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University Daily Kansan Friday, April 22.1955
Lonborg Hopes For Clear Skies At Fabled Relays
Bv LEO FLANAGAN
"With good weather we will have a terrific program," A. C. "Dutch" Lonborg, University athletic director, said of the 30th annual Kansas Relays. The personable Mr. Lonborg, who has had a distinguished athletic career as a player, coach, and administrator, added, "the games should draw very well." He cited the Glenn Cunningham mile, with a great field headed by Wes Santee - as the feature event of the program.
Another mark that the smiling sports head said may be shattered is the 58 feet 3/8 inch shot put record of Michigan's Chuck Fonville, set in 1948. Mr. Lonborg said that Kansas' Bill Nieder may be the man to top this. Nieder has already surpassed 56 feet this spring.
Mr. Lonborg said, "I very definitely expect records to be broken. One of those that could be broken is the javelin record." Hardin-Simmons' Alton Terry threw the spear 229 feet 2/1 4 inches in 1937, which is the current mark. Kansas' Les Bitner surpassed this in the recent Arkansas Relays with a heave of 236 feet 3/4 inch.
Mr Lonborg began his collegiate athletic career in 1916, when he came from Horton, Kan. to the University. While in college he won letters in baseball, football, and basketball, a feat accomplished by only 32 other Kansas athletes.
The sports chief coached basketball at McPherson, and Washburn colleges following his graduation. In 1927 he moved on to Northwestern University, where he enjoyed a splendid 23-year record of 237 wins and 198 losses.
His 1931 Wildcats won the Big Ten title outright, and his 1933 team shared it with Ohio State. His Purple teams finished in the first division 14 times.
Some of his outstanding players at Northwestern were Otto Graham, of recent Cleveland Browns fame; Waldo Fisher, current Wildcat coach; Frank Marshall and Bert Riel, two great fast-break stars; Joe Reiff, two-time league scoring leader; Max Morris, 1945 conference king; and Ray Rageli, who broke the conference scoring record as a senior.
Possibly Mr. Lonborg's outstanding coaching job was as head coach of the College All-Stars. He coached this squad for nine consecutive years, beginning in 1941, during which time the ex-collegians won six times from the pro champions. One of these wins was a 44-42 overtime victory over the vaunted Harlem Globetrotters in the inaugural game.
Since returning to Kansas in 1950 as athletic director, Mr. Lonborg has made stadium improvements and he will mind the building of Allen fieldhouse.
He is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, and has been chairman of the NCAA basketball tournament committee for the past eight years.
Remaining Track Schedule
April 29-30 Drake Relays at Des Moines
May 7 Kansas State at Lawrence
May 13 Missouri at Lawrence
May 20-21 Big Seven outdoor at
May 28 Missouri Valley AAU at Mission
June 4 Central Collegiate conference
at Milwaukee
June 17-18 NCAA at Los Angeles
June 24-25 NAAU at Boulder
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Record-Holder Returns
Ferguson Shoots for Triple Crown
Only performer shooting for completion of a triple-crown in the 30th Kansas Relays is Iowa's Canadian distance stylist, Rich Ferguson.
The unpredictable blond, a Canadian Olympian in 1952, is scheduled to go after his third consecutive 3000-meter Steeplechase gold uedal. Successful defense of this championship would mark him as the first man in Relays history to score a Steeplechase triple and only the 11th to forge that notable deed over the full card of individual and special events.
Ferguson set a record of 9:20.4 in this articulous haul last year, erasing Indiana's Tommy Deckard's 9:27.0 which had survived since 1937.
Altho erractic, Ferguson owns a brilliant string of credentials. He is a two-time Big Ten Outdoor Two-Mile champion and a two-time conference cross-country winner. As a sophomore he won the NCAA Two-Mile at Lincoln in 9:02.7, the second-swiftest clocking in meet history. A year later he again dipped close to 9:00-flat with a 9:03.4 to win the Big Ten-Pacific Coast duall. Last year he
set a Milwaukee Journal record at 9:14.5.
Yet he occasionally has lost to lesser-rated opponents in lesser races. Furthermore, his career has been marked with frequent stomach distresses which have sidelined him midway thru races in which he was carrying an apparently insurmountable lead.
This is great running, despite a third-place finish, of course, and represented a fantastic improvement of almost nine seconds over his previous best. He also placed fifth in the 880 in 1:32.7, three and a half seconds below his previous personal record.
Last August at Vancouver when he ran third in the Miracle Mile behind Roger Bannister and John Landy at the British Empire Games. Nobody paid much attention to it since the English medico and the flying Australian both broke four minutes, but Ferguson's time was 4046.4.
Ferguson ran at 5000 meters at Helsinki, but did not reach the finals, altho establishing a new Canadian record of 15:18 in the qualifying
heats.
Trying to combat Ferguson's weak stomach, a condition I thought about by high tension. Coach Francis Gretzmeyer has concentrated him only in the Mile this year. The smooth Hawkeye was content to run in the 4:16 to 4:20 range during the Indoor dual season and finished fourth in the Big Ten conference conclave.
Here is the roster of former Kansas Relays Triple, Crown winners;
The Steeplechase is one of three special AAU events which were added to the standard card three years ago. The others include the Hop-Step-Jump and the 400-meter Intermediate hurdles. This trio formerly was scheduled only on Olympic years. The first has a tier of a fixture since 1928, the fifth year of the hawker Games, and the Glenn Cunningham Mile, a regular since 1932. It is run over the metric distance on Olympic yards.
120-yard High hurdies: Lee Sextman, Illinois, 1929, 1930, 1931, Sam Allen, Oklahoma Baptist, 1934, 1935, 1936.
100-yard dash: Thane Baker; Kan-
ips State, 1951, 1952, 1953.
High Jump: Tom Poor, Kansas,
1923, 1942, 1925
Pole Vault: Earle McKown, Emporia State, 1923, 1924, 1925. Beefus Bryan, Texas, 1938, 1939, 1940*.
Shot P put: Hugh Rhea, Nebraska, 1930. 1931, 1932. E. Hackensy, Kansas State, 1938, 1939, 1940. Darrow Hooper, Texas A&M, 1951, 1952, 1953.
Discus Throw: Darrow Hooper,
Texas A&M. 1951, 1952, 1953.
Glenn Cunningham Mile: Glenn Cunningham, Kansas, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1939.
*tited with Higgins of Missouri.
Remaining Golf Schedule
April 29 Washburn at Topeka
April 30 St. Benedict's at Lawrence
May 2 Wichita at Lawrence
May 6 Missouri at Lawrence
May 7 Washburn at Lawrence
May 11 Kansas State at Manhattan
May 14 Iowa State at Ames
May 16 Missouri at Columbia
May 20-21 Big Seven at Lawrence
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