FA AT ! tiWMtY 1951
Lagers : on Rom*
Play 'Tech. Tonight
The Penn State cagers invade Pittsbu
on-the-road tilts. Tonight's contest against
regular scheduled away test of the Lions and
can do on foreign courts.
The Staters will end their tour of the
10
In
Trackmen to Run
'53 'Star' Meet
. .
A- ten-man indOor track team travels to Washington, D.C., Sat
urday to compete in the Washington Evening Star track and field
meet. The meet is the first of a -parade of indoor track events in
which the Lions will be competing 'this season.
Coach Chick Werner will enter men in the hurdles, high jump;
pole vault, one and two • mile runs, sprints, and mile relay. The
Lions' chances in the invitational classic do not look very bright,
however, since the thinclads will be . competing against Olympic
performers in every event, including hurdling champion Harrison
Dillard and pole-vaulting king, the Rev. Bob Richards.
Werner will send cross-country Captain Red Hollen into the two
mile test end Jack Horner,' former cross-country man, is expected
to run in the one mile event , Freshman Art Pollard, 1951 PIAA
100-yard dash champ, will run in the sprints.
State's brightest hope appears to be high jumper. Jim Herb, who
captured the event in ,the 1951 meet, topping the bar at 6-7. Herb,
however, will face the same dilemma
_that the rest of the Lion squad
will face—a host of experienced, highly rated performers.
Dan Lorch will represent State in the pole vault. Besides com-
peting against the incomparable Richards, Lorch will have to face
the number two man of the Olympics, Don Laz. Bill Youkers will
run the hurdles for the Wernermen, facing Olympian Dillard. and a
host of other stars.
The mile relay team could fair better than 'most of the Lion en-
tries, with 011ie Sax at the anchor position after a year's ahsence
from school. Sax was a contender for the Olympic team. Along
) with Sax, Werner will have Skip Slocum. Dave Leathen, and Bill
Kilmer, running the event.
Disregarding the exceptionally rugged competition which the
,Lions will face, the thinclads still could not be expected to do too
well in the meet. A lack of facilities in Rec Hall has limited, and
in some cases prohibited entirely, practice sessions for the squad.
Pole-vaulter Lorch will enter competition completely "cold," since
he has not been able to jump at all in preparation for the meet.
.
Werner feels that the Lions will be way out - of their class at
Washington, and considering the ;caliber of the opposing performers
entered, - the experienced mentor is very right.
Mathias Wins, But Likes 'Ash' .
PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 8 (W)
—Bob Mathias received the As
,sociated Press 1952 male "Athlete
of the Year" award today,'but de
clared he wished an Olympic
teammate had won the honor.
t "It was very nice to be voted
this honor," said Mathias, 21-year
old athlete from Tulare, Calif.,
twice winner of the Olympic de
cathlon championship. •
"But personally I would liaire
liked to have seen. my Olyrripic
teammate, Horace Ashenfelter,
former Penn State star who cap
tured the 3000 meter steeple chase
at Helsinki last summer, win the
, S AP award."
kt Thanks Newsmen
Mathias, who won the 22nd As
sociated Press poll with the huge
total of 249 points, said Ashen
!ielter's upset victory in the Olym
-, id over the favored Fladmir Kaz
-; nstev in a stretch - drive served
an inspiration for him.
'r Mathias, in an interview at his
Phi Gamma Del t a fraternity
house, thanked the newsmen who
participated in the poll.
He said he felt he was through
with the gruelling decathlon, but
would continue to compete in the
disbus ; , shot put and high hurdles.
Marine Training
"But my future for two years,
starting next December, will be in
the hands of ' the U.S. Marine
Corps," he added.
He enlisted several years ago in
a J‘larine officer training program
and will-go on active duty at the
end , of -this year.
In the year-end poll, Mathias
received 64 first place votes and
249 points on a 3-2-1 basis.
Second, place went to Rocky
IVlarciano- of- Brockton, Mass., who
won the world's heavyweight
boxing championship last Sep
tember in Philadelphia by knock
ing out Jersey Joe Walcott.
Shantz 4th
Marciano, received 19 first place
votes and 135 points.
THE 'RANKPHIMTITATM
rgh this weekend to play• two of theft. -ten
the Carnegie Tech Tartans will be the first
should give a good indication of what they
'Steel City tomorrow night when they meet
the Pitt ,Panthers, coached by
`Doc' Carlson.
"A team playing on its home
court always wins" • the, old say
ingrgoes, but sc . ), far this' year the
Tartans - have been making mock
of this adage.
Lose To Dukes
They. haven't won at home.-this
season and have five losSes - .• in
seven starts. Wednesday, night,
while - the ^ Lions were,dropping
Syracuse, the . • Tartans Were.:liacr"-:
ing a. lio - ugh• time with slippery
Rock. Although -Tech" led moat'
of• the game; the ROckets-pull6Cli
ahead to win 70-62 and iemained
one of the few unbeaten colleges
in the country. - -
Other teams -to beat the Tar
tans; who #e 'coached by -.Mel
Cratsley, are the Westminster
Waynesburg; Geneva. and
Duquesne:
After 6th Win
While the Tartans will •be out
to break their jinx, the Lions Will
be aiming to' take in win number
six in eight starts. They made it
the fifth on Wednesday by stop
ping an aggressive Syracuse quin
tet with a 71-62 score.
The only losses have been to
two of the nations best, 7 ,the Okla
homa Aggies and the .'Western
Kentucky Hilltoppers: These oc
curred in the All-College tour
nament played in Oklahoma over
the holidays.
Sherry Paces Lions
The wins have all been by
comfortable_ scores—they have de
feated Alfred' University, 56-43;
Wash & Jeff, 62-50; Colgate, 68-
55,' and Bowling_ Green, 67-56.
' Against Syracuse, the Stater's
offense was spearheaded by Jack
Sherry, - WhO collected 21 *lints
for high scorer, and Captain Herni l
Sledzik, who continued' his hotl
scoring with 20 tallies. •
State got off to. an - early but
shaky six - point lead. The Orange
presged hard and at one time,in
the third .quarter were only ne
p oint behind, but they couldn't
get enough shots froth inside to
take the lead.
Damage at Fqul Line
The cloSe zone work of•the Nit
tanies forced' the Orange to• the
Outside 'where Mel Besdin and
Skippy Thaw gave a - good ex
ample on set shooting. But' it was
their 6-5 center, Frank ,Iteddout,
with the, most • Syracuse po4nts—
he had 20 tallies.
But it was' at the foul line
where the Lions did.',.the most
damage. They scored - 31 free
throws out of a possible 40 while
the Orange • could only find 28
points on 43 tries.
Sledzik still • leads . the Lion
scorers with 121. - points. Jesse Ar
nelle is next with 102 while Jack
Sherry is third with 69.
Tonight's probable lineups -
PENH STATE • CARNEGIE TECH
f WelSenhananter Thompinm
f 'Sherry Daniels
e Arnelle Craig
g Plorkoirski Mocker
g Sledzik •Jeiike
Third • place winner with 65
points; was Emil Zatopek, the
great Czechoslovakian distance
runner who won, the 5000 and
10,000 meter runs and the mara
thon in last summer's Olympics.
Fourth, with 64 pointS,_ was
little BObby Shantz, the Philadel
phia Athletics pitching star, lead
ing hurler in the American Lea
gue with a 24-7 record.
Billy Vessels, - Oklahoma's All-
American back, was next with 52 ,
points; Julius Boros, U.S. Open
Golf champion, 44; Robin Roberts;
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher
whose .28 games won was the
highest in the majors since 1934,
40; Mickey Mantle, New York
Yankees outfielder, 39; Clyde
Lovellette, Kansas, All America
basketball player, 18; Dick Groat,
Dµ k e All-America - -baSketball,
player and - rookie shortstop - with
the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Stan
Musial, St. Louis Cardinals out
fielder and. National League bat
ting champion, 17 . points each.
Jde's Mother Has
Final Wish Granted
(Courtesy of Courier Journal, Connellsville)
Joe Gratson's mother, wanted him to play in the North-South
game no matter what happened.
It was, tough on her—knowing—and it was tough on Joe—not
knowing.
Mrs. Gratson was in ill health three years. She knew that one
of the most exciting things ever to happen to Joe—one of 10 chil
dren—was that he was going to play in the annual North-South all
star football game which was played in Miami, Fla., Christmas night .
A former Dunbar Township
football star, Joe went on to Penn
State and established himself as
one of the finest boys to play
the grid sport at that school.
Last Fall, he served as co-cap
tain of the Nittany Lion eleven.
He was chosen several , days ago
to, play for the north team' under
Coach Stu Holcomb
He was home Thanksgiving
Day. All ap,peared wen. He was
anxious to be home again for a
visit With his mother and family
after the North-South game.
21-21 Tie -
Always a standout performer,
Joe did exceptionally well in the
Christmas football game.
The two teams bittled to a 21-
21 deadlock. Young Gratson, 22,
played offensive tackle and was
used as a linebacker on defense.
.He did the kicking off fora the
North squad. Near the end of the
game, with the score tied, Joe'.s
attempted field goal from the 25-
yard 'line just missed .by inches
of providing victory for the North.
The boot was so deep that a
South" safety, man, returning the
ball;'reached only the three-yard
line and was downed.
After the game, all the boys
were given preSex4s. In all, the
trip to Miami was quite a thrill
for, Joe and capped a wonderful
college career.
Joe's mother, Mrs. Anna Grat
son, 60, knew of what was hap
pening to her son, and—like all
mothers—would have given any
thing to allow the opportunity to
bare itself.
'Don't Tell Joe'
She wasn't well but she cau
tioned her other sons and daugh
ters:
,
"lsTo .ina4er w t happens—
don't tell Joe."
.
. And so Joe was allowed to be
lieve he ivould see his - mother
again a few days after Christmas.
The game was played, the boys
were - changing from uniform to
more suitable clothing and pre-
paratioris were being made for
the dispersal of the gridders to
various 'homes.
Joe was singled out by Hol
comb. 'The Purdue mentor ended
the oy that had-been the Leisen
ring'boy's for-several days.
It was sudden 'to even those
FLANNEL
TROUSERS
close to home—the death of Mrs
Gratson.
Holcomb and Joe boarded a
plane a lin O's t immediately—in
stead of waiting a day as had
been planned—ant -1 then phoned
brothe td -4 str that J zs
. Mrs. Gratsoh became worse at
almost the same time the game
was being played and died at
11 o'clock Christmas night. •
As her condition suddenly be-'
came worsened Joe's brothers and
sisters notified Miami officials,
including Holcomb. At the same
time, the family told of Mrs. Grat
son's desire—a fervent plea that
nothing be told Joe until the
game was completed.
She had • her wish.
The game Joe played was a
good one—a tie. His mother's was
better. It may have been a game
to her—knowing death was near
—and she was the tragic winner
Jesse High hi Poll
Jesse , Arnelle, Penn State soph
omore, polled more votes than
any other player named to the
Associated Press's all-Pennsyl
vania football team. He was ac
corded_ the same distinction last
Spring when named to AP's all-
State basketball team.
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