“The meet, too, I guess,” muttered Tom as he picked up his shot again and stepped into the ring.
The trials in the high hurdles were over, and the Clerk of the Course was calling the quarter-milers out. Gerald followed the crowd down to where the race was to finish. As he reached a place near the tape the pistol spoke from across the field, and seven runners dashed down the straightaway. Of the seven, three wore Yardley colors, and four Broadwood. At the first corner they were well strung out, with the Yardley crack in the lead, and two Broadwood men close behind. At the next corner the foremost runner had increased his lead slightly, and the distance between second man and third had lengthened. Cheers for Yardley and Broadwood arose from the grand stand, and down here at the finish, eager partisans leaned over the edge of the cinders, and hoarsely shouted encouragement. The foremost Broadwood man made desperate efforts to gain the lead in the last fifty yards, but was forced to accept second place, while behind him came two of his teammates. Yardley cheered her victor, but the fact remained that in the first event to be decided, Broadwood had captured three places and six of the eleven points.
After that, with the band blaring almost incessantly, and hundreds of voices cheering and imploring, events went with a rush. The hundred-yards dash brought the grand stand to its feet as the four boys who had won their way to the final heat, sprinted down the lanes. It was an easy victory for Rand in 10⅖ seconds, with Bufford second, Chase third, and the single Broadwood runner, fourth. But in the high hurdles, Broadwood redeemed herself, winning 8 points to Yardley’s 3. In the 220-yards dash, Rand again took a first, and Bufford managed to scrape by in third place. Rand equalled the Dual record, 24⅗, and got plenty of applause for it. The trials for the 220-yards hurdles were begun, and from the announcer came the results of the high jump and the shot-put. In the former Yardley had surprised her adherents by gaining 6 points to her rival’s 5, while in the shot event she had disappointed them by reversing the score. Tom had had no difficulty in getting first with a put of 40 feet 11½ inches, but the other Yardley contestants had failed signally and Broadwood had taken the remaining six points.
“The score at present,” announced the stentorian-voiced gentleman with the megaphone, “is Yardley 33 points, Broadwood 33 points!”
“Gee,” exclaimed Dan to Durfee, “that’s some close!”
“Yes, and the remaining events are the ones we’re supposed to have mighty little show in,” answered the baseball captain anxiously. “This isn’t going to be any cinch like last year, is it?”
“Looks to me like a good drubbing,” answered Dan. “What’s next?”
“It ought to be the half-mile,” replied Durfee, consulting his programme. “Yes, here they come now. We’re supposed to get about three points in this, I believe.”
“Phew! And Broadwood has the low hurdles cinched too!”
“How has she?” Durfee protested. “We’ve each qualified two men.”