The half-mile was probably the hardest race of the day, and Hipple won only after the hottest kind of a struggle with Hanson. The bunch started off at a good pace, as may be seen from the record-breaking time made, Bedford setting the pace. The Barnard man kept well in the lead for the first lap, and then surrendered his position to his schoolmate. But the New-Englanders had no idea of letting Hipple have an easy time of it, and Hanson, Albertson, and Brown at once began to swing out for position. Hipple stuck to his colors, however, and strained every nerve, running beautifully, and on the stretch he and Hanson pulled away quite perceptibly from the others. Hipple finished about five feet ahead of the Boston man, and both were entirely played out when they crossed the line, Hipple so much so that he was unable to enter the mile, a little later.
Beers. Edmands.
N.I.S.A.A. GAMES: FINAL HEAT OF THE HIGH HURDLES.
Both the hurdle-races furnished fine sport. Shirk of Worcester Academy took the first heat, not being pressed very hard by O'Rourke, and the second heat was an exceedingly hot race between Beers and Edmands, the time, .16-3/5, being even faster than that of the final. In the final struggle the race was clearly between Edmands and Beers, and the New-Englander certainly ran in far better form than did the victorious New-Yorker. Beers knocked over fully half the obstacles, whereas Edmands only toppled one. I should pick Edmands as the winner in a contest with Beers, both men being fresh. At the National games Edmands was throwing the hammer when the hurdles were called, and he had to leave his exhausting field work, without a chance for a rest, to start in his heat, and again in the final. Considering this, his performance over the sticks was exceedingly creditable. There were only three starters in the low hurdles, and Beers got off the mark first. He had not gone far, however, before Converse overtook him and soon passed him. Converse won in the excellent time of 26-2/5 sec., Beers finishing about six yards behind, with Peters almost on his heels. Beers ran in better form in the low hurdles, although doubtless a little fagged from his two high-hurdle heats. It is only fair to say for Beers that he has been in the habit of running over the dwarfed high hurdles of the N.Y.I.S.A.A., and thus Edmands, who has enjoyed the benefit of belonging to an association which uses recognized standards in athletics, had a slight advantage over the New York man.
The walk was a gift to O'Toole of English High, there being only one other contestant, Blakeslee of Hillhouse. Inasmuch as the faculty of the Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, did not allow any of the Hotchkiss men to come down to the meeting, Eels, who made such a good record at the Connecticut games, was not present. This is greatly to be regretted, for he and O'Toole would doubtless have had a close struggle in that event. The Boston man was pressed at no time, but he kept up a good pace, and when he crossed the line he was half a lap ahead of Blakeslee.
There were no accidents in the bicycle race, for a wonder, and the contestants actually raced from start to finish. The riders remained pretty closely bunched for half a mile, Roehr of Long Island leading. At the three-quarter post Poillon of New York dashed from the rear and took the lead, but he was able to hold it for only half a lap, when the others all put on steam and left him again at the tail. Roehr won in good style, with another Brooklynite, Forney of Adelphi, second, and Strong of Connecticut third.
The field events developed some excellent performances. There were only two men who answered to the call in the high jump—Sturtevant and Flournoy. The Connecticut man had the greater reputation, and the event was conceded to him at once, although the Iowa athlete struggled bravely, and cleared the very creditable height of 5 ft. 7 in. Sturtevant showed good form, and went an inch higher. The pole vault was also well contested, but the winner did not go so high as might have been expected from the various performances that have occurred at interscholastic meetings this year. Clapp, the winner, cleared 10 ft. 5 in., although he did an inch better at the New England Interscholastics, where he vaulted 10 ft. 6 in., and took second to Johnson of Worcester Academy. At the National games Johnson could only clear 10 ft. 3 in., and took second to Clapp.
Ingalls of Hartford, with Jones of Andover, enjoyed the honor of scoring a double win. He took first place in both the hammer and the shot, and his performances are something to be proud of. He established records in both events which will probably stand for some years to come. Boyce of Brookline High-School threw 125 ft. 3 in., and took second in the hammer, Edmands of Worcester being third. The latter also took second in the shot, coming within eight inches of the winner. Edmands is a very good all-round athlete. Leo of Iowa took third in the shot, and was only an inch behind Edmands.
Although every athlete who appeared at the National games is to be congratulated on his sportsmanship, and on the determined way in which he set about his work, especial commendation is to be given to the four young men who came on all the way from Iowa. They were outnumbered by every team, but they nevertheless succeeded in making creditable performances, and in carrying off six points. They are not of the stuff that goes home with a zero, and we may confidently expect, if Iowa sends on a team next year, that the experience of the Iowans this spring will have been profited by, and the Westerners will put up even a stiffer competition than they did a week ago.
The Graduate.