SATTYRDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1953
Norm Gordon .
Track Coach Reminises On Victories
And Oddities of Full Cinder Career
By HERIVI WEISICOPF
Norm Gordon, assistant track coach, phrased. it very neatly when he said his career,
'shas been highlighted by many oddities."
It was in his senior year at Olney High School, Philadelphia, that he won the 1936 jun
ior national steeplechase title.
In the fall of 1936 he matriculated at the College. His first race on the freshman cross
country team served notice of what was to come as he- finished in a tie for first with four
teammates as the Lions overwhelmed Corn ell, 15-40, at Ithaca, N.Y.
He said the biggest thrill of his career ca me in. January, 1940 when he defeated the
great Les Mac Mitchell in the
mile race at the Seton Hall games.
The race was run on a flat indoor
track and consisted of ten laps.
Leading the pack lap after lap,
Gordon had no way of knowing
how the fabled NYU :star 'was
doing, However, he always put
on a little extra speed whenever
the crowd roared, for he said he
thought this indicated that Mac-
Mitchell Was starting to move up
front.
Odd Record
Working under this system, he
led by five yards going into the
final lap. Then 'MacMitchell put
on his famed stretch drive. As
both runners sped over the re
maining few yards Gordon pulled
one of the greatest upsets of the
day as he outraced the supposed
ly unbeatable Mac Mitchell to win
by 10 yards. Gordon's time of 4:14
was only , 0:06 of a second off the
world's, mark for flat tracks.
One• of the oddest records in
the books resulted in. 1942 while
Gordon was captain of the cross
country- team. It was during that
campaign he and the captain of
the Manhattan squad raced for
five miles only to cross the finish
line in a tie for first. It is the
only time in the history of NCAA
competition that two captains
crossed finish line tied for first.
The 1942 IC4A indoor chain
pionships turned into one of the
hottest battles on record as Ford
ham and Penn State fought it out
tooth and nail.
Gordon was forging into the
lead in the 1000 yard race and
seemed to be a sure winner. As
the runners crowded together
going down the stretch he was
sent sprawling to the floor. Seem
ingly out of the race, Gordon got
off the boards and put on a dra
matic burst of speed to' pass all
but one of the runners and give
the Nittanies valuable second
place points.
Werner Gives Him Job
• Coming into the last event on
the program, the two-mile relay,
the Lions needed at least a third
place finish to take the title. The
race was virtually conceded to
the Rams, since they had the top
relay squad in the nation and
had unofficially broken the
world's record not long before.
Gordon spoke to Werner before
the race and asked what he plan
ned to do. "You probably know
better than I do how the boys
are feeling," Werner told him,
"so I think I'll leave it up to you
to pick- the squad, provided that
you run as anchorman."
With a lump in his throat, but
hope in his heart, Gordon picked
three others for the crucial race.
Max Peters, who had failed to
qualify for the 600-yard race ran
the first leg against Ed Shine, the
best relay man the Fordham Rams
ever had. Every time the two hit,
the straightaway Shine tried to
pass Peters, but on every occasion
he was thwarted.
Alex Bourgerie, who had failed
to place in the mile for the Lions,'
was outraced by Joe Nowicki and
fell back to third place. Eddie Mil
ler, who did not qualify in the
1000-yard event, took over and
held third place as he passed the/
baton to Gordon for the final leg
and the possible championship.
Gordon ran third most of the way,
but passed a Dartmouth runner
and placed second. It was thus
that the Lions won their only
IC4A titlgby the slim margin
of 1 1/7 points.
In February, 1943 he donned an
Air Force uniform. He served as
a P5l -Mustang pilot in Europe!
until the end of the war. In 1945 '
he was discharged and took up
graduate work at the College. AI
year later he was named assist-'
ant track coach.
Gordon lives at 131 S. Sparks
avenue with, his ' wife and five'
children, Jeffrey, ten, Lindsey
Rose, six, Valerie, four, Norman
Jr., three, and Mary, one.
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN, STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA
SMOKERS BY THE THOUSANDS
AVOTHANGING TO CHESTERFIELD
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Baseball's Big Leagues
By The Associated Press
Led by "Red" Schoendienst who
collected four hits in six turns at
bat, the St. Louis Cardinals ham
mered out an 11-2 victory over
the Chicago Cubs today.
Schoendienst now is batting
.342, just two points less than the
league leader, Brooklyn's Carl
Furillo.
Schoendienst and Stan Musial
stepped up their pursuit of the
National. League batting crown,
accounting for six of the Cards
19 hits.
Schoendienst drove in four runs
in getting four hits. Musial pro
duced two hits, one of them his
129th home run of the season, and
of LOW NICOTINE
HIGHEST QUALITY
The country's six leading cigarette brands were
analyzed—chemically--and Chesterfield was found
low in nicotine—highest in quality.
A PROVEN RECORD
Again and again, over a full year and a half it group
of Chesterfield smokers have been given thorough
medical examinations . . . the doctor's reports are a
matter of record, "No adverse effects to the nose,
throat nnd sinuses from smoking Cite:9 terfields."
A responsible independent research laboratory super-
Vises this continuing program.
i%ti*css ,
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boosted his percentage to .336.
Harvey Haddix became the first
Cardinal pitcher to win 20 games
since Howie Pollet turned in an
identical 20-9 won-lost record in
1949.
The Brooklyn Dodgers said to
day that an unannounced number
of bleacher and standing room
only seats would be placed on
sale Monday at Ebbets Field at
6 p.m., EST.
The seats, to be sold at the ball
park only, are for the opening
game there Friday with the New
York Yankees. The $4 SRO seats
and $2 pavilion bleacher seats
will be available until the supply
is gone.
PROOF
with smokers
opyright 1953, LICGEif & MYQR6 Tutso
PAGE SEVEIT
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