TRACK TEAM SHOWS RESULTS OF NEW COACHING SYSTEM

The 1920-1921 University track season which ended with the Intercollegiates on May 28 was one of the most spectacular which a Crimson team has had for some years, and it is interesting to see just what has been accomplished since the system of graduate coaching was installed at the University. At the opening of the season in the winter months the Harvard track team was regarded by many outside the University as little more than a farce, and even when its remarkable improvement during the spring was shown by the results of the dual meets with M. I. T., Yale and Princeton, followers of track athletics were still skeptical, and it required the Intercollegiates, in which the University team placed second with 27 points, only half a point behind the winner, California, to show what had actually been accomplished in a few short months.

Bill Bingham Takes Charge

When Mr. Bingham began his work with the team it was in a supervisory capacity, and his instructions from the Graduate Committee were to make a study of the situation, determine how it could be corrected, and take the necessary steps through the agency of the two coaches then employed, Mr. Donovan and Mr. Farrell. It was decided that Mr. Bingham could work better if he was in complete charge, and doing active coaching, so shortly after the B. A. A. games he replaced Mr. Donovan as head coach. Coach Farrell was retained to help Coach Bingham with the field event men and the hurdlers.

The 1921 season properly starts with the triangular meet with Dartmouth and Cornell, which was held in Mechanics Building on February 26. Previous to this members of the squad had competed in various relay meets, and also as individual entrants in several of the big indoor events in Boston, but the triangular meet marked the first appearance of the team as a whole. The University team went into this contest a doubtful quantity, and few expected the runners to accomplish much in the way of scoring. The Crimson athletes, however, surprised everyone; the work of the runners showed the first effects of the new spirit which Coach Bingham was trying to give the team. The appearance which the team made on outsiders was shown by the statement appearing in one of the Boston papers the next day. "Poor, downtrodden Harvard," it said, "smashed every forecast by its fighting." The final score, Cornell 36 1-5, Dartmouth 35 2-5, Harvard 26 1-5, does not tell the whole story. A large number of the University's points were scored by men who, before the meet were regarded as "dark horses", that is, they did not have any reputation as runners, but had been developed to the point where they were able to score places, under the University coaches. This was one of Coach Bingham's avowed purposes, to develop men who could get the second and third places upon which the results of a meet so often depend.

The indoor season ended with a meet with Northeastern College, held on March 4 in Boston, which the Crimson runners won by the overwhelming score of 53-13. The meet was arranged chiefly for the purpose of giving the men practice in running under competition, and although the competition was not very stiff it served its purpose.

Two Defeats in Pennsylvania

The spring season started on April 4, when a meeting of all candidates for the team was held in the Locker Building, and was addressed by Coach Bingham and Dr. Parmenter. Intensive practice was started immediately, for the team had only two weeks in which to prepare for the spring trip to Pennsylvania, which was held during the Spring Recess. Two meets were held on this trip, one with Penn State, and the other with the University of Pennsylvania. Coach Bingham stated before the Penn State meet that his primary purpose was to give as many men as possible a chance to run, and he therefore limited the number of events in which one man could compete to two. The result of this was that the team lost the meet by the close score of 61-56, although if the men had been allowed to compete in as many events as they were able to it is probable that the Crimson would have won, and the record for the season would have been three victories and two defeats, instead of two victories and three defeats. In the meet with Pennsylvania, held the last of the week, the men were allowed to enter three events instead of two, but the superior strength of the Red and Blue team counted against the Crimson runners, and they lost by the score of 69 1-3 to 47 2-3.

In spite of the two defeats, the trip was a success, since it helped the development of the team greatly, and also because it gave Coach Bingham an opportunity to get some idea of the ability of his men. Several men who had accomplished nothing up to that time showed that they had developed to the point where they could be depended upon to score against all but the stiffest competition, such as would be afforded only by the Intercollegiates; this development continued for the rest of the spring.

The next meet in which the University team competed was the Penn Relay Carnival. At the last moment it was decided to make entries only in the special events, and not to have any relay teams representing the University compete. Gourdin, Harwood and Brown were the only men who made the trip to Philadelphia. Gourdin won the broad-jump, breaking his own record, and also the Harvard record; and Harwood tied for third in the pole-vault. Gourdin also placed fourth in the 100-yard dash.

Fighting Spirit Brings Victory

The first home dual meet was that with M. I. T., which was held in the Stadium on May 7. The University was conceded the victory before the meet started, but the margin was larger than was expected. The times of all the races showed that the men had made rapid progress since the beginning of the season; one of the reasons for this was the fighting spirit which the men all gave proof of. The field event men also showed a good deal of improvement in their performances, and scored 31 points for the Crimson's total. A large part of the credit for this must be given to Coach Eddie Farrell, who has had complete charge of the field event men throughout the season. In this meet Gourdin again broke his record in the broad-jump, this time covering 23 feet 11 7-8 inches.

Nosed Out by Elis

The team continued to improve during the next week, so that when they went down to meet Yale it was believed that there was a chance of their winning the meet. The closeness of the score, Yale 62 1-3, Harvard 54 2-3, shows that with a few breaks in one or two events the results of the meet might have been entirely different, but in spite of the fact that the team lost, the result might be described as a moral victory for the Crimson track men, for to have come so close to beating a team which only the year before had inflicted a disastrous defeat, was a creditable performance. One of the features of the meet from the Crimson standpoint was the large number of men who scored for the University who before the spring meet had not accomplished much on the track. The meet certainly justified Coach Bingham's theory that it is better to have a well-rounded-out team than a few stars. Gourdin again broke his record in the broad-jump with a leap of 24 feet 4 inches, only half an inch less than the Intercollegiate record.

Tigers Downed in Final Meet

The final dual meet was that with Princeton, held the following Saturday in Cambridge. This contest, which resulted in a victory for the Crimson by the close score of 59 to 58, was a flitting end to the dual meet season. Again strength in the field events proved the deciding factor, the University team scoring 31 points in this department to her opponents 14. The victory was not decided until the last event, the 220-yard dash, was over. At the start of the race Princeton was ahead, and it was necessary for the University runners to get at least six points to win. Gourdin and Chapin, placing first and third, turned the trick, and the meet was won. Gourdin again broke his record in the broad-jump, this time with a jump of 24 feet 6 inches, one and a half inches more than the official Intercollegiate record, and as far as is known the best jump ever made in an American College meet.

The Intercollegiates, the following Friday and Saturday, furnished a fitting climax to the 1921 track season. Before the meet no one thought that the Crimson runners had a chance to win, or even to come nearer the top than third place. That this was a mistaken idea was shown by the final score. The team gave an inkling of its strength in the trials on Friday, when it qualified more men than any other team entered, but the finals on Saturday showed conclusively that the rejuvenation of the Crimson team was complete, and that it should be rated with the best in the country. As in the, other meets, a large number of the University's points were scored in the field events, but the work of every man in both track and field events counted in the final score, which read Harvard 27 points--only half a point less than the winning University of California team gained.

Many Informal Practice Races Held

One of the features of the season just ended has been the number of informal practice meets which have been held on the Soldiers Field track. The purpose in having so many of these races was two-fold, to stimulate interest in track, and to give the men as much opportunity for actual competition as possible. One of the new ideas was that of having a series of hurdle races, the winners of which were awarded a miniature bronze hurdle by Mr. W. F. Garcelon '05. As the condition was made that no one who had won a race would be allowed to compete in another, every one had a chance to win a trophy. One of the results of the holding of these races was the development of several hurdlers who by next spring should have improved sufficiently to be sure of places on the University team.

In summarizing the results of the track season, the most important point is that the team has been brought from a low level to a high one, all in the short period of a few months, and that now, instead of being regarded as a joke, it is thought of as one of the strongest teams in the East. A large part of the credit for this rise must be given to the two coaches of the team, Bill Bingham and Eddie Farrell, and also to numerous graduates who have been on hand from time to time to assist them in coaching the men. The team has improved both in ability and spirit, and a solid foundation has been established upon which to build next year's team