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University Daily Kansan
Friday, April 17, 1953
Three Champs Attempt To Regain Gold Medals
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Three of the five returning 1952 Kansas Relays champions will be sorely pressed to reclaim their individual gold medals in Memorial stadium tomorrow.
In direct danger is TCU's 1952 javelin king, Wes Ritchey, who won the Horned Frog's second Mt. Oread title of all-time in a surprise last April. Ritchey reached a respectable 204-½ in snarbing that flag. But he has not been beyond 182-1 this season and the team no better than to split in two meetings with his arch rival, Texas' Pete Mayeaux.
The latter, runnerup for the Southwest conference title last year , Ritchey was third , cast 185-64 to win the Border Olympics ahead of Ritchey's 182-1. Mayeaux also won a Rice-SU-Texas triangular meet with 182-2, and a Houston-Texas A&M-Texas meet with 188-84 heave.
Ritchie turned the tables in the Texas Relays but his winning effort was only 179-4. Mayauce was third and he held struggled vainly in a high wind.
Both returning leap champions, Drake's Arnold Betton in the high jump, and Gordon Riddell, Colorado A&M, in the pole vault, will be faced with severe pressure. Betton's menace is Chuck Holding, lengthy East Texas State star. Riddell must face Jim Harrington, Notre Dame's record-smasher who is expected to appear.
Betton tied an Olympic-team companion, Texas Aggies' Buddy Davis, for the crown here last year at 6-7. Dropping off from his recurrence performance at Texas, Holding slipped into a fourth place tie at 6-41.
But Holding has maintained stride this year. He won the Texas Games at 6-6, hit 6-7 in bagging the Southwest Recreational, and set a new record of 6-7] at the Border Olympia. He will play last year to set a new Lone Star conference record. That's his all-time ceiling.
Betton's best leap this year is 6-7. He did not place at the Chicago Reels, failing at 6-6, got only a tie for fourth at the Milrose Games at 6-4, and tied for first with a 6-3] jump at the Michigan State games. He was seventh in last summer's Olympics with a 6-4] hoist at Helsinki. His all-time high is 6-9], which he set as a freshman in the Oregon AAI.
If both these leapers reach maximum efforts under the pressure of competition, Bob Walters' 6-8 3-16 Relays' record could go. The old Texas jumper erected that mark in an upset three years ago to carry off the meet's most outstanding athlete award.
Riddle deadlocked Abilene-Christian's Paul Fulker at 13-6 for the '52 title, thent went on to bag a fifth share of the NCAA crown at 13-9. He arched over 14 3-16 a month ago to set a new Colorado Indoor Invitation record.
Normally this would earn him the unchallenged role of favorite. But Harrison vaulted a new Irish school mark of 13-1½ in an indoor dual against Purdue, then lofted 14-3½ at the Central Collegiate meet.
Hooper should experience less trouble than any of the defending five. He is shooting for completion of a double crown in the shot put and discus. And at present, there is no one to challenge him. He reached beyond 54-0 in three early season meets in the shot put and hit 56-2₂ for a new Texas Relays standard.
Baker is also a light gamble despite the presence of Texas' Charlie Thomas, Paul Wells of Oklahoma A&M, and perhaps, Roland Clinkscale, the injured Texas Christian football halftack.
He also set his discus high of the season, 158-44 in the Texas Relays. He is expected to approach 165-0 here.
Running his first outdoor meet of the year, the Kansas State Olympic did not extend himself in beating Thomas and Wells in the Texas Relays at ten seconds flat. He won over the burly Longhorn by a yard. However, Thomas does own two 9.7 seconds clockings this spring and another of 9.5. Baler beat Thomas and his teammate Dean Smith here last year, in 9.5. He won in '51 at 10-flat. Another victory will give him the first 100-yard dash triple crown in Relays' history.
Bitner to Try Injured Knee
Norm Bitner, Jayhawker cross-country captain who has been on duty in 12 separate knee injury, has been given permission to try his wounded -leg in workouts.
Santee's 'Big One'
Santee's characteristic of running with a choppy stride came in for quite a lot of comment at the Texas game, but Santee says it is an optical illusion.
Drake Race 'Big Thrill'
He said his stride looks choppy because he is taller than most distance runners, and runs with a quick, spring step. "I think you would find that my stride measures just about the same as most other distance runners, but on me it just looks easier and shorter," he said.
When questioned as to whether he intended to continue running the longer races, such as cross country and the two-mile, in the light of his outstanding achievements in the mile and half mile. Santee said he would continue the longer races mainly to keep up his endurance.
Santee said he learned of his opportunity to go to the Chicago meet when the Big Seven officials talked to him at his hotel following the Big Seven indoor meet. "I asked them what I needed," she said, the date I said I couldn't go because I had to go to the Texas Relays. That was all there was to it."
Bv DON TICE
He pointed out that, if he had gone to Chicago instead of Texas, there were only three possibilities: he might have won the race and set some kind of record, he might just have won the race, or he might have been beaten. "When you compare this to what we were able to do at Texas, there's really no comparison."
"I think the most thrilling race I have run so far was that 4:06.7 mile in the Drake Relays," Kansas track star Wes Santee, said today.
Santee said he received a big thrill from that race, because he wasn't sure he could run that fast at the time. He pointed out that at the Texas Relays he planned to run one of his miles between 4:06 and 4:08, because he knew he was capable, but last year at Drake he just ran as hard as he could with no particular time in mind.
Concerning reports that he turned down an invitation to run in the Banker's Mile in the Chicago Daily News meet in Chicago, Santee said, "it really wasn't a very hard decision. After team titles, they mean a lot more to the team because a lot more guys benefit from them."
He explained that a distance runner can loose the spring in his sten
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if he concentrates too much on the long distances and doesn't keep working on dashes. In practice, the Ashland junior does a lot of sprint work along with his distance running. That he also is a good sprinter is evidenced by a .48.8 quarter he turned in during a practice session last week. There are only about five other men in the Big Seven who have the quarter as their specialty that can better that time.
"Another trick, one that I picked up from the European runners last summer, is to move out in the curves." It seems to be a habit for distance runners to quicken their pace on the straight-a-way, and slow down a little on the curves.
There is a good possibility that Santee will run the Glenn Cunningham Mile tomorrow. "I think if I can get a good day and a fast track, I can break the American collegiate record of 4:06.7 set by Glenn Cunningham in 1934." Santee said.
In talking of his running achievements, Santee quite often uses the plural, in which he considers Coach M. E. Bill Easton as the other half of the team. Before every race, Santee and Coach Eaton map out a plan, taking into consideration the opponents, the track, what type of race it is, and what they want to accomplish.
Santee said one thing that is very confusing to his opponents is his "Easton taught" trick of expending the most effort in the third quarter of a mile run. The usual strategy is to rest in the third quarter in preparation for an all-out effort he has. Santee says he is such that he can quicken his pace in the third quarter, leaving his opponents behind, and still run a good last lap.
He already has equaled that time twice in relays.
WES SANTEE
823 Mass.
Phone 554