Review of Our Athletics.
The pace set by Penn State's
athletics of 1906.07 was of such a
high standard of excellence that our
varsity teams of this year were
hardly able to maintain the stride.
However many notable victories
have been scored, and we are still
proud of the 'representatives of the
White and Blue. The record for
1907-08 to date is as follows:
Football
Baseball
Basketball
Track
Totals
Football.
As was stated before, in review
ing the football season of last fall
we cannot laud our college or our
team so much for victories gained as
for the manner in which our heart
breaking defeats were accepted. The
memorable defeat of Cornell by
"Bobby" Burns and his followers
was the greatest event of the sea
so:i and was well worth the praise
allotted to it. The overwhelming of
our old rival Dickinson by the score
of 52 to . 0 was another bright line
added to our football annals. The
defeats by the Indians, Penn, An
napolis, and W. U. P. were of the
character which showed that The
Nittany Lion could not v ear the
proverbial "mule-shoe."
No better squad of coaches could
be had than "Tom" Fennell,
"Lefty" Mcllveen, "Pop" Golden,
"Mother" Dunn, Yeckley and
Junk; and had it been possible to
have them here the whole season,
the hard strains of battle would have
been erased from the members of
our team, and a better showing no
doubt made.
The season could well be called
successful—successful because of the
fact that Penn State has such men
as "Bobby" Burns, Ritchey,
Kunkle, Weaver, Gray, Cyphers,
Smith, Campbell, Maxwell, Vorhis,
THE STATE COLLEGIAN
Hermann, Hirshman, McCleary,
Zink, Coulson, and Barnett, who
can withstand the pangs of defeat
and gain the loyalty of alumni and
undergraduates.
Basketball.
The most successful basketball
season that Penn State has had in
many years was experienced during
the last season. With the veterans
of last year's team on the floor, a
very fast five was developed and
the games that were lost to Lehigh,
Penn, Bucknell, and C. C. of N. Y.
were played under the handicap of
a small floor or on a strenuous trip.
The strong Swarthmore team was
twice defeated and games were won
from such teams as W. U. P.,
Delaware, Fordham, Manhattan,
and Wyoming. The degree of ex
cellence that was attained in passing,
shooting goals, and general team
work won applause everywhere.
Captain Dußarry and his team cer•
tainly did great work for Old State
and again we have gained prestige
in the basketball world.
Track.
The loss of the men from last
year's track team by graduation was
sorely felt when the makeup of
Captain Smith's team was begun.
A good start was made towards
a winning team, but the sad
reverses due to sickness and in
juries to different members vi as
the cause of great disappointment.
However, the grit and perseverance
displayed under such circumstances
was of the finest and although dual
meets were lost to Syracuse and
Lafayette ana a somewhat low per
centage made in the inter coilegiates
at Harrisburg, we can safely say it
was directly due to the poor physical
condition of the team. We are sure
that the Commencement meet •will
find the team in better shape and
they will be able to show the results
of the long days they have spent
in training.
Baseball.
With two games yet to play the
baseball season of this year may be
summed up as successful and yet
unfortunate since but thirteen games
have been played out of the twenty
three scheduled. Two great victor
ies have been scored over Princeton
and Cornell. The Cornell game was
a fine exhibitio.3 of the usual Penn
State" baseball, and the excellent
pitching of Mitinger as well as the
timely-hitting of the team won the
game. This was the second time in
the last three years that we have
won from Cornell and the ability of
the State athletic teams now has
won the respect of the Ithacans.
After losing to Princeton last year
on a fluke, Captain Cree and his
men did credit to themselves by de
feating the Tigers in a great game.
Vorhis and Lynch both did fine
work in the box and the game was
won squarely. The three games
lost were to Williamsport Tri-State,
Bucknell and Villanova. In each
instance our opponents won by play
ing better bail, although previous
to the Bucknell game our team had
been able to practice but twice in
three weeks,and the men were some
what out of pracice. In the other
games no trouble was experienced
in defeating Virginia, Mercersburg,
Dickinson, Syracuse, Rochester,
Susquehanna, and Carnegie Tech,
and had not so m?ny games been
cancelled on account of rain, a
longer list of victories would certain
ly have been the result. As it is we
can call this a successful season, and
with the W. U. P. and the alumni
ga-nes coming on we can expect of
Captain "Birdie" Cree and his team
a fitting ending of the season of 1908.
.s•
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