Atwood Hammond High School - Post Yearbook (Atwood, IL)

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amount of training. Training gets to be monotonous when you stay with it every (lay, and the boys need some one to make them get out and work. Mr. Samuels has done his part for he has had them working day after day, and this daily practice has made a great improvement on the work of the team. There are ten boys working out on the track team, but probably two of them will not make the team this year, yet they have made a good showing and if they do not make good this year they will undoubtedly do so the next Fred B. Romine is working out for the last time in high school. And he has made some very fast records for a high school athlete. Ilis particular event is the one-half mile run. He will also make one of the relay team and will probably run the 220 yard dash for lie has been making fast time on this run. Fernice Barber is also working out for his last time in high school. He has been working on the 440 yard dash This is the killing run in the track meet and it is an honor to be able to hold this position on the team. He will probably make the relay team for he has ham doing fair work on the 220 yard dash. John Livengood is working for the po'e vault, lie has made fair records with it so far and will probably make o e of the team. It is a close contest between Livengood and Paul Fisher f- r the pole vault. Livengood is a Senior and tlrs is his last year out. Fisher is a Freshman and if he fails to make good this year there is no reason why lie will not stand a good chance of winn'ng something next vear. He lias the distiuet'on of being the only Fresh man on the team. Perry Podgers is our all around we'ght m°n. He handles the shot, hammer and discus as though thev were made of cork instead of lead. His work with the hammer and discus is re-mar’-able. There is probably not a high school bo}- in the county who has ns good records for the weight events as he has. I do not mean that he is not surpassed in any one of them, but he can handle the three weights better than any other boy. He has also been doing some good work in the standing broad jump. Emil Carroll is our other weight man. He is an all around athlete, but on account of a sprained knee he has not been able to train very much this spring. He holds the best record on the high jump and he has made some good records with the weights. John Browning is trying for the relay team. His work so far has been good. It is a close contest between Browning, Carl Hassig and Bernice Barber for a place on the relay team. Carl Hassig has been doing some excellent work in the one-half mile run. He will he entered in this event but at the present writing it is not known whether he will be entered for the relay team or not. Lloyd Ilarshbarger is an all around athlete, and he is doing some very good work for the team. He is our star dash man and he also has the best record in the pole vault. He is entered for the the three dashes, namely: 50 yard. 100 yard and 220 yard dashes. He is also entered for the hurdles and the pole vault; and he will make the relay team. He is doing some good work on the standing broad jump, but it is not positively known whether he will be entered in this event or not at the present time. FRED ROMINE. ’ll. THE EFFECT OF ATHLETICS ON SCHOLARSHIP. Many people imagine that participation in athletics detracts from school work and thereby hurts scholarship. An investigation made into the average scholarship of the track team and the average scholarship f those not on the track team in our High School reveals the fact that the athletes havp

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and field work. They continued to train far into ihe winter months until it became so cold that they were forced to stop. But when the first few warm days of spring came, they were all out and at work again. The athletic association bought a track suit and a pair of running shoes fur every member of the track team and the suits and shoes were all stamped with that famous mark “Spalding.” If there is anything in clothes they ought to be the best for they have the best. The organization also bought a new hammer, a shot, a discus, an l a vaulting pole. With this equipment they ought to be able to develop some of that substance which is called brawn or muscle, and this is what it takes to develop school hoys into strong and healthy men. In previous years the Atwood high school pupils have not accomplished a great deal in athletics, yet they have done a little. Last spring an attempt was made to organize a track team to compete in the Piatt County athletic contest. But there was a lack of interest and only three pupils had the courage, spirit, or whatever you may call it to enter the contest. Of these Perry Rodgers won second in the discus throw and Fred Remine won second in the one-half mile run and third in the low hurdles making se'en points in all for Atwood They won fifth place with their sever points for there were only five schools that entered the contest. Mansfield high school won the championship of the countv. Monticello won second place an l Bement won third. Another interesting event for the Atwood athletes was the attendance at an indoor track meet at Urbana, between the Chicago Maroons and the Illinois track team. Lloyd Harshbarger had wen a free trip to Urbana to see an indoor track meet and when Mr. Samuels took him up to see the contest, about nine or ten of the other boys arranged to go with him. They went up on Saturday morning and remained in t rbaua uutil the following Monday. The bo s not only saw a b g indoor track meet which in itself would have well paid for the tr.p, but they were able to see most of the Illinoi. University buildings and gain a little knowledge of what college life is like Tlu track team is much in debt lithe Atwood Fall Festival commit.ee for the use of their truss benches. The team did not have any hurdles and as it requires a great deal of luuib.r to make a full set they have never had any before. The boys were very for.u nate to obtain these benches for hurdles. The benches happened to be the correct height and consequently the hurdlers w ill be ab'e to train for this event, which is the hardest of all the runs. Not many small high schools can boast of a set of hurdles and th s will give Atwood one advantage over some of the other schools. On Friday, April 8, 1910, Mr. Dal lenbach came down from the Illinois Cniversity to coach the track team, hut more to help the weight men than the runners, for the weights are his special events. lie also helped the track men a great deal by showing them a iVw good points in running. There is a right and wrong way to do eery thing and athletic feats are not exceptions More depends on “the form,” than any thing else. A good coach will always teach “form” first of all. When you have once learned to do a thing correctly then all that you can do is to try to perfect it. Mr. Samuels has kept the track team incessantly at work. Not an evening has passed since the weather has been warm enough to permit it that he did not have the boys out training, lie never tires of encouraging and helping them, and his coach’ng will make a team that will win the countv meeL if there is anvthi g in e erlastinglv keeping at it. Without a c aeh if is almost impors'b’e to get anv number of high school boys to do a proper

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the others bested. The general average for the year of those not on the track team is 87, while the average of the track team is slightly above 87. When it is considered that the athletes spend from one to two hours daily in practice while the others have this time for study, the scholarship showing of the athletes is decidedly better. Besides the influence on scholarship which athletic exercises, doubtless through the increased interest in school work and the lessening of the drudgery naturally incident to continuous school work, wholesome outdoor exercise of this kind makes for strong bodies, steady nerves, clear heads and clean morals. On the basis of the record shown, it becomes the duty of every citizen to support athletics in our school. No one is allowed to participate in athletics unless he is carrying his work, so that the desire to be on the team so far from discouraging study actually serves as a powerful incentive for study. The following are the best records that have been made up to date, April 21. 1910, by the Atwood high school athletes: 50 Yard Dash—Best time, 5 3-5 seconds, Floyd Harshbarger; Second best 5 4-5 seconls, Fred B. Romine. Pole Vault—Best distance, 9 1-2 feet, Floyd Harshbarger; Second best 9 feet, Paul Fisher. 100 Yard Dash—Best time, 10 3-5 seconds, Floyd Harshbarger; Second best, 10 4-5 seconds, Fred B. Romine. Shot Put—Best distance, 38 feet, 2 inches, Emil Carroll and Perry Rodgers. Discus—Pest distance, 100 feet. Perry Rodgers; Second best, 93 feet. Emil Carroll. Hammer—Best distance, 131 feet 9 inches, Perrv Rodgers; Second best 126 feet. Emil Carroll. 440 Yard Dash—Best time, 55 seconds, Fred A. Romine; Second best 58 seconds, Bernice Barber. Running High Jump—Best dis- tance, 5 feet, 3 inches, Emil Carroll; Second best, 4 feet, 11 inches, Fred A. Romine. Standing Broad Jump—Best distance, 9 feet, 2 inches, Perry Rodgers; Second best, 8 feet, 11 1-2 inches. Floyd Harshbarger. Running Broad Jump—Best distance, 18 feet, 10 inches, Floyd Harshbarger; Second best, 18 feet, 9 inches Fred A. Romine. 220 Yard Dash—Best time, 24 seconds, Floyd Harshbarger and Fred B. Romine; Second best, 24 2-5 seconds. Fred A. Romine. Half Mile Run—Best time, 2:05. Fred B. Romine; Second best, 2:10. Earl Hassig. 220 Yard Hurdles—Best time, 29 seconds, Fred A. Romine; Second best. 30 seconds, Floyd Harshbarger. Fred A. Romine, captain of the track team, is one of best “all around” athletes on the team. In the Fall Handicap meet he secured the largest number of points, setting a record of 56 seconds in the 440 yard dash and crowning the afternoon’s performance by a jump of 18 feet, 10 inches. Fred makes an ideal captain because he is one of the hardest workers on the team, training consistently every day. always encouraging his teammates and ever willing to follow the instructions of the coach, lie has a record of 55 seconds in the quarter mile made on rough roads, of over 5 feet in the high jump, of under 25 seconds in the 220 yard dash, of 29 seconds in the low hurdles, and practically a sure place on the relay team. These performances together with the fact that Fred stands high in scholarship, makes of him a leader whom all the team respects. “THE FALL HANDICAP FIELD AND TRACK MEET.” The day dawned bright and fair. It was cool for it was Thanksgiving day. But by noon it was warmer and everybody was comfortable without wearing a heavy coat. The pupils of the Atwood school were happy, especially the