1908-09 ATHLETIC PROSPECTS

Following is the outlook for the University baseball, football and track teams, and the University crew for next year, based on the showing of the past season:

The Baseball Team.

With one or two exceptions the regular players on this year's University team will be together next year. Captain Leonard, who has played third base for four years, and who has been one of the best batters and base-runners on the team, as well as an exceptional fielder, will leave College this year. It is doubtful if McCall will return to College next year, and possibly Harding may not be back.

Hartford and Hicks, who have done some remarkably good pitching this year, will form a strong pitching staff for next season. R.G. McKay from this year's Freshman team will also prove a valuable man. Of the other pitchers on the University team, D.O. Slater '08 and D.C. Brennan '08 will graduate. Lanigan, who pitched a few games this year, will probably be used in the box very little next year.

Currier and Simons will form a nucleus for a good infield if McCall and Harding do not return. Briggs, Hall, and Hann, captain of this year's Freshman team, will be candidates for first base. J.C. Hamlen '09, R.W. Rowley '09, and R.S. Marshall '10, of this year's second team, and P.S. Twitchell '11 should develop into fast players and may secure positions in the infield. W.G. Carlisle, substitute catcher, will graduate, and his position will be filled by R.C. Brown '10, who was ineligible this year, and J. Sweetser '11. F.W. Kemble '08, substitute infielder on this year's team will graduate.

The outfield, with Lanigan, Harvey, and Aronson eligible, should remain intact. If Dana should improve in his batting he might win a place again. From the Freshman team McLaughlin may be useful. J.D. Pounds '08, substitute outfielder will graduate.

Football.

The regular University eleven loses by graduation this spring nine of its players, and of the four substitutes who played during part of the Yale game last fall, two will graduate. Of the men who have won their football "H" either in 1907 or in past years, Captain F.H. Burr '09, H. Fish, Jr., '10, S. Hoar '09, G.G. Browne '10, and V.P. Kennard '09, will be eligible for next year's team.

From the present outlook there will be an abundance of material for the end positions. G.G. Browne, Houston, Peirce and Forster of last year's squad will be available, and in addition there will be Cooper, of the second team, and Crowley, Corbett, Rogers, and Harding of the Freshman eleven. Harding played tackle on his eleven last season, but on account of his light weight, he will probably be tried out at end. R.C. Brown, ex-captain of his Freshman team, who was unable to play last fall on account of illness, will probably be able to play next year and should prove a valuable-man.

For tackle, there will be Captain Burr, except in case of his being shifted back to his former position at guard, Fish, Kennard, Robinson, Hadden, Philippbar, and Comstock, of the second eleven, and Oveson and MacKay, of the Freshman team. There seem to be very few good guards, and with Burr at tackle the best candidates will be Hoar and Forchheimer, and McGuire and Dunlap, the Freshman guards. The other guards of last year's second and Freshman teams are hardly heavy enough for the University eleven.

Nourse will probably fill the centre position. He was Grant's substitute throughout the past season, and, like Grant, plays a very snappy game. The other centres are Smith, of the Freshman team, a light but quick player, and Dore of the second team.

There will be considerable difficulty in filling the quarterback position left vacant by the graduation of Newhall and Starr. The most likely candidates are Cate, Galatti and Cutting, who has had the least experience in that position, but was given much attention towards the close of the past season. G.G. Browne, the end, was also tried out at quarterback during the recent spring practice.

For fullback as for end, there is more material than for the other positions. Blumer and Waterbury, the University substitutes, White and Gray, the second team's backs, and Cutler and Minot of the Freshman eleven are all first-rate players. W.H. Brown, a former Exeter player, who was ineligible to play last fall, is a heavy and powerful fullback. Doubtless some of these men will be transferred to halfback, for which position the only regular candidates seem to be Gilbert and Graydon of last year's squad.

The Track Team.

The experience of the past few years has emphasized the uncertainty of predicting track meets far ahead. Men winning points one year may fail to score another year, while only a slight improvement may bring to the fore someone unplaced in former races. A great deal depends on the material at hand for the development of a team, and a great deal more depends on training and acquisition of experience in competitions. Of those who scored in the dual meet and the intercollegiate this year the following nine men will form a nucleus for next year's team: Captain W.M. Rand '09, T.S. Blumer '10, G.P. Gardner, Jr., '10, R.G. Harwood '09, C.C. Little '10, E.K. Merrihew '10, R.P. Pope '10, F.M. deSelding '10, and W.N. Whitcher '09. There are only a few other members of this year's University team and one or two Freshmen who may be considered from their present records as in the point-winning class.

The number of promising sprinters is small. Blumer, who won a place in the 220-yard dash in both the Yale and intercollegiate meets this year, and R.C. Foster of the Freshman team are better in the longer dash than in the 100-yards. It will take a great deal of hard work to develop enough sprinters to bring the team up to the average in these events. The outlook in the quarter and half-mile runs is brighter. Merrihew and deSelding are closely matched in the former, while Jaques of the Freshman team and Whitcher should again give the University the advantage over Yale in the half-mile. With the exception of Jaques in the mile, there is but little first-class material for the distance runs. H. Guild '10, E.L. Viets '10, R.F. Hoyt '10, J.R. Coolidge '10, R.E. Dole '10, C. Lanier '10, and M.H. Whitney '09 have all shown some ability in the runs, but are for the most part inexperienced in comparison with the Yale runners.

Harvard's strength in the hurdles will be to a great extent offset by the remarkable ability of Howe, Robbins and Kilpatrick of Yale. Nevertheless, with Captain Rand and Gardner at their best and with a year's improvement in Long. Sweetser and Chadwick of the 1911 team the University may at least hope to break even with Yale in these two events and win several points in the intercollegiates.

A great deal of attention has been paid to developing secondary men in the field events this year with considerable success. Stephenson and Bangs will be missed from the shot-put next spring but Little and Burr with another season's training should be able to hold the majority of points for Harvard. Pope and Harwood will form a strong team in the high-jump, with the addition of several promising Freshmen. Little and Ruch, together with Dick and Long of the 1911 team, are the most promising of the broad-jumpers, but Yale will have a good jumper next spring in Kilpatrick. There will be plenty of room for hammer throwers as none of those who trained for the event this year can be considered in the first class. Ruch is good for his size, but lacks weight, while Little is needed in the shot-put.

Three pole-vaulters were developed last season, and while none of them was placed in the big meets, they all show promise of being valuable members of the team next spring. They are S.C. Lawrence '10, E.L. Parker '10, and J.L. Barr '10.

A brief summary of the material already developed shows the team to be fairly strong in the hurdles, the middle distances, and the shot-put, high-jump and pole-vault. There are a few sprinters and broad-jumpers. A victory over Yale or a creditable showing in the intercollegiate meet can hardly be hoped for unless more and better men are developed in the dashes, the distances, and the hammer-throw. A great deal of Yale's victory and Harvard's success in the field events this year was due to the improvement in the material already at hand by means of experience in actual competition. At present the chances of winning next year's dual meet are greatly in favor of Yale, just as they favored Harvard at this time last year. Numbers and training can, however, overcome this handicap.

The Crew.

The prospects for a strong University crew for next year are very bright. Only one man, J. Richardson, Jr., '08, the captain, who rows number 7, will be lost by graduation. It is likely that one of the members of this year's crew will be changed to number 7. To fill the vacancy will be P. Withington '09 and R.M. Ellis '09, of the University four-oar, as well as R.W. Cutler '11, L. Withington, Jr., and other members of the 1911 Freshman crew. Several of the members of the upperclass crews will be available another year as material for the University squad.