Pittsburg I.S.A.A. Games, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, June 5, 1896.
| Event. | Winner. | ||||
| 100-yard dash | Jarvis, E.L.A. | 11 | sec. | ||
| 220-yard dash | Jarvis, E.L.A. | 24-3/5 | " | ||
| Quarter-mile run | Jarvis, E.L.A. | 53-1/5 | " | ||
| Half-mile run | Bell, S.S.A. | 2 | m. | 11-2/5 | " |
| One-mile run | Bell, S.S.A. | 5 | " | 15 | " |
| 120-yard hurdles | ————— | ||||
| 220-yard hurdles | Jarvis, E.L.A. | 34 | " | ||
| One-mile walk | ————— | ||||
| One-mile bicycle | Heinz, S.S.A. | 3 | " | 55 | " |
| Running high jump | Kallock, P.H.S. | 5 | ft. | 3 | in. |
| Running broad jump | Baird, E.L.A. | 19 | " | 4 | " |
| Pole vault | Baird, E.L.A. | 8 | " | 10 | " |
| Throwing 16-lb. hammer | Bell, S.S.A. | 74 | " | 4 | " |
| Throwing 12-lb. hammer | ————— | ||||
| Putting 16-lb. shot | Bell, S.S.A. | 33 | " | 2 | " |
| Putting 12-lb. shot | ————— |
Abbreviations.—Roch. H.-S., Rochester (New York) High-School; Syr. H.S., Syracuse (New York) High-School; Buff. H.-S., Buffalo (New York) High-School; Mil. S.S., Milwaukee South Side High-School; Mil. E.S., Milwaukee East Side High-School; E.L.A., East Liberty Academy, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; S.S.A., Shady Side Academy, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; P.H.S., Pittsburg High-School.
The Wisconsin School held their athletic meet at Madison, Wisconsin, on May 30, and although the performances as a whole were below the average of the records attained on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, they will stand comparison with almost any school figures in the middle West. Nineteen schools sent teams to the meeting, and the points were distributed as follows: Milwaukee East Side, 28; Milwaukee South Side, 19; Madison, 17; Eau Claire, 14; Oshkosh, 10; Janesville, 4; Fond du Lac, 1; Whitewater, 7; Evansville, 14; Ripon, 5; Mauston, 7; Edgerton, 3; Wayland Academy, 4; Darlington, Dodgeville, Milwaukee West Side, Lake Mills, and Beloit failed to score any points. In addition to the events shown in the accompanying table, there was a relay race, which was won by the Milwaukee East Side High-School. For some unexplained reason no points were allowed to the winner of the one-mile bicycle-race, which was apparently thrown in as a sort of extra event.
The Pittsburg Interscholastic Association held its second annual field meeting on June 5, the victory going to East Liberty Academy with 23 points out of 64. Pittsburg H.-S. was a close second with 20 points, and Shady Side Academy ran third with 17 points. The other schools followed far in the rear, Park Institute getting only 3, and Allegheny High 1 point. Jarvis of East Liberty Academy stood head and shoulders above any other contestant in the quality of his performances, and won four firsts. He took the 100, the 220, and the quarter, and also finished first in the low hurdles. He could not have been very hard pressed, however, for the time was very slow.
In addition to the one-mile bicycle-race, which was a loaf for three-quarters, there were three other bicycle events. These are not shown on the accompanying table, because it has seemed more advisable, for the purpose of comparison of performances, to record there only the standard events. The quarter-mile bicycle-race was taken by McCready of Pittsburg H.-S. in 35 sec.; he had no easy time of it, however, for Heinz, S.S.A., who took the mile event, pressed him so closely that there were but a few inches between the two as they reached the tape. The two-mile bicycle-race was another uninteresting loaf, the contestants crawling around the track for five laps. A pace-maker was then put in and a spurt followed. Orr, P.H.S., won in 8 min. 3/5 sec., with McCready, his schoolmate, second. When it came to the half-mile race, the officials decided to put in a tandem pace-maker in order to prevent a third loaf, and a good race resulted. Orr again took first, time, 1 min. 9-2/5 sec., with McCready second.
The list of events at the games this year was changed considerably from last spring's schedule, but the house-cleaning did not go quite far enough, for the hop-step-and-jump still remains on the card. Let us hope it will be lost in the shuffle next year. Twelve of this season's events were the same as those of a year ago, and eight of the 1895 records were broken. It is probable that if Jarvis had been pushed he could have lowered the figures in the 100 and the 220; as it was, he established a record in the 440—53-1/5 sec.—which is better than the Pittsburg collegiate performance done by Miller and Edwards at the recent local meeting—54-3/5. Jarvis expects to enter Princeton next year, and will be a valuable acquisition to the New Jersey college's track team, which has never yet been a strong one. Bell, the long-distance runner and weight man, who won four firsts at these games, and Heinz, the bicycle-rider, both go to Yale.
The Oakland High-School athletes have every reason to feel proud of the record they have made on track and field this year. The track team won both the autumn and the spring field days of the Academic Athletic League, and took eight points in the recent Pacific Coast Championships. They have showed themselves to be so strong an aggregation that they can only secure meetings with university teams. A set of dual games had been arranged between the O.H.-S. and the Berkeley High-School, but this fell through after Berkeley had been defeated by the Oakland athletes at the recent A.A.L. field meeting. Challenges have been sent to many high-schools and athletic clubs, but none of these have felt that they were strong enough to stand any chance for success against the Oaklanders, and all have adopted discretion as the better part of their valor.
This year's High-School team, however, is much stronger than any this school has ever turned out before, and it will probably be some time before any such a collection of athletes will be gathered again under the O.H.-S. colors. Three of the best men, Cheek, Jenks, and Dawson, go to college in the fall, and they will add materially to the strength of the University of California team. These three scored 24 out of the 42 points which O.H.-S. secured at the last field day. Cheek is by far the most versatile of the trio, and will undoubtedly be heard from in the near future. At present he holds four of his school's records—the running broad jump, 22 ft.; the running high jump, 5 ft. 8 in.; the 16-lb. shot, 41 ft. 8½ in.; and the pole vault, 10 ft. 5½ in. In addition to these events, he is a strong performer over the hurdles, and throws the hammer beyond the hundred-foot mark.
Jenks is Oakland's sprinter, and holds the school record in both the dashes. His figures are 10-4/5 sec. for the 100, and 24-3/5 sec. in the 220. He is a good quarter-miler besides, his best performance in that line being the winning of the handicap a year ago last April from the 20-yard mark in 52-3/5 sec., coming in ahead of some of the best quarter-milers on the Pacific coast. Dawson's specialty is hurdling. He holds the school record of 29 sec. for the low hurdles, and his best time for the high is 17-4/5 sec. He would doubtless have improved these figures this spring if he had not had the responsibility of captaining the team. It is much to be regretted that such scholastic athletic talent as this could not be present at the National games last Saturday; if they had, the results in many of the events would doubtless have been different; for I feel confident that with better tracks and a more eager competition they would be able to improve on their home figures.