Lack of Depth Faces Track Team in Opener With B.U.

Will the loss of star Bob Rittenburg and a decided lack of depth in the field events keep the track team from compiling another outstanding indoor record this year? This is a question Coach Bill McCurdy is pondering as he looks over his personnel for the season-opener with B.U. in Briggs Cage at 6:45 this evening.

In Captain Art Siler's event, McCurdy has a good example of his plight, for Siler's shotputting is sufficient to win most meets. But outside of Siler, there is no other shotputter on the squad.

Similarly, in the 35-pound weight, Pete Harpel is the only entrant. Although he won his specialty in an intra-squad meet Saturday, freshmen swept the other three places.

McCurdy has a good 13-foot pole vaulter in Kip Smith, but his understudy, Don Richards, clears only 12 feet. In the high Jump, sophomore John Murphy has Jumped 5 ft. 8 in., but this is not quite good enough to win in a meet.

The delights of the coaching staff are the distances, from the 600 to the 2-mile. In the former is Dick Wharton, tabbed as potentially one of the East's top runners. Yet Al Wills, a top miler, beat him by two-tenths of a second Saturday in the outstanding performance of the meet.

Besides Wills in the mile are Phil Williams and Pete Reider, both good enough to allow McCurdy to use his ace in the 600.

Bill Morris heads the runners in the 1000, but both Jim Cairns and Otis Gates are expected to press him hard. In the two-mile, Ralph Perry and Dave McLean, captain-elect of the cross country team, fought it out down to the wire in excellent pre-season time.

Then there is junior Joel Cohen who has the potential to be another Rittenburg. Cohen is a coach's Joy, for he is an incomparable hurdler, as well as an excellent broad Jumper and dash man. He has tried his hand at high Jumping, although with not too much success yet, but with practice, he can develop.

Fortunately for McCurdy, the varsity's first opponent is B.U. which has even more manpower shortage. They have 17 men on the squad. The varsity should have depth on them.

At 6:45 the Yardling track team will open its Indoor season In the Cage, meeting the B. U. freshmen. This meet will be run simultaneously with the varsity B. U. met.