FRIDAY, APRIL 22.1949
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
PAGB NINE
Five Relays Records May Be Broken
Five Relays Tiny Stars Will Sparkle In Battle For Mile Title
Two tiny distance N.C.A.A. stars, Don Gehrmann of Wisconsin, and Jerry Thompson, former Texas University ace, will go after a widely publicized bauble in Memorial stadium Saturday when they match strides and stamina in the Glenn Cunningham mile.
These two vest-pocket editions, who both earned spots on the American Olympic team last summer, won't be the only stars in the fierce competition out of which a new record may grow.
Returning for a second shot will be Tarver "Cy" Perkins from the Illinois Athletic club. Perkins won the 1500-meter last year and will be considered the defending champion in the mile this time. During Olympic years the 1500-meter is substituted for the longer Cunningham mile. Two others, Ray Prohaska of the Oklahoma Aggies, and Jerry Jefchak of Drake, will fill out the entry list.
The spotlight will be on Gehrmann and Thompson while Perkins will be lurking in the shadows. Both Gehrmann and Thompson won N.C.A.A. championships last year, the bespectacled Badger at 1500 meters, the little Texan at 5000 meters. It will be their first meeting of the year in the mile.
Gehrmann, who scales 130 pounds, will probably be the favorite on the basis of his past performances. He won both the Wanamaker mile and the Bankers mile during the indoor season, doing the distance in as little as 4:09.5. The Relays record is 4:10.1, set by Blaine Rideout of North Texas State in 1940.
He also won the Big Ten Indoor mile title in 4:16.1 and came back to set a new conference record in the half-mile. During the winter he has recorded amazing times in practice spins. He did the mile in 4:06.1 and 4:08.5 on the Badgers' clay court.
He won the 1500 meter last summer at both the N.C.A.A. and final Olympic trials, running 3:54.3 in the former meet and 3.52.2 in the latter. Perkins' time here last year was 3:57.2.
But he will have to be at his best to beat Thompson, the Texan who pushed the weight indicator around to the 120-pound sign. The little man wandered the mile in 4:12.3 in his first outdoor appearance in the Texas Relays. This established a new Long-horn record and was his best time to date.
Another item should help Thompson's that Gehrmann will be running the anchor lap on Wisconsin's defending champion two-mile relay team only 45 minutes before the mile feature.
Perkins will be in the picture also. He finished only one slot out of an Olympic berth last June, running fourth in the 800 meters, and has done as well as 4:10.0, one-tenth of a second better than the Relays mark, in competition.
Finalists Selected In Speech Contest
Nine students will participate in the final round of the informative speech contests to be held at 7:30 p.m. today in the Little theater of Green hall.
The nine students won in the elementary round Tuesday night in which about 40 students competed. The winners of the women's division are Diana Sherwood, Beverly Flinn, College sophomores; and Donna McCosh, College freshman.
The winners of the men's divisions are Gerald Raines, Theodore Joyce, business seniors; Fred Six, James Small, College sophomores; Lionel Hemphill, and John Kuckelman, College freshmen.
Feller Ordered To Rest
St. Louis, April 22—(U.P.)-Bobby Feller was placed on the shelf to day for a week—and maybe longer.
Dr. Robert F. Hyland examined the Cleveland pitcher's ailing shoulder Wednesday and then ordered the rest. The physician admitted, however, that it still is too early to decide whether the injury is of a permanent nature.
Badgers Favored In 2-Mile Relay
The University class two-mile relay records will be in peril Saturday with fast-stepping Wisconsin and Oklahoma A. and M. quartets getting the nod as chief contenders.
Little Don Gehrmann will anchor Wisconsin's two-mile quartet, the defending champion, and the squad will carry two more of last year's winning crew. Al Jenson and Gen Whipple will be back along with a new member. Last year the Badgers smashed a 13-year old mark by rambling the distance in 7:44.7.
They may have to be tougher than this to beat the Aggies. Ralph Higgins, Aggie mentor, who saw his men dominate the Texas Relays, rates the competition at Kansas much stronger but still expects his squad to be tough to whip.
The Aggie squad of John Mincher,
Bob Brandredey, John Teakell,
and Harold Tarrant carted off the Austin
crown hitting 7:46.6.
Two other teams will add to the competition, Nebraska and the darkhorse Kansas crew. The Jayhawkers did not finish the event at Austin and have no competitive record for the race outdoors but Bill Easton, coach, ranks his men high in the two-miler. Easton will use Bob Karnes, Winton Studt, Hal Hinehee and Pat Bowers in that order.
A self-puncture-sealing auto tire that needs no inner tube, goal of the tire and auto industries for more than 50 years, has been introduced.
Quartet Will Aim At Vault Record
Four vaulters will comprise what Kansas Relays officials term the "keenest field" in Relays history when they clash in the pole vault Saturday.
The foursome includes Harry Cooper, Minnesota, Tom Bennett, Wisconsin, Warren Bateman, Colorado, and Bill Carroll, Oklahoma. A fifth who must be reckoned with is Leonard Kehl, Nebraska.
Bateman, who tied with Cooper at 13 feet, 8 inches at KU. last year for the title while Bennett was taking third, doesn't have the record of the Big Tenners but has been consistently climbing this year. He pulled himself over 13 feet 8 1-16 inches at the Colorado Invitational indoor meet three weeks ago. On April 16 he climbed to 13 feet, $10\frac{1}{2}$ inches in a dual against Nebraska and does over 13 feet, 6 inches consistently.
Carroll got his best vault last month in the Central Collegiate conference indoor meet, clearing 14 feet. He earned a four-way tie for second at the Texas Relays at $13\%$ feet and did the same at Arkansas two weeks ago.
These two will be closely pressed by the others and will have the benefit of a longer run than Bryan when he set his mark since the vaulting pit has been moved to the east side of the stadium.
Cooper and Bennett divided the Big Ten indoor crown last month by skidding over 14 feet, 4 inches. The K.U. Relays record is 14 feet, 2 inches, set by Beefus Bryan of Texas in 1939.
Kebl, who is a left-hander, has not cleared 14 feet but grazed it two months ago when he set a new Big Seven indoor record at Kansas City. The sophomore left the crossbar intact at 13 feet, 11 inches.
The only man ever to best 14 feet in the Kansas Relays was Bryan when he set the record. He also holds the next-best record at 13 feet, $11 \frac{1}{2}$ inches.
Thompson To Try One-Man Assault In Discuss Throw
Byrl Thompson and his muscles will be the ranking favorites among the Kansas Relays discus competitors Saturday and the Minnesota big boy is given an even chance, blessed with good weather, to set a new meet record.
The sensational Gopher, who is 6 feet, $2 \frac{1}{2}$ inches by 210 pounds, has hurled the platter 169 feet, $2 \frac{1}{2}$ inches this year. The record set by Indiana's
East Texas May Better Own Time
Only one man of the winning foursome will be back but he will be anchorman Mike Mercado and Willow Fulton, both of whom else but smash records this season.
East Texas State, defending champion in the College class sprint medley relay, will return to the Kansas Relays this year with a quartet that appears easily capable of smashing its own record set last year.
In Memorial stadium last year the Lions combined talents to go the rounds in 3:31.0. Once this year they have bested that mark and have, altogether, made four records obsolete running times close to their own at Kansas.
It was in the recent Texas Relays that the squad of Arturo Ochoa, Bob Williams, Don Hurst, and Mercado coupled their efforts to record the mark of 3:27.9, more than two seconds over their championship rating here.
April 16 at Lafayette, Louisiana, the Lions set a new record in winning at the Southwestern Louisiana Relays. The East Texas runners made it in 3:31.6 to eclipse the record of 3:34.2 set in 1941. The competition included such schools as LSU., Arkansas U., Bradley, and Loyola of New Orleans.
On two previous week ends the Texans set new records, one at Austin, and another at Birmingham in the Southern Relays in racking up a 3:31.9.
- Archie Harris in 1941 is 171 feet, 63/4 inches.
Thompson will try a one-man assault on the mark, his closest competitor being Rollin Prather of Kansas State. Prather took second last year with a toss just short of 149 feet.
If Thompson wins it will be his second victory in the affair. He won it in 1946 while in the army at Camp Grant. Because he has several more years of eligibility, Thompson could become the only man in Relays history to cop the discus three times—if he wins this year and returns in 1950.
The discus throw has been moved to the baseball diamond by meet director Bill Easton to enable the competitors to throw into the wind, an advantage, and to cut down the chances of injuries from the flying wheel. For the latter reason the javelin throw has also been moved to the baseball field.
Minnesota has dominated the weight event for the last four Re-lays, winning it three times. In 1947 and 1948 Fortune Gordon won with tosses in the lower 150's. In '42 (no Relays were held from '42 to '46) big Bob Fitch stood in the mud and hurled the iron-rimmed plate more than 158 feet to take the crown.
Thompson threatens to surpass both of them. In his first varsity collegiate start last month in the Florida Relays, he made his 169-foot-a-thon that mark last year. He also won the shot put at 49 feet, 4 inches and was honored as the most outstanding competitor.
No one was surprised at the performance. While in high school, Thompson had set a new interscholastic record with a tremendous beave of 176 feet, $4\frac{1}{2}$ inches and had won the state disc title in 1944 and 1945
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Welcome To The 24th Annual Kansas Relays