DePauw University - Mirage Yearbook (Greencastle, IN)

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ERAGEIE :4, , ,, xx , .t , e ,,,2 W - , e v , u; 045797;: 'Uz :5 Once upon a time it seems that there Was a feeling prevalent at DePauw that Track Was of little. importance. Men were not urged to try for the team and were not encouraged by the support of the student body when they did win a place as a representative of the Old Gold. That condition no longer exists at DePauw. The last vestige disappeared with the arrivai 0f the Athletic Board and the securing of a special Track coach. iiDaveu Holmes arrived one gloomy day in the Spring of 1914. But he evidently believed that a gloomy start would bring a bright finish, for the next and every succeeding day saw iiDavei, at the track. His pep was contagious. He kept every man filled with the slogan of the year, Beat Wabash and win the I. C. A. L. meet. The intercollegiate season started With a snap When the boys ran away with the Rose Poly meet. A11 danger of overeconfi- dence because of this victory vanished a few days later when the team met with defeat at Indiana University. Then the wearers of the Old Gold settled down to real training. The reward for their Work came when their sally up the Manon resulted in the humbling of Wabash. A week later the close of De- Pauw,s most successful track season came with the winning of second place in the I. C. A. L. meet. COACH ttDAVE,i HOLMES IO 19

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1914 TRACK SQUAD 28

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F teeet COACH JOHN P. NICHOLSON Coach John P. Nicholson; DePauw,s new Track coach, hails with a record of athletic honors equal to that of any man in the Middle West. Coach Nicholson was a member of the last American Olympic team and holds the Western Con- ference record of 15 1-5 seconds for the high hurdles. Before Kelley of California made the present worldis record of 15 seconds for the 120-yard hurdles Nicholson had the distinction of tying the former time of 15 1-5 seconds oftener than any living athlete, having accomplished this feat four times in two years. Coach Nicholson began his career on the track while in the University of Missouri, being on the teams of that institution for the years 1911, 1912, and 1913, and being captain in his senior year. He was the leading point winner for the Missouri team which captured the Western track title in 1911. In the Conference meet the following year he won the title of champion individual point man and in 1912 and 1913 he carried off the individual honors in the Missouri Valley meet. Coach Nicholson also holds the Missouri Valley records for the high hurdles and high jump. His best records are: High hurdles, 15 1-5 seconds; high jump, 6 feet 134 inches; broad jump, 22 feet 10 inches. Nicholson was a favorite in the Olympic Games, having previously defeated 2111 the other entrants in the high hurdles. A stumble at the ninth hurdle 0f the final heat clost him the international race. 30