Mike Holly, Retired Groundskeeper, Drew First Harvard Paycheck in '93

Groundskeepers are supposed to be pretty expendable, yet a lot of people will miss one this spring when the Varsity track meets start popping. Mike Holly, who has groomed Harvard's tracks and set up the pole vault cross-bar at all of the home meets for the past 54 years, finally called it a day last February.

Starting in 1893, the young groundskeeper watched from the sidelines as Harvard's progress in the pole vault began paralleling its academic growth--the latter under Eliot, Lowell, and finally Conant, who hadn't yet seen the light of day when Mike was babying his first track here out on Jarvis Field.

Vaulters Getting Better

Eleven feet in those days was the world's record, and in the 1905 Harvard-Yale meet, "we had to put boxes under the standards to allow Grant and Gilbert to tie for first place at 11 feet, 6 inches." A keen judge of vaulting ability, who claims that "without good form the pole vaulter can do nothing," Mike expects Pete Harwood to break the current college record of 13 feet, 11 3/4 inches this spring.

Mike never moulded any policy here. But roaming his Soldiers Field domain, and particularly the Briggs Cage and Stadium environs, he added a sort of "most unforgettable character" dignity to the unromantic job of groundskeeper. Clad in blue dungarees with long blue sleeves sticking out, rubbers over his shoes and an old golfing cap perched on a white thatch, he moved around mostly in the background.

His usually-calm, blue eyes would blaze indignantly, though, if anybody tried to tell him how much sawdust was needed to best cushion the loam in the jumping and vaulting pits. He knew how much was needed, and for years he had charge of the pole vaulting pit at the big indoor invitational track meets in Boston Garden. He remembers every detail of Dutch Wamerdam's record-breaking hoist of 15 feet, 7 1/4 inches.

Whether or not Mike is awarded an honorary "H" at the end of the season (as has been suggested in some circles), his blood will always be deepest Crimson--not long ago, he asked the H.A.A. if they could possibly save a seat in the Stadium for him next fall. The H.A.A. said yes, they thought that might be arranged.