St Johns College - Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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.,... , --wr-N Y l -..T ev - Y, , .72elayz'ng at St. olz-n'.s. '++'!'+4l'+'! i'+ BOUT March 1, 1896, St. John's opened up a new branch of athletics, which was destined in the near future to become one of the greatest tha-t she would have in her midst. , An invitation having been received to participate in the inter-collegiate races at the University of Pennsylvania in April of that year caused St. john's to go to work, though little thinking that in a few short months she would carry away the plum from the universities of her native State. But, happily, such was the case g for in April, 1897, she sent a team to the second meet in which she had participated in Philadelphia, which did not return till they had made themselves champions of the State, and as a prize each man received a beautiful gold watch, and the team as a whole a silk banner of unique design. Some may say that St. john's is too proud of her vic- tory, and we say she can well afford to be proud, when one considers the great disadvantages under which she has always been compelled to labor, having at no time more than twelve or fifteen men trying for her team, against dozens, or perhaps scores, at the competing insti- tutions. But we will not say that she has always been successful on the race track 5 to the contrary, on March I 20, 1897, she was defeated in Baltimore by the very teams which she defeated in Philadelphia, but under far different circumstances, having at the former place to run on an eighteenth of a mile track, which was, owing to the short corners, a great handicap to the boys, who had practiced only on a quarter of a mile cinder track. When our boys appeared on the track at 2.42 P. M. of that memorable day, little thought those big universities that they would have to bite the dust before the end of a very few minutes. Time - 3 minutes and 41 seconds, was the telegram that flashed into Annapolis that evening, and our boys were the heroes of the hour. The race from start -to finish was a beautiful one, Skir- ven making his best record, followed by Strahorn, who did not allow the distance between him and his opponent to widen. Next came Gale, with his beautiful step, still keep- ing the distance no wider than it was 5 and last, but not least, Smith, who, though No. 3 at the start, managed by an almost superhuman effort, which we think could be accomplished only by him, to cross the line instead of No. 3, No. 1, thus winning for St. Iohn's one of her greatest victories. -

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Event. Contestants. Running High Jump . . . SMITH, BLANCHARD, .CLARK, MACNABB, CONN, APPLETON and HAWKINS. SMITH ....... HAWKINS ...... CONN .... Broad Jump . . BLANCHARD . SMITH ....... HILLEARY ...... Pole Vaulting . . Boamvr, SMITH, HAWKINS, BLANCHARD. BoIsHM....... SMITII....... Class Mile Relay . . . Seniors-SKIRVEN, SIMMONS, BOEHM and SMITH, first . . Juniors-NOBLE, GoLDsnoRoUGH, MACNABB, BLANCHARD . . SOPIIDMOVFS-QUAID, EVANS, SINCLAIR, STRAHORN, second . . Freshmen-Lanoux, TOLLEY, HERMAN, REYNOLDS . . . Relay u7eam Wembers. Captain, ...... . . . ULRICH A. SKIRVEN. Substitute and Manager, ........ LEWIS C. BOEHM. WALTER D. SMITH. E HAMILTON A. GALE. JOHN S. STRAHORN. .flelay Ueam. Distance. 5 ft. 3 in. 5 ft. I in. 4 ft. 9 in. I8 it. 3M in. I7 ft. 9 in. I7 ft. 5 in. Height. 8 ft. 5 in. 8 ft. 2 in. Time. 3 min. 53 sec 3 min. 55 sec. 1.1.-.it Manager, . . L. C. BOEHM. Captain, ....... . . . U. A. SKIRVEN. Won second place in 1896 and first place in I897 at land, and won, making the mile in 3.41. Each man was the annual relay races of the University of Pennsylvania. presented a gold watch and a silken banner for the Col In 1897 St. John's ran against the Johns Hopkins Uni- lege. versity, Columbia University and University of Mary- I

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RUNNING TEAM. Skirvcn. Stmhorn. Smith. llmghyn