Rival Relays

Among U. S. intercollegiate and interscholastic sports, track & field is unique in its economy. A large part of it is concentrated into two events: the Penn Relay Carnival at Philadelphia and the Drake Relay Carnival at Des Moines, huge rival track & field conventions that draw a combined total of 5,000 competitors. Last week, held simultaneously as usual, these two carnivals sent the outdoor track & field season off to a running start.

At Des Moines, in the 28th Drake Relays, there were 39 events, 184 schools represented, 2,000 competitors. In the 43rd Penn Relays there were 76 events. 489 schools, 3,000 competitors. Drake had a queen (Frances Rather), warm weather the first day, cold the second. Penn had no queen (officials thought it undignified), cold weather the first day, warm the second. Drake had six 1936 Olympic trackmen, no Olympic champions. Penn had ten, of whom two (Spec Towns and Johnny Woodruff) were champions. Drake crowds totaled 20,000. Penn crowds totaled 50,000. Feature event at Drake was an invitation one and a half mile race.

Feature event at Perm was an invitation mile. Only one thing about the two meets was alike : each had a speedy set of twins. Drake's was Elaine & Wayne Rideout.

Penn's was Elmer & Delmer Brown.

Both sets of twins came from North Texas Teachers College, where the Rideouts are freshmen, the Browns juniors.

Between them the two meets produced only one world's record. Last summer, at the U. S. v. British Empire Games in London, the four most famed milers on the U.S. Olympic most team-- famed Chuck milers on Hornbostel, the Gene Venzke, Archie San Romani and Glenn Cunningham--ran a four-mile relay in the sensational time of 17 min. 17.2 sec.

At Philadelphia last week the Indiana Uni versity team of Melvern Trutt, Jimmy Smith, Tommy Deckard and Don Lash, of which only Lash was an outstanding miler, cut this world's record by 1.1 sec. Out standing individual performance of the four was that of unheralded Negro Jimmy Smith, who covered his mile in 4:14. At the Penn Relays a total of six meet records was set, of which one, in the Class B mile relay, was set by Elmer & Delmer Brown, with their teammates Johnny Stovall and Alvin Chrisman, a twin whose brother is no runner. Most famed name in the meet was that of James E. ("Ted") Meredith. Sixteen-year-old son and name sake of Pennsylvania's famed pre-War quarter-miler, he helped the Mercersburg Academy team place third in the mile relay.

Handicapped by a soggy track and cold weather on the second day of the meet, when most of the main events were run, the Drake Relays failed to produce even a meet record. In the one and a half-mile feature race, little Archie San Romani of Kansas State Teachers College outran both Rideout twins, who finished shoulder to shoulder, by 200 yds. Outstanding individual performance was that of a Drake sophomore who gave the home team two victories in its own carnival. He, 120-lb.

Bill Feiler, took the two-mile race by 50 yards, with Wisconsin's Lloyd Cooke second; then climaxed his day and Drake's by anchoring Drake's distance medley relay team to its first relay victory since 1913.

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