WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER-6; T 954 The Scorebook THE 'LONELIEST' SPORT Sport, magazine came out with an article last year referring to cross-country as “The Loneliest Sport:”. We are inclined to agree with that title. Running five miles, over hills and rills is a rough grind. ' One thing that, makes it especially tough is that- for most of the race there are no sideline cheering sections to urge the runners on. Another thing that make it. hard, is that the competitors—like boxers —have-little idea of who is- leading. Each harrier has d vague concept of how his team is doing,' but unless he carries an adding machine with him it is difficult to figure out the score. Cross-country .Is a sport that requires, among other things, stamina and hours of practice. There's a lot more to running than just making your feet go. One. thing every. hill-and-daler must learn is the art of pacing.-Rhythm in running and breathing must be kept whether going uphill or downhill or speeding to the -finish line. If this rhythm in breathing is lost' the runner wili be hit by the plague of all athletes—iatigue. Getting into shape is . another problem. After a summer's layoff it takes a rigid training program to get set for the opening meet.. Quite a few Penn Staters seemed amazed when-they learned that, the Nittany, cross-country team had lost.its opening battle of the season iiatiirday. Navy and, Villanova edged Penn State in a triangular meet at Annapolis; ending the Lions’ six-meet win skein which dated back to 1952. It’s nice to win, but it seems that cross-- country victories at Penn State have been taken for granted. Penn Staters sweat and. worry about whether the Nittany football team will make a first down, but few of those same fans even know which team the cross-country squad is running against on any given weekend. ’ ! This is not a blast at football fans or Penn Staters. It is quite obvious why few persons know or care much about the hill-and dale sport. First,, it is hard .for anyone to comprehend the efforts of a cross-country outfit unless he v has competed in the sport or has some direct connection with it. Second, cross-country is . not a spectator sport, and, therefore, does not receive the publicity which other sporty are fortunate enough to get. Right now football has captured the heart of the American sporting public, leaving little room for other sports to,get notice. can be easily pointed out right at the University. We are willing to bet that more .Penn Staters know the score .of Saturday's Purdue-Notre Dame football game than know the score of the Lion's’ first cross-country meet of the season. With these handicaps to operate against, it is easy to see why cross-country takes a back seat to other athletic endeavors. Saturday's loss at Annapolis was only the third defeat for. the harriers in the past" five campaigns. During that same time the Lions have wpn 18 regular season encounters and have captured three championships. In 1950 the Blue and White harriers won the . Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic. Association of America and Na : iional Collegiate Athletic Association crowns and the following - season copped the former title again. ' 1 1 To sum it "up, the student body is used to having the cross country, team win. The Lions have-done such a good job of winning that they have been taken for granted by the students. There’s a lot more to winning cross-country meets than can be read in news print. Athletes' sometimes get over-confident, but it now 'seems as though it is the students who have come up with this attitude. Just remember, those who compete in “the loneliest sport” are the un sung heroes in their own way. And heroes should not be taken for granted. . - . • Freshmen Gridders To Encounter Navy Penn State’s freshman football' team plays the first of three oppo nents Saturday when they encounter the Navy plebes at Annapolis. Lion freshman Coach Earl Bruce recognizes the problem as much as anyone in building a new, synchronized team year after year. Bruce, who is now entering his 26th season as a coach, each year sees his freshmen advance into the varsity. Two freshman: backs of last year’s team that upset the Middies in a snow storm are now on the varsity. Quarterback Milt Plum from New Jersey was the Lion field general and the punter while Ray Alberigi, Jessup, was the touchdown maker. Alberigi re turned a punt 62 yards for Penn State’s first score.' In 1952, it was Lenny Moore and Bob Hoffman who led the yearlings'.' That year Navy won. 21-13. Little is known yet about the quality of the Middy frosh. A good sprinkling of Pennsylvania boys is expected, though, to make up the Navy lineup. Last year 16 out of 42 Navy footballers were from the Keystone State. The second game of the Nittany' schedule is a contest in Pittsburgh against the University of Pitts burgh on Oct. 23. In this affair the Baby Lions will endeavor to break the fortune that the Pan- By HERM WEISKOPF Sports Editor thers hold. State hasn’t beaten the University of Pittsburgh fresh men since 1949. The final game on the abbre viated schedule is -a home en counter against Bullis Academy on Nov. 5: The Academy is a.new comer to the Lion’s schedule. V Penn State Players’present John van Draten’s Comedy Bell, Book, and Candle Center Stage in the TUB Friday Nights, Oct. 15 thru Nov. 19 THE PAR* STATE: COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA SOCCER halfback Gerry Gillis pie out-maneuvers a Bucknell defensive player to get away a head ball in the Lions record breaking 14-1 win over the Bi sons Saturday in - the season opener. Alpha Sig's Wahl Wins IM Calf Dick Wahl and Kinsey Dickel grabbed first place for the frat ernity entry of Alpha Sigma Phi in the Gold Medal Golf Tourna ment held last Saturday and Sun day.' Wahl fired a first round total of 71 and a second, round total of 73 for a 36 hole total; of 144. Dickel shot a 70 and a 75 for a total of 145 for second place hon- Anfonelli, Garcia Win ERA Awards NEW YORK, Oct. 5 (S>)—Lefty Johnny Antonelli of the Giants and Mike/ Garcia, husky righthander, continued an interesting trend by'winning the major league earned run titles in 1954. Antonelli, with a 2.29 average, was the' seventh southpaw in the past, nine seasons to win earned run honors in the _ National League. Garcia, posting a 2.64 ERA, became the fourth right handed hufler in five campaigns to lead, the American League in that department. The recent southpaw trend in the National League started with Howie Pollet,, then of the St. Louis Cardinals, capturing the crown in 1946. Shumaker Selected 'Lineman of Week' .? Earl Shumaker, standout left guard on Penn State’s undefeated football team has been chosen ‘Lineman of the Week’ by the Daily Collegian sports staff for his fine play in the Lions’ 13-0 romp over Syracuse Saturday. The Nittany lineman was a con tinuous thorn in the side of the Orange, : making bone-crushing tackles and throwing key'flocks all afternoon. The Eastern College . Athletic Conference named the Lion grid der as one of its “unsung heroes” over the past weekend for his performance. Cross-Country Will Meet Big For the past two seasons the Lions’cross-country team has found Cornell—Saturday’s, opponent—easy pickings. However, judging the future by the past is not aways wise. Two years ago Penn State scored the minimum of 15 points and defeated the Big Red in Ithaca and last season the Lions tram pled Cornell in the opening meet of the' campaign, 19-39. Doug Moorhead, one of the stalwarts on this year’s team, fin ished in a three-wajt tie for first in the most recent battle'with Cornell. Other returnees for the Lions from last season’s win over the Big Re 4 are Ted Garrett, John Chillrud, Jim Pastorius, and Jim McKelvey. Garrett and Chillrud Garrett and Chillrud crossed the finish line in a tie for sixth with identical clockings of 28:12. Pas torius finished four seconds later in eighth and McKelvey came in 14th. A lot has happened since last year’s meet. Cornell can.no longer be looked upon as a “cousin.” For one, Penn State has lost some of its top harriers from last season’s undefeated squad. Another factor which makes Cornell a more for midable opponent is that the rel atively inexperienced Lions will be competing away from home for the second straight weekend. Moorhead First at Navy Moorhead finished first in the triangular battle with Navy and Villanova on Saturday, moving up two notches from his third place finish of the year before. Pas torius and Garrett were the only two other Lions to finish in the ors. Those finishing in the first ten among the 71 fraternity en tries were John Miller, Sigma Nu,- third, with a 74-74—148; Walt Laska, Theta Delta Chi, fourth, with a 75-75—150. Frank Ross and Bernard Bay miller, Sigma Chi, tied for fifth with 151 totals; Don Lee, Phi Del ta Theta, seventh, with a 152. Paul Thomas, Lambda Chi Alpha, Paul Christman, Alpha Chi Rho, and Con Lentz, Delta Sigma Phi, $ MONEY $ . ' and UNSOLD BOOKS will be returned TODAY through FRIDAY OCT. 6 to 8 by the Used Book Agency Located in the TUB Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. II R A PENN STATE UDA •* m BOOK EXCHANGE By HERM WEISKOPF top ten in the race on the banks of the Severn River. Freshman cross-country Coach Norm Gordon will also take a team of yearlings to Ithaca for a meet with the Big Red’s frosh. Navy toppled the Nittany year lings Saturday at Annapolis, 23-38, in the first meet of the season for Gordon’s outfit. 1 Cornell may have been a push over during the past two years, but the scene has changed quite a bit and. the Big Red will be gun ning for revenge. Although the scene and the participants ■ may have changed, the Lions will be trying to follow the same , script. Jim Garrity, Penn State end and co-captain, last year led East ern college football in pass re ceiving. Allegheny College’s newly-ap pointed football coach, Red Moore, is a former Penn State grid cap tain. tied for tenth with 155 totals. The independent winner was Leo Kruakola who shot both 18 hole rounds in 75 for a final 150. Nelson Davis was second with a 159 total and William Brown third with a 186 final total. Of the 79 entries in the tourna ment, 71 were fraternity entries. Last year’s winners were Bob Smith in the fraternity field- and Jim Boyanowski in the indepen dent field. PAGE SiEVEH Team Red
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