Dartmouth Runners Hope To End Soldiers Field Jinx

Preparedness is a dead issue and the time for action has arrived. Dartmouth's headed south from the hill country armed to the teeth with a brigade of runners that has already turned back a Harvard onslaught in a mid-winter skirmish. It was, in bare facts, the worst track defeat the Crimson has suffered at Green hands.

To repeat it outdoors this Saturday, Dartmouth will not only have to turn back a Varsity squad which has come through a three-meet warmup session unscathed, but must break a thirty-year jinx which has kept the Big Green victory flag from flying over Soldiers Field since 1911.

This year it is Harvard that is green and the Dartmouth attack red-hot; and the about-face entirely justifies Jaakko Mikkola's recent sleepless nights. The Crimson's upset at Hanover last spring demonstrated the superiority of an experienced Senior squad over even talented novices; but Saturday afternoon those Seniors will be in the grandstand, and the Comanche amateurs of last season will be running rings around Soldiers Field track.

Dartmouth strength is spread thickly over the entire slate. The home force's chief stronghold rests in the dashes and hurdles and throughout the field events. Still Doug Pirnie has yet to equal the 9.8 seconds performance which entitles Fritz Heinbokel to the Hanover 100-yard title.

Among the field men Don Blount, the best jumper the North Woods has seen in many a decade, will force Dave Ives and Pirnie, if he jumps, to their utmost. Bob Partlow outleaped Blount last year in the broad on one of the Dartmouth star's off days, but at present is recuperating an injured knee and not certain to participate.

Distances Present Worry

Fable has it that Mikkola is bewildered about what sort of distance men he can throw together to compete effectively the Hanoverian array headed by Captain Dick Howard in the middle races and Lionel Trudeau and Bill Uptegrove in the mile and two mile events Last spring Uptegrove took the mile and Sid Bull the double distance; while in the winter meet Bull led the two mile field again and Trudeau nosed out teammate Uptegrove in the mile.

Yet Mikkola is not entirely unable to upset these veterans with the material he has been able to develop this year. Rollo Campbell in the half appears the most promising of the field, with Bill Young and Kay Rogers rating as capable milers. The longest distance will probably be run by Bob Kent along with Langdon Burwell if the doctors consider him sufficiently recovered from his vacation skiing mishap.