FOITTI
Trackmen Must Go Far, Fast
To Break Existing Records
By Joe 13reu
There is an old saying in
sports that records are made to
be broken. But according to
Coach Chick Werner, this year's
Penn State track team has a
long way to go before it will
shatter any Nittany records.
- Our records here at State
compare very favorably with
those of good track schools
throughout the world," the
Coach said, and in order for
any member of the present team
to break any of the marks, he
will have to do much better
work than he has shown so far."
Coach Werner pointed out
that if any records was shattered
this season, he felt that it would
The Nittany Realm
Ali From an Inthan Princess
Why call this column the Niffany Realm? Why are the moun
tains surrounding this collegiate community entitled the Nittany
Mountains? Why is the inimol. the svmbol of Penn State, labeled
the Nittany
Nittany . 6 . hat does that term actually represent and where
did it originate? The word Nittany had its origin from Nitanee, an
Indian maiden who once roamed the woods in this part of the state.
The legend, handed down and told around campfires by hunters
in cabins and around campfires in the Seven Mountains and in the
Bald Eagle, has it that once long ago a foot-loose trader, Malachi
Boyer, had come to the valley in search of material treasure.
Instead, he found and fell in love with Nitanee, a beautiful
young Indian maiden. Nitanees seven brothers disapproved of the
courtship and Malachi Boyer was imprisoned and forced to die in
a cave.
He used to call to his Nitanee from Penn's Cave daily. Little
did he realize that the name of this fair maiden would some day be
repeated by thousands.
NITTANY, A LEGEND
The tearful little Indian girl and her lost lover became a legend
Continued on page five
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ofetsr Faitioe a#ol/1 1 7ii0
ANTES MOTOR SALES
probably be in one of the fol
lowing events: the 440 yard dash,
the one-half mile, the two mile,
the 120-yard sigh hurdles, the
220-yard low hurdles, the shot
put, the discus, the one-mile re
lax and the four-mile relay.
As an idea of what the Lion
trackmen will have to accomplish
to implant their names in record
books, here is a brief resume of
the present Penn State records:
Oldest Lion record on the books
is that set in 1907 by Hi Henry,
In that year. ne ran the 100-yard
r - Rish in 9.6 seconds. Although
never bettered, his mark has
twice been equaled. In 1928, Dick
Bartholomew matched Henry's
record and in 1940 Barney Ewell,
by George Vadasz
iti.E DAILY COLLEGIAN, STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA
OLDEST
Olympic ace, turned the trick.
Barney is also the holder of the
standard for the 220-yard dash.
His time of 20.7 seconds was set
in 1941. The quarter-mile record
is somewhat older. It was in 1926
that Cecil Torrence set his record
- If 49.2 seconds for the distance.
Two years earlier the one-half
mile mark was set by Schuyler
nck, who circled the course in
1 minute 53.2 seconds.
The mile and the two-mike rec
)rds are of more recent vintage,
both being set in 1947. Gerry
Karver ran the mile in 4 minutes
11.6 seconds and Curt Stone the
two-mile in 9 minutes 11.8 sec-
Jim Gehrdes, one of the pres-
Continued on page live
Suffering Pugilist
Blames Vittles
For Fatigue
Boxing maestro Leo Houck had
the members of his gym class
sparring in the squared circle
yesterday when suddenly one of
the neophyte pugilists showed
- igns of extreme fatigue.
After seeing the tiring ringman
absorb a particularly violent blow
to the nose. Houck stopped the
ction.
"What's the mat te r , Fred?"
Houck asked. "Are you tired?"
"Well, somewhat," wa s the
sheepish reply.
"What did you have for din
ner?"
"Not very much," replied the
now smiling mittman. "I eat at
th e Nittany Dining Hall."
6 Riflers Leave for Maryland,
Vie for NIRA Championships
A vastly improved varsity rifle team left today for the Univer
sity of Maryland where six men will take part in the National
Intercollegiate Rifle Matches to be held there this weekend.
The six riflers making the trip include Bob O'Knefski, a senior
appearing in the last match of his three-year career as a varsity
mainstay; Juniors Jerry Prange and Dick Kirk, and Sophomores
Sam Carnahan, Rod Ingleright
and John Stoudt. The team mak
ing the trip was chosen on the
baSis of individual averages in
the last three matches.
The Lion team will shoot Sat
urday morning for individual
scores and honors, Top five
scores in this group will com
prise the team score.
The vast improvement in the
team is substantiated brief look
at the records. In early dual
and telegraphic meets, the Penn
State team was shooting an
average of 1370 in each match.
SHIRTS
Beautifully Laundered
2 for 35c
____ DRY CLEANING ----
State College LAUNDERETTE
210 WEST COLLEGE
DAILY 8:30 to 6 P.M. TUES. and THUR. till 9 P.M.
Announcing Our New
Installment Plan
now you can buy Royal Portables for
as little as $1.25 a week. Pay for it
while you use it.
Buy The Economical Way
CARL H. STEELE r
117 E. Beaver Ave.
JOHNNY BENGLIAN
Smith Drops
Quarter - Final
EAST LANSING, Mich., April
7—Paul "P.Q." Smith, Penn
State's 165-pound entry in the
national collegiate boxing tour
nament, today lost a unanimous
decision to Michigan State's
Tommy Gemmell, listed as a
tourney "unknown."
In the match, a quarter-final
battle, Smith kept Gemmel at
hay until early in the second
round when Gemmel unleashed
a pummeling 'body attack to win
the decision.
Johnny Benglian, 130 - pound
entry from Penn State, was
scheduled to meet the winner of
a contest between Henry Amos,
Michigan State hope, and John
Redmond of Catholic University.
Also slated to fight in a quar
ter-final go is the Nittany Lions'
Johnny Bolger at 175 pounds.
In the last four weeks of the
season, however, the varsity set
and broke the school record on
consecutive trials. The present
mark was set in their final meet
of the season when the Lions
posted a win over a highly rat
ed Wyoming team with a 14-19
score. The significance of such
a score is seen when compared
with last year's winning National
Intercollegiate total of 105 made
by the U. S. Naval Academy.
Continued on page five
FRIDAY. APRIL 8. 1949
etween
The 0, 4
Lions. •
11114;
4A
By Tom Morgan
SPORTS EDITOR
All-American Trend
We hesitate to acknowledge
any sort of trend, whether it be
in stock market returns or in the
increasing number of eggs laid
by Rhode Island Reds. It's danger
ous business, for as soon as we
cite the fact that things are pro
gressing in a well-ordered pat
tern, so many exceptions may
crop up that they impart a sieve
like character to our trend.
Neverthless, it seems to us
that Penn State's football teams
have gained such a reputation
for rugged defense that Lion
All-America's—if they arise at
all—are born in the line, not
the backfield. This leaves us
open right away to the charge
that two of Penn State's eight
AU-Americas, Glenn Killinger
and Charlie "Gang" Way both
in 1920 performed in the back
field, where offense is usually
the criterion for All-America
mention.
But the number of line All-
Americas weights the scale in
favor of our ' trend." Six Penn
State. gridmen, All-Americans in
the highest sense of the term, led
Nittany lines to great defensive
peaks. They we r e William
"Mother" Dunn, center in 1906;
,Bob Higgins, end in 1919; Joe
Bedenk, guard in 1923; Leon
"Gates" Gajecki ,center in 1940;
Steve Suhey, guard in 1947, and
Sam Tamburo, end in 1948.
These six Nittany stalwarts
have reached a high pinnacle
through both offensive and de
fensive play, but at Penn State
the emphasis has been on de
fense. For this reason, any
probing selectors of All-Ameri
ca teams have thought of Penn
State and defense sinonymous
ly, then—quite naturally—Penn
State and defense and cracker
jack linemen.
Penn State football coaches ap
parently know a thing or two
about defensive tactics. For a
scrutiny of past-performance - fig
ures reveals that Lion teams have
finished among the nation's first
15 in either rushing defense or
pass defense in all but two of the
past eleven years.
On top of that, Penn State
now holds the principal all-time
records in both air and ground
defense. In 1938 the Lions set
four pass-defense marks that
have not since been approach
ed. State foes that_ season com
pleted only ten tosses in eight
games, for average gains of 13.1
yards per game and 1.78 yards
per attempt, and were limited
to 16.9 percent of completions.
What is more, in 1947 Penn
State rivals could gain an aggre
gate of only 153 yards in 240 ball
carrying efforts, for an average of
just 17 yards per game and a
mere 0.64 yards per play. These
are all-time intercollegiate stand
ards.
Such astounding feats in the
realm of football defense natur
ally influence the newspaper
scribes and the coaches who
choose possible All-America
candidates from Penn State.
Figures show that the Nittany
Lion sports a defense that is
virtually impregnable. Defense
is the province of the line, not
so much the backfield. Thus the
reasoning of the All-America
selector: "If Penn State has
All-Americaa timber in such
and-such a year, it'll probably
be in the line."
But as we said at the outset,
future exceptions to this Penn
Continued on page six
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