard is scarcely less fortunate in 

 retaining seasoned material, and should give 

 The Tiger a hard run for first honors. In 

 pitching strength, the Crimson has slightly 

 the lead, with Coburn over Byram and Cook 

 of Exeter, but Princeton invariably de- 

 velops team play better than Harvard and 

 bats and fields to better advantage with 

 equal material, and the veteran will prefer 

 Nassau's chances. 



Yale is weak in pitchers, though fairly 

 good in other respects, while Pennsylvania, 

 Cornell and Columbia are all handicapped by 

 Heavy losses. It is doubtful if any of the 

 four make it interesting for their rivals 

 from The Hub and Jersey. However, the 

 ooening games of each in the South, par- 

 ticularly with Georgetown, will be followed 

 with keen interest. 



THE RELAY CARNIVAL. 



Next to baseball, track athletics commands 

 closest attention. In their nature track 

 sports afford better opportunities for specu- 

 lative interest since the contests are indi- 

 vidual and the merit of the competitors bet- 

 ter understood. At present eyes center on 

 the relay carnival of the University of Penn- 



sylvania on April 29. It is to be regretted 

 that these games are held so early in the col- 

 lege year. They have grown in importance 

 to overshadow even the Intercollegiate 

 championships in individual events, and it 

 is too bad that the competitors cannot reach 

 the acme of their skill at an April date. 



This year there will be upward of 1,200 

 contestants, representing over 150 different 

 institutions. In the championship events all 

 the collegiate leaders are represented. The 

 West sends Chicago, Wisconsin and Michi- 

 gan ; the East, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, 

 Cornell, Columbia, Syracuse, Georgetown 

 and Pennsylvania. Even this list may be 

 augmented in the last minute from the na- 

 ture of the conditions. 



PENNSY'S CHANCE. 



In each of the three leading events, exist- 

 ing records should be bettered. Pennsyl- 

 vania has a splendid opportunity to improve 

 the one-mile standard. Taylor, Hyman, 

 Greene and Shaw are phenomenal runners. 

 Taylor is good for 49, Hyman 50, and the 

 other two close to 51. So it is not unlikely 

 that at least a second will be clipped off the 

 3.21 3-5 mark that now stands. 



Yale can probably give the .Quakers a 

 hard run, and Harvard is not far behind 

 the Elis, while Chicago promises to send a 

 team that will force record figures from the 

 winners. Princeton, Columbia and George- 

 town are the other bidders for honors in 

 the race. 



The two-mile event presents Yale as most 

 formidable. Mike Murphy has gathered to- 

 gether a squad of half-milers from whom 

 he expects to find a pair worthy to contest 

 with Parsons and Hill. If he does, 8.04 1-5 

 will be far from the mark they'll make. 

 Cornell and Princeton, too, promise fast 

 teams, particularly the former, while Syra- 

 cuse, Wisconsin and Columbia expect to cen- 

 ter their efforts in developing fast middle 

 distance men. Pennsylvania, Harvard and 

 Chicago are the other promised competitors, 

 and the three may be regarded as dark 

 horses. 



CROSS COUNTRY RUNNING. 



In the four-mile race, Cornell anticipates 

 a record breaker. Her success in cross 

 country running has been phenomenal, and it 



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