"This history of athletics at Amherst is dedicated to my dear classmate, George Dupont Pratt, of the class of 1893, beloved son of Amherst. Let his career be an inspiration to all future Amherst men."
WALTER L. TOWER
Athletic history at Amherst naturally begins with the completion in 1860 of the Barrett Gymnasium, so named for Dr. Benjamin Barrett, of Northampton, the chief contributor to the building before and after its erection. Amherst was one of the first colleges to recognize the benefits to be derived from systematic exercise of the body. The direct result of this policy was competitive athletics. Prior to our civil war little if any competition was recorded among the various colleges. Boat racing and an occasional game of rounders or baseball comprised all the athletic contests of any organized or formal kind.
Amherst leaped into fame as a fresh water college with a winning boatcrew in 1872 at Springfield. This race was a surprise to the college and an astonishment to the other competitors. Yale blamed its defeat on the fact that the average age of the Amherst crew was considerably greater, but the public generally, as expressed by the newspapers of the time, attributed Amherst's superiority to the constant exercise of its undergraduates in the Gymnasium. Amherst was fortunate in that the Connecticut river furnished the element necessary to this kind of competition, and boating continued to be a major sport from 1869 to 1876.
The lack of a suitable field for baseball, football, or track meets was a great handicap to the vigorous young athletes emerging each spring from Barrett Gymnasium. The Amherst Common and Hampshire Park were the only places where practice or contests with other colleges could be held. Through the efforts of Lucien 1. Blake, '77, and the College Baseball Association, a field for baseball, football, and athletic sports was at last secured. Known as Old Blake Field, it was located between what is now Pratt Field and New Blake Field, and was destroyed when the Massachusetts Central Railroad was built; it was dedicated on May 5, 1877, with a game of baseball between Amherst and the Hartford City Club. The score was Amherst 11, Hartford City 5.
The first college contest to be played on the new field was Amherst vs. Harvard, May 12, 1877, the score being 9 to 1 in favor of Harvard. About 600 people attended this game, - a large crowd in those times. The newspaper description indicates that it was a comedy of errors, Amherst making 17 and Harvard 6. Evidently the large attendance caused the players to have stage fright. On May 19, 1877, at the new field Yale beat Amherst 9 to 4. This game was much better played and also drew many spectators. On June 15, 1877, Amherst visited New Haven and beat Yale, 5 to 4, in a game remarkable because of the fact that it was played in one hour and thirty-five minutes. When the team returned from New Haven, it was met by the entire college student body with torches; and a band formed a procession to the campus, where a large fire was lighted and a speech was made by the captain, the late Mark E. Couch, '78. This was the beginning of those home-coming celebrations of victorious teams which became a prominent feature of undergraduate life during the last two decades of the nineteenth century.
Football started at Amherst in the fall of 1876, when the new Rugby rules were adopted and teams were formed among the classes. These class teams were continued in the fall of 1877 and a college team was organized; but no games were played with other colleges.
In the spring of 1878 Amherst took hold of the baseball situation in earnest. A series of practice games with teams from Pittsfield, Springfield, Holyoke, and Lowell was inaugurated. Amherst beat Williams at Pittsfield, score 9 to 3, but lost to Yale and Harvard. Amherst was then in a league with Yale and Harvard, and the games were called championship games. Amherst played three games with Massachusetts Agricultural College and won them all; indeed, "Aggie" did not score a run in the series. The first game of baseball played between Amherst and Dartmouth took place October 9, 1878, at Hanover, New Hampshire, Amherst being victorious to the tune of 11 to 1.
The first "Cider Meet" to be held on Blake Field was arranged for October 20, 1878, resulting in a tie between the classes of '80 and '81. These classes gathered on the field in the evening and peacefully drank their cider. It is of interest to note that over eight hundred persons attended this meet, including many Smith College girls. Among the contests that may seem unusual to a later generation were the potato race, three mile walk, football kicking, three legged race, blind wheelbarrow race, baseball throwing, fat men's race, pack race, and, best of all, a greased pig race.
On November 2, 1878, Amherst met Yale in football for the first time. The game, played at New Haven, was won by Yale, two goals and one touchdown, to nothing for Amherst. This game was played with fifteen men on each side. Charles L. Goodrich, '79, was captain of this team, which played Harvard at Boston, November 9, 1878, and lost by three goals and three touchdowns to nothing.
The first football game played on Blake Field occurred November 13, 1878, with Brown University, and resulted in a win for Amherst by a score of one goal and four touchdowns to nothing. The goal was a beautiful drop kick by Arthur L. Gillett, '80. Frank J. Goodnow, '79, made some of the longest and best runs of the game. A return game was played with Yale on Blake Field, November 16, 1878, which may well be termed one of the best football contests between these great rivals of the period. The score was 0 to 0. I quote here from the Amherst Student of November 23, 1878, "This is the last game of our team this season. The season closes with no one injured, a fine record won, and football an established fact among our college sports."
In February, 1879, a skating rink on Blake Field was suggested, but as no hockey teams appear at Amherst at this date I assume this idea died "a borning". In the spring of 1879 bicycles made their first appearance in Amherst and by May, three students had taken to these high wheels.
Baseball fell into the doldrums in the spring of 1879, and Amherst did not win an important college game. Amherst considered entering some men in the intercollegiate games but lack of financial support caused the abandonment of this plan. There seems to be no record of football games with other colleges in the fall of 1879. The team had a picture taken, which the Amherst Student says was its greatest effort.
In 1880 a new baseball league was formed among the colleges of the East; viz, Amherst, Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Princeton. Amherst had a formidable schedule of sixteen games but made only a fair showing, winning three league games. The most notable was a victory over Princeton by a score of 4 to 1. Amherst's standing was fourth in the league. In the fall of 1880 a series of games of baseball between the classes was stimulated through a banner offered by Professor John M. Tyler. No football games were held. Yale was admitted to the college league in 1881, making a six-team league in which Yale won the pennant. Amherst finished in sixth position. The principal victories that year were over Williams, Harvard, Princeton, and Brown. In the fall of 1881 the new Blake Field south of the old field was in process of construction and proved to be better than the original Blake Field, which was destroyed by the opening of the Massachusetts Central Railroad.
Baseball still seemed to hang over into the fall, - a condition brought about by the lack of other athletic sports, - while football was abandoned temporarily owing to lack of financial support. In October the Amherst baseball team journeyed to Williamstown and beat the "Eph-men" 22 to 8. This score sounds more like football than baseball, but it was characteristic of the period. The "Cider Meet" was the first event held on the new Blake Field, October 19, 1881. '83 won the barrel of cider. Amherst lost two football games to Yale, the home game being played on the "Aggie" grounds as the new field was not in condition. Amherst played two football games with Dartmouth, the first one being played at Hanover, and lost, while the return game, played at Springfield, on a field covered with snow, was a tie, neither side scoring.
In the spring of 1882 indications pointed to a good baseball team, but internal dissensions arose. Captain Chase resigned, and Fred Taylor was, elected captain. Amherst defeated Wesleyan 24 to 4, Princeton 8 to 7, Dartmouth 9 to 7, and Brown 10 to 9,. and lost two games each to Yale and Harvard.
Tennis became quite popular at this time, and a college tournament was organized. The heavy gymnastics were also attracting more attention and this spring exhibition was probably the best ever held at Amherst. The fall tennis tournament had fifty-four single entries and fourteen in the doubles. Child, '84, became singles champion of the college and Child and Comstock, '83, doubles champions. The habit of playing a baseball game with Williams in the fall was continued, and Amherst won 5 to 0, Ned Harris, '85, pitching a one hit game.
The first item in the local column of an issue of the Amherst Student in 1882 says, "The football team has hibernated; enough said." In the February 10, 1883, issue of the Amherst Student appears this item, "The Faculty of Amherst College having carefully noted the tendency of intercollegiate athletic games as now conducted, have become convinced that this tendency is demoralizing; that the cost of these games in respect to time and money and energy expended has no compensating advantage, and that, therefore, so far as the members of this college are concerned, they should cease, whenever the engagements already made have been fulfilled, or after the close of the present collegiate year. In reaching this conclusion the Faculty would also express their cordial approval of the games and athletic exercises in which the students of this college engage upon their own grounds."
It is needless to say this resolution caused consternation among the students; but they retaliated with a reorganization of their baseball association, issuing season tickets for $2.00 and also assigning a uniform to the bat boy, Mickey Hurly, who traveled with the team. A schedule of fifteen games was adopted. Frederick C. Taylor, '84, was captain of this 1883 team, which proved to be the best nine Amherst had produced up to that time. Harris and Hunt were the battery, and Amherst won nine games. Bowdoin made her first appearance at Amherst and was shut out by a score of 13 to 0. Only two hits were made off Harris, these by the catcher of the Bowdoin team. Amherst stood third in the league.
Amherst joined the newly formed intercollegiate tennis league, entering the singles and doubles at the tournament at Hartford, Connecticut, on June 6, 7, and 8, 1883; and the base ball team continued its good work, winning five games, losing one, and tying one.
This fall marked the first appearance of a National League team in Amherst. On October 25, 1883, Amherst was defeated on Blake Field by the Boston National League Team by a score of 13 to 3. Rain fell throughout the game, which was called at the end of the seventh inning. Boston made but ten hits off Ned Harris and four of these were made by Hines, the best batter on the Boston team. Amherst made ten errors, enough to lose almost any contest. Ezra Sutton, well known shortstop on the Boston team, played in that game. Old timers will remember him. Another game which may be of interest was played on Blake Field, October 12, 1883. Amherst defeated East Brookfield, 10 to 1, with "Connie Mack", the present manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, catching the game for East Brookfield, his native town. Ned Harris held East Brookfield to one hit. In the official average compiled for the intercollegiate league for the season of 1883 Amherst stood first in batting and second in fielding.
The "Cider Meet," won that fall by the class of '85, was notable because the pole vault appeared for the first time, the recorded height being 6 feet 93/4 inches, less than one-half the height now attained at big college meets.
On October 13, 1883, the corner stone of the new Pratt Gymnasium was laid. Amherst faced, during the spring of 1884, the longest schedule of baseball games proposed up to that time. With a veteran team captained by Edward Parks Harris, '85, their great pitcher, prospects were never brighter; but during a spring training trip Hunt, '85, broke his arm and was out for the season. Hunt and Taylor had led the team in batting during the previous season. Edward P. Harris will be remembered as later Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Amherst. This season marked the first appearance of official score cards at baseball games on Blake Field. Amherst won sixteen games and lost four, - a fine record, - and secured third place in the league, beating Brown, Dartmouth, and Williams twice each.
When the new Pratt Gymnasium was opened for use in the fall of 1884, outdoor athletic sports were forgotten. The football eleven did not function; and the baseball team of the spring of 1885 beat Williams in one game and called it a season. In the fall of 1885 Amherst tried to revive football and support a team, but there was little success. They beat the "Aggies" 10 to 0, and that is the record. Two noteworthy events took place in the spring of 1886. Amherst entered a small team in the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the I. A. A. at New York on May 29th, and secured second place in the mile run. Amherst 5, Yale 4 was the sensation of the year in baseball. Stagg and Dann were the battery for Yale, and the defeat of that combination certainly deserves mention as an outstanding athletic victory.
Football really came back at Amherst in the fall of 1886, and her team made a creditable showing. On November 23, 1886, the New England Athletic Association was formed at a meeting in Boston of representatives from Amherst, Brown, Bowdoin, Dartmouth, Trinity, Tufts, and Williams. At the first annual meet at Hartford, May 27, 1887, Dartmouth won first and Amherst second position. The baseball team of 1887 was without much color and the football team was defeated in almost every game. The spring of 1888 saw the first efforts being made to organize college athletics along business lines. The baseball manager booked a thirty-five game schedule, including a spring training trip to Philadelphia. Timothy Keefe, a professional coach, was engaged, but the team met with only indifferent success. The track team trained thoroughly and as a result brought to Amherst her first championship in this branch of athletics. The second annual meet of the N. E. I. A. A. was held at Worcester May 24, 1888, Amherst winning seven first and three second places. Here Amherst entered upon an era of success in track athletics which extended over a period of twenty years.
The Worcester track meet in the spring of 1888 marked the first appearance of the late Charles O. Wells, '91, who later became the greatest mile runner ever graduated from Amherst. His record of 4 minutes, 29.8 seconds made in 1889 was still the best Amherst record for the mile as late as 1933.
In football Amherst did nothing that fall worthy of note, but in the spring of 1889 the Amherst baseball team came through with another win over Yale by the score of 5 to 4. Yale had a great team that year with Stagg pitching his best, and Amherst men who saw that game were talking about it at their reunions forty years later. The last half of the ninth inning opened with the score 4 to 3 in favor of Yale. The first Amherst man to bat was Allen, who struck out. Sexton followed with a long fly to Dalzell in right field, making two out. Walbridge came through with a safe hit to center field. Pope came to bat and, as he was a dangerous hitter, Stagg decided to pass him. Walbridge and Pope worked a double steal; but Hare was at bat and, as he was a weak hitter, it looked dark for Amherst. Hare hit a liner which Stagg stopped but fumbled just long enough to allow Hare to reach first. McBride's throw to home was too late to catch Pope, who made a slide to the plate and was safe, thus winning the match by a score of 5 to 4. What a ball game! The third annual N. E. I. A. A. meet was held at Worcester, May 23, 1889. Dartmouth won the championship and Amherst was second. The absence of a trainer during the latter part of the season was doubtless the cause of the Amherst defeat. The lesson then learned resulted in the securing of a competent trainer at Amherst the following year.
C. 0. Wells, '91, won the mile run at the I. A. A. meet held at Mott Haven, breaking the intercollegiate record. Amherst had a fine baseball team in 1889 and won a majority of the games played but internal disputes caused the loss of the championship to Williams. The football association secured Mr. Robert Winston as trainer of the team in the fall of 1889. This was a step in the right direction, and while the immediate results were not seen, the foundation was laid for some great teams to come.
In the issue of the Amherst Student, for December 21, 1889, appeared a plan of the new Pratt Athletic field, which presaged the "Golden Era" of athletics at Amherst, covering the period from 1890 to 1910. On February 1, 1890, the Amherst College Athletic Board was organized: "This Board to have control of the athletic interests of Amherst College and of any funds or the income of any funds that may be entrusted to them for athletic purposes. The Board shall be composed of ten members, namely; The President respectively of the Baseball, Football, and Athletic Associations of the College, the Professor of Physical Education, two other members of the Faculty, and Mr. Frederic B. Pratt so long as he desires to be connected therewith." Mr. Pratt, the donor of the Athletic Field, said, "My idea in giving the field was that athletics in Amherst should be more dignified and comprehensive as the accommodations were increased." For the same reason, he intended to found a general fund for athletic purposes. This fund and the field he wished to see controlled by such a Board as was proposed. This was a long step in the right direction, and the undergraduates showed their appreciation by training more faithfully than ever before.
The late Cornelius J. Sullivan, '92, was captain of the first championship baseball team ever produced at Amherst, and too much cannot be said of his tireless work with a nine composed of new men. Sullivan and Hare were the only veterans on the 1890 team, which is worthy to be given in full: *Cornelius J. Sullivan, '92, captain, Third Base; *George R. Hare, '90, Pitcher; *Warner D. Hunt, '93, Catcher; * Edward N. Lacey, '90, First Base; Wylie C. Burns, '90, Second Base; Nathaniel A. Cutler, '91, Right Field; Edward B. MacFadden, '91, Left Field; *Frank M. Gould, '93, Center Field; Harry H. Taylor, '93, Short Stop; Substitutes: *Matthew H. Houghton, '90, Pitcher; Arthur T. Boutwell, '91, Pitcher; *Frank A. Leach, '92, Left Field. This team played twenty-nine games and won twenty.
The 1890 track team, one of Amherst's great teams, easily won the N. E. I. A. A. Championship at Worcester, May 28, 1890. This great team was made up of the following men: Frank A. Delabarre, '90, President; *Matthew H. Houghton, '90; Robert B. Luddington, '91; *Charles 0. Wells, '91; N. Dwight Alexander, '92; *Samuel P. Boardman, '92; Hubert L. Clark, '92; Addison A. Ewing, '92; William W. Gregg, '92; Lyman W. Griswold, '92; William T. S. Jackson, '92; *George S. Raley, '92; *George B. Shattuck, '92; *Harry B. Hallock, '93; *George D. Pratt, '93; *Frank J. Raley, '93; William L. Raub, '93.
Mr. Thomas Aitken, the capable trainer of this team, should be commended for the perfect physical condition of the men at Worcester.
In the fall of 1890, the football team captained by H. C. Crocker, '91, started the season with great prospects of winning the third championship of the year; but unfortunate injuries to Captain Crocker and F. J. Raley, our best half-back, kept them out of the Williams game, which Amherst lost, 6 to 0, at Williamstown. Lewis, the center rush, one of the cleanest and best football players ever to wear the Amherst colors, was disqualified early in the second half, which further weakened the team.
1891 was another banner year in athletics at Amherst. The track team won the N. E. I. A. A. meet at Springfield, May 27th, 1891. This was the fifth annual meeting and Amherst had won three times. The outstanding men on the team were Robert L. Pellet, '94, with a record of 223/4 seconds in the 220 yard race; George B. Shattuck, '92, with a record of 50.2 seconds in the 440 yard race; William W. Gregg, '92, with a record of 7 min., 17 seconds, in the milke walk; and N. Dwight Alexander, '92, with a record of 37 feet, 41/4 inches, in the sixteen pound shot put. Shattuck, '92, won the 440 yard dash at the I. A. A. track meet held on Berkeley Oval, New York City, May 30, 1891. Thus Shattuck * Deceased. became the second outstanding track athlete to bear the Purple and White, and his time of 49.5 seconds for the quarter mile stood as an Amherst record for twenty years.
Captain Sullivan, '92, put another championship baseball team on the field, winning twenty games in a twenty-nine game schedule. Amherst beat Dartmouth four games and Williams three games, - a record in itself.
This baseball team should be placed among the great teams of Amherst history: *Cornelius J. Sullivan, '92, Captain, Third Base; *George R. Hare, P. G., Pitcher; Arthur T. Boutwell, '91, Pitcher; *Warner D. Hunt, '93, Catcher; Nathaniel A. Cutler, '91, First Base; Alfred E. Steams, '94, Second Base; Harry H. Taylor, '93, Short Stop; Herman S. Cheney, '94, Left Field; Frank A. Leach, '92, Center Field; Alexander M. Brown, '92, Right Field. Substitutes: *Ernest E. Jackson, '93, Out Field; Harry R. M. Landis, '94, In Field.
On May 22, 1891, Pratt Field was formally presented to Amherst College by Frederic B. Pratt, '87. I wish space were available in this pamphlet to give these dedication exercises in full, as I believe they mark the greatest single event in Amherst Athletic History. Dr. Edward Hitchcock, - "Old Doe" to all of the Amherst men who knew and loved him, - was master of ceremonies. His opening remarks were marked by brevity and appropriateness. He concluded by saying, "The Department of Athletics is now at the top and would be glad to have other departments come on!" The Rev. Dr. Michael Burnham of Springfield, offered prayer. Dr. Hitchcock then introduced Mr. Pratt, who said in part: "We meet here to celebrate another step in the history of athletics at Amherst College; to infuse a new spirit and life into the Association, and to assume new conditions of development and progress. The old Blake Field that we leave today has done us all a service that we can never forget. To many it will stand as a synonym for Athletics at Amherst...... A noticeable change, however, has come over the athletic spirit of the college. Here as elsewhere an era of physical culture is at hand; a movement is in progress that is showing itself all along the line of educational thought from the kindergarten to the university, and so these exercises today have a special significance * Deceased. as marking a broad line in the history both of education and of athletics."
President Merrill E. Gates in a polished address accepted the field in behalf of the College, his closing remark being: "I say to you, as if the umpire were in place and the crowd breathless, `Now young gentlemen, every man of you, Play Ball!'" Those who saw the game played after the dedication will say that the Amherst team did "play ball." For five innings, it was a pitchers' battle, Hare working for Amherst and Shurtleff for Dartmouth. At the opening of the sixth inning, Dartmouth was leading 1 to 0. Steams came to bat, making a three-base hit, and when Sullivan followed with a two-base smash, Dartmouth blew up. The final score was Amherst 10, Dartmouth 1. Just to show Mr. Pratt and all Amherst men that the new field was appreciated, Amherst went on the field the next day and defeated Dartmouth again, 10 to 1.
Pratt Field included thirteen acres with a quarter mile running track, a 120 yard straightaway for dashes, a baseball diamond, a football field, and a $6,000 grandstand with bathrooms and dressing rooms. "Old Doc" said that it was the best college athletic field in America.
In the fall of 1891, Amherst expected to win the football championship. William H. Lewis, '92, had been elected Captain, the greatest center rush ever to wear moleskins for Amherst. Like his classmate, Cornelius J. Sullivan, he was a most inspiring leader of men, and every Amherst man of that day fully expected a winning eleven. The finances of all athletic activities were now in competent hands and this greatly reduced the worries attendant to managing a college team. The football season started auspiciously with the team winning the preliminary games with ease. On November 7, 1891, the team journeyed to Hanover for the first important game with Dartmouth. The game was one of the roughest and hardest games ever played between these two great rivals, and resulted in a tie score, 14 to 14. An injury to C. L. Upton, Amherst's best end rusher during the first half of the game, may have been the cause of Amherst's defeat. However, those are the fortunes of war; and some people think football is akin to battle.
I wish to mention here one incident that had a great bearing on some future games, - that was the failure of the Amherst quarterback to kick two easy goals. Had these goals been kicked, Amherst would have emerged a winner. That lesson sunk in as later events will prove.
This was one of the two varsity football games played by "Al" Stearns, '94, during his college course; and those who saw him play are sure he would have been a star fullback had he chosen football for an athletic career. It is needless to state that every man played his best.
On November 20, Amherst played Williams at Pratt Field. As the championship depended upon this game, both teams were determined to win. Every yard of that muddy field was fought over, and the result was another tie game, score 0 to 0. The umpire was Mr. Robinson of Yale and the referee was A. A. Stagg of the Springfield Y. M. C. A. College. Their work was perfection, a great contrast to that of the officials in the game of the previous fall. Mr. Stagg remarked after the game that the defense work and punting of "Al" Stearns was the best he had ever seen on any field. This was sincere praise of a great athlete by one of Yale's immortals.
While Amherst failed to win the championship, a tie made this football eleven rank among Amherst's great teams: William H. Lewis, '92, Captain, and Center Rush; Harris B. Haskell, '94, left guard; Elmer P. Smith, '92, right guard; Martin T. Baldwin, '93, left tackle; Nelson D. Alexander, '92, right tackle; Charles L. Upton, '91, left end; * George S. Raley, '92, right end; *George D. Pratt, '93, quarter back; *Frank M. Gould, '93, left half back; William T. S. Jackson, '92, right half back; Alfred E. Stearns, '94, full back. Substitutes: Addison A. Ewing, '92, half back; Lyman W. Griswold, '92, end; *Theodore A. Penney, '95, guard; *Frank J. Raley, '93, half back; Herbert L. Pratt, '95, back.
It may well be recorded here that William H. Lewis, '92, graduated from Amherst with high honors and later from the Harvard Law School with his classmate, Cornelius J. Sullivan, '92, each of whom won wide fame as a football and baseball player respectively. Lewis gained a place on Casper Whitney's All-American College football team as center rush. In later years, many newspaper writers have acclaimed him the greatest center rush of all time.
The spring of 1892 saw Amherst win the championship in the sixth annual meeting of the N. E. I. A. A. at Springfield, on May 25. As this meet was conceded to Amherst and her veteran team, little enthusiasm developed. N. Dwight Alexander, '92, established a new record in the 16 lb. shot put, - 38 ft. 3.5 inches. George D. Pratt, '93, also secured a new record in the two mile bicycle race of 6 min., 22.8 seconds.
The baseball team was not as strong as in previous years; George Hare, Amherst's great pitcher, had graduated. The team was tied with Williams for second place in the league.
On June 8, 1892, a new football league was formed which included only Dartmouth, Williams, and Amherst.
The opening of the fall term at Amherst College was marked by one new addition to the teaching force destined to have a vast influence on the athletic history of the college. Richard Francis Nelligan, of Cambridge, was appointed permanent trainer of the track team and assistant to Dr. Hitchcock in drilling the classes in gymnasium exercises. Mr. Nelligan served the college over a period of nearly forty years, during which time he developed some of Amherst's greatest athletes. In this brief history, space will not permit giving Professor Nelligan even a tithe of the praise he deserves for his whole-hearted devotion to the athletic interests of the college. Scores of Amherst graduates look up to Professor Nelligan as a foster-father.
Amherst was all set to win the first football championship in the new league and to assure that result, the management secured Captain Charles O. Gill of the 1889 Yale team to coach at Amherst. His work was supplemented by four recent graduates of the college: "Curley" Smith, '90, "Hal" Crocker, '91, Morse, '91, and Lewis, '92. This was a real coaching force and working with Captain George D. Pratt, '93, produced the greatest football team of which Amherst can boast. It played thirteen games, all with other college teams, won 8 and lost 5, scored 314 to opponents 141. Two of these losses were to Harvard and, for the second time in history, Amherst scored on Harvard. The first outstanding game of the year was Amherst vs. Dartmouth, score 30 to 2 in favor of Amherst. It was played on a slippery field which was a handicap to the end running game used by Amherst. However, Goodale, the Amherst half back, made several runs of twenty to seventy yards. Captain George D. Pratt kicked a goal from all five touchdowns. This was the first indication that the lesson at Dartmouth the previous year was well learned. On November 18, 1892, Amherst beat Williams on Weston Field at Williamstown, 60 to 0. To this day, this game stands as a mark at which other Amherst football teams may shoot. It was played on a very wet and slippery field with a strong wind sweeping directly across the gridiron. During the latter part of the game, snow fell so heavily that it was impossible to see the length of the field.
Captain Pratt kicked ten goals from almost every angle of the field, most of them against the wind. This record stands today as the best goal kicking exhibition of any Amherst college player in a major game.
The star of that game was Byron Van Leuven, '96, a freshman, who made many long runs, one of ninety-five yards, being a remarkable feat. He got lost in the snow storm and it was necessary to scrape the snow off the side lines to be sure by his tracks that he had not run out of bounds. When Captain Pratt made the last touchdown and kicked the last goal, it was impossible for most of the spectators to see the goal posts, and the decision of the referee had to be awaited to learn the final score. This is the first championship football team: Captain *George D. Pratt, '93, full back; Manager John L. Kemmerer, '93; Martin T. Baldwin, '93, left tackle; Frank D. Edgell, '93, center; Ernest M. Nourse, '93, right tackle; Harris B. Haskell, '94, left guard; Harlan F. Stone, '94, right guard; Byron Van Leuven, '96, right end; *Alexander E. Rosa, '96, left end; Herbert L. Pratt, '95, quarter back; *Salem W. Goodale, '94, half back; Addison A. Ewing, P.G., half back. Substitutes: *Frank M. Gould, '93; Charles C. Russell, '94, James B. Cauthers, '96; George W. Ellis, '93; *Walter H. Ross, '93; *Theodore A. Penney, '95.
On February 11, 1893, at the B. A. A. Indoor Athletic meet in Mechanics Hall, Boston, Trainer Nelligan entered his first relay team, a new sport at Amherst. This team of G. B. Brooks, '93, Captain, Hodgdon, '93, Tucker, '94, and Belden, '95, beat Dartmouth by four yards in a 1560 yard race, time 3 min., 27.6 seconds. This was an auspicious start for a long line of winning relay teams. At the meet H. F. Houghton, '96, easily won the one- mile walk from a large field of the best mile walkers in the New England colleges, time, 7 min., 31.6 seconds.
As many of the track stars had graduated, the best our team could do at the seventh annual meeting of the N. E. I. A. A. at Worcester was second place. Ernest M. Bliss, '93, established the new record for the two-mile safety bicycle race, - time, 5 min., 50.6 seconds. The winning of the mile walk by H. F. Houghton, '96, of Amherst, was the surprise of the meet.
Captain Alfred E. Stearns, '94, the best second baseman Amherst has ever seen wearing the Purple and White, produced another championship baseball team. In a schedule of twenty six games during the regular season, Amherst won 14, lost 10, and tied 2. In the championship series, Amherst beat Williams three times and Dartmouth three times. The crucial games of the championship series were the two games won at Hanover from Dartmouth, the scores being 6 to 3 and 5 to 3. This team went to Chicago after college closed and secured second place in a series of games to establish the champion college baseball team of the United States. Yale tied Amherst in the series, but in the playoff Yale won. The 1893 championship baseball team: Captain Alfred E. Stearns, '94, second base; Manager George L. Hamilton, '93; Jesse H. Allen, '93, catcher; *Kimball G. Colby, '95, pitcher; *Ernest S. Jackson, '93, right field; *Warner D. Hunt, '93, first base; George W. Ellis, '93, third base; Henry R. M. Landis, '94, short stop; Charles G. Smith, '94, left field; Herman S. Cheney, '94, center field. Substitutes: Raymond J. Gregory, '96; *Frederick A. Flichtner, '94; *Albert I. Montague, '96.
In tennis, Amherst stepped to the front in the season of 1893 taking the Partridge cup awarded yearly to the winning college in tennis doubles in the Amherst-Dartmouth-Williams league. Amherst's winning team was Silas D. Reed, '93, and George F. Wales, '93.
In the fall of 1893, the football team won no important games. At the fifth annual B. A. A. indoor track meet in Boston, Amherst beat Dartmouth with another good relay team in the fast time of 3 min., 18.8 seconds for the 1560 yards. The team had these members running in this order: R. S. Fletcher, '97, L. Brooks, '96, A. W. Grosvenor, '97 and G. M. Converse, '97. The serious mistake of the scorers robbed H. F. Houghton, '96, of a win in the mile walk. He was so far ahead of the field that the judges actually thought he was last instead of first.
At the eighth annual meeting of the N. E. I. A. A. at Worcester, May 23, 1894, a new champion appeared. M. I. T. won the meet, and Amherst sank to fifth place. The 1894 baseball team stood last in the league, winning but two games in the championship series. The 1894 football team was coached by the late Park Hill Davis, Princeton, '93, who afterwards became a famous football critic and the author of many articles on great players.
An Amherst relay team composed of A. W. Grosvenor, '97, R. T. Elliott, '97, R. S. Fletcher, '97, and G. M. Converse, '97, for the third time won the 1560 yard race from Dartmouth at the B. A. A. meet at Boston, February 9, 1895. A very small track team from Amherst made a creditable showing at Worcester in the ninth annual field meet, taking third place. H. F. Houghton, '96, won the one-mile walk for the third year in succession and was the star of the Amherst team. In baseball, the 1895 Amherst team defeated Yale, 2 to 1, glory enough for the season. Injury to Captain John T. Pratt, '96, in midseason took the spirit out of a fighting Amherst football team, which, after beating Williams, 16 to 4, lost to Dartmouth, 20 to 9. This was a creditable showing, considering that Dartmouth had one of her great teams.
At the B A. A. seventh annual meet, February 8, 1896, Amherst won its fourth straight relay race. Dartmouth, having lost three times, decided to quit and let Williams try to win. The answer was the same, the winning Amherst team being E. L. Morgan, '97, Richard Billings, '97, R. S. Fletcher, '97, and R. T. Elliott, '97. The one mile walk was omitted from the list of events because it looked like another sure victory for Amherst.
Second place in the triangular baseball league was all Amherst accomplished this year. The 1896 football team looked good at the beginning of the season; but Marshall H. Tyler, '97, a splendid tackle who had been elected captain, resigned in mid-season and although he played a fine game, the team did not meet expectations. Amherst defeated Williams at Williamstown, 6 to 4, but lost to Dartmouth, 32 to 0.
The Amherst veteran relay team defeated Williams again at the eighth annual handicap indoor meet of the B. A. A. The team was composed of the same men as last year. Furbish, '98, won the mile race from the 70 yard mark. This relay team beat Harvard at the Boston College meet March 11, 1897. In the winter of 1897, basketball was played for the first time in Amherst by class teams. In the spring of 1897, golf began to attract attention and a small tournament was held. The track team secured but one first place at the Worcester meet but at the second annual tri-collegiate meet held on Pratt Field, Amherst scored 55 points and Williams and Dartmouth scored 40 points each, thus giving Amherst the championship in this league. The 1897 football team was just another team whose best effort was a 6 to 6 tie with Williams.
The Amherst 1898 track team secured a tie with Brown for first place at the N. E. I. A. A. meet at Worcester. Albert E. Curtenius, '01, won the 100 yard dash in the good time of ten seconds. The 1898 football team defeated Williams 16 to 5 at Williamstown, thereby securing second place in the triangular league.
In January, 1899, the old triangular league of Amherst, Dartmouth, and Williams was dissolved, and a new triangular league of Amherst, Wesleyan, and Williams was formed. At this time, these colleges were of about equal strength in number of students and geographically more closely situated than any other league could be. During the winter, handball courts were constructed in Barrett Gymnasium, thus giving a new impetus to this excellent game.
At the N. E. I. A. A. track meet at Worcester, May 29, 1899, Amherst placed a close third, only four points behind the winner, Bowdoin. Curtenius, '01, showed his quality as a great sprinter. He won the 100 yard and also the 220 yard events, running in a pouring rain. His time for the 220 yard race was 22.6 seconds, equaling the record. In the Tricollegiate Meet held on Pratt Field June 10, 1899, Curtenius, '01, established a new Amherst record in the 220 yard dash, time 22.2 seconds. In the annual championship games of the N. E. association of the Amateur Athletic Union held at Riverside June 24, 1899, Curtenius ran second to Duffy in the 100 yard dash and beat out Quinlan of Harvard in the 220 yard dash, establishing a new record for these games of 22 seconds flat.
Had Curtenius finished his college course, he no doubt would have established himself as one of the outstanding sprinters of Amherst.
The opening of the fall term was marked by the burning of the grand-stand at Pratt Field. Mr. Frederic B. Pratt, '87, the donor, with the characteristic readiness of his family to respond to Amherst's needs, desired that the work on the new grandstand be pushed with all possible haste. This was completed in time for use by the 1900 baseball team.
In the December 16, 1899, issue of the Amherst Student, there appeared a most illuminating communication from Alfred E. Stearns, '94, on what had caused the decline of football and baseball superiority at Amherst. I wish space would permit its quotation in full as it most clearly defined what I believe was the opinion of a majority of Amherst graduates at that time. While the communication was not intended as a prediction of conditions to come, the history of Amherst football and baseball teams during the first twenty years of the present century was amply forecast in that communication. Mr. Stearns made it plain that the letting down of admission requirements and the almost complete domination of college activities by the fraternity system were the main causes of the decline in football and baseball supremacy at Amherst. With these sentiments I agree, but there was at that time another cause, the failure of the Athletic Board to establish an Amherst system of coaching similar to that in vogue at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and other colleges. Under such a system, players on teams would be thoroughly grounded in the fundamentals of the game as played at Amherst when they reached their junior or senior years. It has taken twenty-five years for this idea to reach fruition at Amherst, but it seems to be in sight now in the reign of President Stanley King.
Just to prove that "Al" Stearns was right, the 1900 Amherst baseball team allowed Harvard to score seventeen runs in the first inning of their annual game at Cambridge. The game was called at the end of fifth inning as the Harvard team was completely exhausted running bases.
In the fall of 1900, the Amherst College Golf Club dissolved, and its membership was merged with that of the Amherst Country Club. Golf is now a recognized branch of Amherst athletics. In the winter of 1901, an outdoor board running-track was provided for the training of the relay teams. Basketball games with other colleges appear in the records for the first time in 1901.
Amherst won the tricollegiate league track meet in 1901 at Weston Field, Williamstown. The standing of the three teams was Amherst 70.8, Williams 51.6, and Wesleyan 12.6 points. This Amherst team came within 1/6 of a. point of winning the N. E. I. A. A. meet at Worcester and won a dual track meet from Syracuse University. It should be mentioned as one of Amherst's many good track teams.
Amherst won the championship in baseball in 1901 for the first time in the new triangular league of Amherst, Wesleyan, and Williams. This baseball team developed some good players and was easily the best nine to represent Amherst since 1893.
In the triagular tennis league, Amherst made a clean sweep of the series. Theodore B. Plimpton, '02, was the star of the tennis team. During the winter of 1902, Amherst won the championship in basketball.
At the sixteenth renewal of the N. E. I. A. A. track games at Worcester, May 23 and 24, Amherst won the championship, and at Berkeley Oval in New York on May 31, secured fourth place ahead of Columbia, Cornell, Syracuse, Pennsylvania, and California. The 1902 track team can easily be placed among the best turned out by Professor Nelligan, to whom great credit must be accorded. He has kept the standard of our track teams higher than those of any other major sport. The star athletes of the 1902 track team were Captain E. S. Wilson, '02, F. L. Thompson, '04, W. D. Eaton, '05, and R. E. Rollins, '05.
Charges and counter-charges of professionalism broke up the triangular league about midway in the spring of 1902; hence there was no baseball championship to award. Amherst had a good team, with more high grade players than any Amherst baseball team since 1893. In the fall of 1902, Amherst had a football team of championship calibre and as she was not a member of any league, the team played a free lance schedule and lost but three games, one to Harvard, 0-6, one to Yale, 0-23, and one to Syracuse, 0-15. A football team that can win from Union, Holy Cross, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, M.A.C., and Columbia all in one season deserved to be called champion even if there was no banner. The writer considers this the strongest football team Amherst has produced since 1892. This was the line-up against Columbia at New York on November 15, 1902: Priddy, R. E., Varnum, R. T., Park, R. G., Howard, C., Palmer, L. G., Pierce, L. T., Raftery, L. E., Lewis, Q. B. Washburn, R. H., Biram (Captain) J. J., Quill, F.. B. The score was Amherst 29, Columbia 0. Mr. Charles Gould of Yale, the coach of this eleven, deserves great credit for producing such a fine team in his first year at Amherst. The late Harry A. Smith, '89, (known as "Curley" to all Amherst men) helped out in the coaching of this team, and has often told the writer that Clifford Lewis, '05, was the best quarterback he ever saw at Amherst. He had a keen brain and could whip up his team to a frenzy. "Curley" Smith might easily be called the father of football at Amherst and when he says the 1902 team was one of the best he ever saw, that is praise enough for any team. The Philadelphia Ledger in its football ranking of Eastern colleges, gave them in this order for the season of 1902: Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Brown, Pennsylvania, Amherst, Cornell, and Columbia. A pretty good rating for the little college on the hill!
At the fourteenth annual track meet of the B. A. A., February 14, 1903, Amherst defeated Georgetown in the relay race in the world's record time of 3 min., 9 sec., for 1560 yards. The Boston Globe said this race was the sensation of the evening. This team was composed of Eaton, '05, Hubbard, '06, Taylor, '04, and Captain Thompson, '04. This team won a one-mile relay race from Syracuse and Virginia in the fast time of 3 min., 30.4 seconds, at the Ninth Annual Relay Carnival at U. P. Franklin Field.
At Worcester, May 23, 1903, was held the seventeenth annual track meet of the N. E. I. A. A. Amherst scored another smashing victory. The writer saw this meet and does not hesitate to place this team among the great track teams of the "Golden Era". President Stanley King was then an undergraduate at Amherst, and was no doubt impressed with the perfect physical condition of this well-balanced team which scored three or more points in ten out of fifteen events. The star of that meet was Harry E. Taylor, '04, who won the 440 yard and one-half mile race and tied for first place in the running high jump, scoring 14 points. This is the 1903 college track team: Captain F. L. Thompson, '04; Manager A. T. Foster, '03; C. W. Morgan, '03; J. W. Park. '03. C. W. Beam, '04; A. F. Dodge, '04; L. S. Hawkins, '04; J. C. Paine, '04; Alvord Pratt, '04; J. W. Roberts, '04; H. E. Taylor, '04; C. R. Blyth, '05; R. E. Rollins, '05; C. M. Bishop, '06; E. G. Draper, '06; W. P. Hubbard, '06; D. M. Ross, '06.
This team placed sixth at the twenty-eighth annual I. A. A. meet at Mott Haven, New York, May 29 and 30, 1903. Walter P. Hubbard, '06, won the running broad jump, distance 22 ft. 4.8 inches. The 1903 baseball team played a schedule of twenty games with rather indifferent success, and the football team played ten games, the best of which was a win over Harvard, score 5 to 0. The 1904 relay team defeated Cornell rather easily at the fifteenth annual indoor track meet of the B. A. A.
Another champion track team appeared at Worcester for the eighteenth annual track meet of the N. E. 1. A. A. Amherst scored 43 1/3 points, and Dartmouth was second with 28 points. While this team did not impress the writer as being quite as good as the 1903 team, weather conditions were bad. A heavy rainfall on Friday interfered with the preliminaries and made the track slow. Captain Harry E. Taylor, '04, was again the star performer, scoring 13 points for Amherst. "Beef" Rollins, '05, showed great form in the 16 lb. shot put and the hammer throw.
The 1904 baseball team had good prospects at the opening of the season but dissension arose and Captain Jack Shay, '04, a star out-fielder, resigned and H. B. Chase, '04, was elected captain for the remainder of the season.
The 1904 football team was another great team, winning nine games and losing only one to Dartmouth at Hanover, the score being Dartmouth 15, Amherst 4.
The resumption of football games with Williams that fall was pleasing to all the friends of both colleges, and Amherst defeated Williams 22 to 6. This football team, on which were several stars, brought out Jack Hubbard, '07, who later became the greatest halfback ever to wear the Purple and White. W. W. Palmer, '05, left-guard, F. E. Pierce, '05, left tackle, R. E. Rollins, '05, right guard, and H. R. Crook, '07, left-end impressed this writer as great football players. During the fall of 1904, Amherst won the New England Intercollegiate Golf championship. J. G. Anderson, '05, was captain of the team and the individual champion.
At the close of the year, Amherst alumni learned with deep regret of the resignation of "Curley" Smith '89, from the chairmanship of the alumni football committee. No Amherst alumnus had done more to further the interests of athletics at his college than "Curley".
At the sixteenth annual B. A. A. track meet at Boston, Amherst won the 1560 relay race from Cornell. This was another feather in the cap of Professor Nelligan, as he made this relay team out of new material. W. D. Eaton, ex-'05 established a new world's record in the 40 yard dash, time 4.4 seconds. In the March 11, 1905, issue of the Student, there appeared plans of the new natatorium, an addition to Pratt Gymnasium and the gift of Harold I. Pratt, '00.
For the fourth successive year, Amherst won the N. E. I. A. A. track meet at Worcester, May 20, 1905 by scoring 383/4 points. Amherst had the best balanced track team the writer can recall; she scored points in twelve out of fourteen events. The day was perfect for a track meet, and Walter Hubbard, '06, was in fine fettle. He made a record broad jump of 23 feet, 2.5 inches, also placing second in the 220 yard hurdle race. Walter P. Hubbard, '06, is entitled to a place among the great athletes to wear the Purple and White.
Captain Ralph E. Rollins, '05, closed his college career with another win in the shot put. His record put made in 1904 of 43 feet, 10.5 inches, is a fine mark for other Amherst athletes to exceed.
The 1905 baseball team won 10 games out of a 19 game schedule. It was a fine fielding team, very low scores marking every game played. The principal wins were from Harvard, Dartmouth, Williams, and Holy Cross. One of the longest college games ever played occurred on May 10, 1905, at Princeton, score, Princeton 1, Amherst 0. McRae pitched that entire game for Amherst, allowing only ten hits and striking out seven Princeton men. The game was very fast, taking only two hours and forty minutes for 17 1/3 innings. Another remarkable feature of this game was the fact that each Amherst player came to bat seven times.
That 1905 football team was a wonder team. Starting out with only three or four real veterans, Coach Hart, ably assisted by H. A. Smith, '89, built a team that was the equal of any Amherst eleven of the period. Captain John H. Hubbard, '07, was another great leader and his work earned for him prominent mention on many mythical All-American football teams. After an absence of one year, Cliff Lewis returned to his old position of quarter back, and his work was -of the usual high quality. This team uncovered another great player in R. A. Bryant, '09, left-guard.
For the ten years previous to 1906, relay racing seemed to be the athletic sport in which Amherst teams won constantly. The 1906 relay team won easily over New York University at the New York Athletic Club games, March 13, 1906. The 1906 track team, baseball team, and football team did not make any history worthy of record.
The new natatorium was dedicated at Commencement in 1906, and championship swimming teams were soon to appear, as Professor Nelligan was our expert swimmer.
In the Amherst Student, June 1, 1907, was some sad news for future Amherst football teams. The resignation of Harry A. Smith, '89, as head coach of Amherst football teams was prefaced by a long article setting forth the record of Amherst teams of the past eighteen years. Why we won and why we lost was clearly set forth, and I sincerely regret that space will not permit printing it in full in this history. It carried also a prediction as to what would happen to Amherst football during the next twenty years, - a prediction borne out by the football history at Amherst for the two decades following 1906. In the fall of 1907, the Amherst eleven won but three in a schedule of eight games, losing to Dartmouth and Williams, their chief rivals.
In 1908 the track team won two dual meets and the relay team won two races out of three starts. The baseball team won 14 out of 26 games, uncovering an outstanding player in Albert R. Jube, '10. He started in Freshman year as an infielder but this year played center field. The 1908 football team did not find itself until the end of the season, when it defeated Williams on Pratt Field in one of the closest games the writer ever saw between these great rivals. Neither team could score by rushing. A fumble by Williams at the eleven yard line was recovered by Captain Kilbourne, '09, and after a gain of a yard on first play, a drop kick was tried by Madden, '12, which was successful -- the margin of the winning team, the final score being Amherst 4, Williams 0. The star of that team was E. B. Gray, '12.
In the Amherst Student of January 28, 1909, appears a picture of the new skating rink given by Charles M. Pratt, '79, with the opening of which began another minor sport at Amherst - hockey. On February 11, 1909, there appeared a picture of Amherst's first hockey team, which played a few games with some success.
The baseball team of 1909 made a creditable record and developed three star players. Captain Jube, '10, continued his good work of the previous years. The battery, McClure, '10, pitcher, and Henry, '10, catcher, looked to the writer as one of the best since the days of Colby, '95, and Allen, '93. McClure pitched three no-hit games, the first against Annapolis, score Amherst 4, Middies 0 ; the second against Army at West Point, score Amherst 3, Army 0 ; and the third against Williams at Pratt Field, score Amherst 2, Williams 0. The Amherst-Williams game here referred to was one of the finest the writer can recall and to add to the excitement, Sabrina circled the bases, just for practice, between the fourth and fifth inning.
The 1909 football team won only a single game but produced a star center in John R. Pinkett, '11. A roving center of the "Bill" Lewis type, Pinkett was unfortunate to have been on a weak team. He deserves mention as one of Amherst's great center rushes. The 1910 hockey and swimming teams made no athletic history. The 1910 track team showed some improvement over the previous year and developed a great sprinter in Donnell B. Young, '11.
The 1910 baseball team was another great team and if there had been a league in existence as in former years, Amherst would doubtless have raised another championship banner on Pratt Field. Including a spring training trip to North Carolina, the team won 15 games out of 24. All the games were close and well-played. A team that can defeat Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth, Williams, Wesleyan, Holy Cross, and M.A.C. in one season is a championship team. This team played this stiff schedule with ten men: Jube, McClure, Burt, Pennock, Henry, Kane, Partenheimer, Vernon, Washburn, and Bryan. Many critics consider this baseball team the best ever to wear the Purple and White. The writer would select Captain Albert R. Jube, '10, John P. Henry, '10, Lawrence L. McClure, '10, and Wilbur F. Burt, '12, as the particular stars of that great team.
This baseball team conclusively proves that it is the best policy to secure a good professional coach and retain him for a period long enough to become familiar with the material in college and develop a system which does not change from year to year. A word of praise should here be voiced for E. L. Breckenridge, whose faithful work produced such good baseball teams to represent the College in 1909 and 1910.
It is worthy of note here that John P. Henry, '10, was later awarded the Hitchcock Fellowship of five hundred dollars. The securing of Henry H. Hobbs, Yale, '10, as coach of the 1910 football team was amply justified by the results The faculty ruling that freshmen could not play on varsity teams was the first handicap to be overcome. The next handicap was a series of injuries which kept several good men off the team for varying periods. The team had the real Amherst spirit, however, and by careful coaching, was at its best on November 12, 1910, when Williams was defeated on Pratt Field by a score of 9 to 0. As there was no league at this time, a win over Williams was the standard of success. I cannot pass this team without more praise for John R. Pinkett, '11, who played a masterful game at center rush during the entire season and seemed to be immune from injury.
Amherst had a one-man track team in 1911 that gave the College about as much glory as winning a championship. "Don" Young, '11, set a record as a sprinter that entitles him to be called Amherst's greatest quarter-miler. In the dual track meet with Williams, May 6, 1911 at Williamstown, he won the 100-yard dash, 220-yard dash and the 440-yard dash, all in very fast time. At the N. E. I. A. A. track meet at Springfield, May 19-20, 1911, he won the 100-yard dash and the 220-yard dash and to the surprise of the college world, at Cambridge, May 27, 1911, in the I. C. A. A. A. A. track meet, he won the 440-yard dash in 48.8 seconds, which was equal to the intercollegiate record.
The Tennis team won the championship of the N. E. I. T. A. at Longwood, Charles L. Johnston, '13, being New England Tennis Champion.
The fall of 1911 marks the beginning of a new era in Amherst activities. A plan of the Hitchcock Memorial Field appears in the October 16, 1911 issue of the Amherst Student. It includes about forty acres directly south of the Pratt Gymnasium and is ideally situated for a general athletic field. There were built a score or more of tennis courts, two or three baseball diamonds, an extra football field, and a field for soccer. With these various fields available intra-mural sports have been developed to give every student a chance to play in some game or on some team.
One-man teams were common at this period of athletics at Amherst. She developed a one-man football team in the fall of 1911. Captain John H. Madden, '12, scored 24 points in eight games, the other ten men scoring 10 points. As Madden played right-end, this record seems most remarkable. In the picture of the team which appears on the first page of the Amherst Student of November 23, 1911, Madden is the only man wearing an "A" on his sweater.
The Amherst track team for 1912 was another one-man team, that is, one man won one point in the N. E. I. A. A. track meet at Springfield. This is certainly an all-time low record for Amherst. However, Charles L. Johnston, '13, won the N. E. 1. T. A. championship at Longwood, thus becoming New England tennis champion for the second time.
Let us pass over the history of 1912 football. The cause of the decline in athletics at Amherst is a grievous subject on which the less said, the better. The reasons are partially disclosed in a letter from Donnell B. Young, '11, in the Student of March 3, 1913. Space will not permit of a quotation but in a word he says, "Lack of faithful training and not lack of material is the answer."
Two editorials in the Student of March 10 and 20, 1913 disclose other causes of the decline of athletics at Amherst. I need to quote but two sentences to illuminate the whole subject..... "And furthermore, our present hopelessly inefficient Athletic Board will have to come out of its poppy field.......
In the fall of 1913, Hitchcock Field came into use. The 1913 football team was a good one, well-coached by Harry Hobbs and capably led by Captain Walter H. McGay, '14. The team suffered heavily from injuries but came up to the Williams game at Williamstown November 15, 1913, in superb condition. Williams was a two to one favorite to win this game, but the writer can recall but few contests in which Amherst so completely smothered a great rival. It was an ideal day for football and the field was in fair condition. The score, Amherst 12, Williams 0, was no indication of the strength of the teams. Amherst completely out-played Williams in every department of the game. Williams made but four first-downs and only 55 yards by rushing the ball. It was a great game won by a great team.
The 1914 baseball team did not make any history worthy of mention and the same can be said of the football team. The 1915 swimming team made a creditable showing. The stars of the team were Norman R. Lemcke, '17, Thomas H. Nelligan, '17, and George W. Washburn, '16.
The 1915 baseball team was rated in the Student as a successful team and it scored two wins over Williams and Dartmouth and M.A.C. and one win over Yale and Wesleyan. The writer saw this team lose the Commencement Day game to the Chinese University from Hawaii and in that game the team was not impressive. In the fall of 1915, Amherst came to life again in foot- ball; Amherst 31 and Williams 0 reminded the writer of olden days. This team boasted no great stars but every man was good. Captain Stuart W. Rider, '16, was a fine backfield man and quarter-back, William H. Tow, '16, displayed generalship of high calibre. Coach Thomas J. Riley should be praised for the perfect condition of the team.
The 1916 swimming team made the best showing of any of the various athletic teams during the winter season, with basketball a good second. Captain Thomas H. Nelligan, '17, and Norman R. Lemcke, '17, were the star swimmers. Between them, they hold seven out of nine Amherst college records from 25 yards to 440 yards.
Let us here pay our respects to Lucien Ira Blake, '77, who died May 4, 1916. It was due almost entirely to the strenuous efforts of Mr. Blake during his Senior year at Amherst that the College obtained its first athletic field. Old Blake Field ..... Does it not bring up sweet memories to the first generation of football, baseball and track men of Amherst? Mr. Blake was later a well-known Professor of Physics and Electric Engineering and the inventor of the submarine telegraph.
On April 6, 1917, the Amherst Student issued a "War Extra" and from then on for many months, little attention was paid to athletics. The war was a bigger game, and Amherst athletes were enlisting by scores. A track team of green men coached and trained by Don Young, '11, made a very creditable showing in 1918; and the N. E. tennis championship was won by Edmond H. Hendrickson, '19, at Longwood. Hendrickson was also National indoor junior champion. In the fall of 1918, the Amherst football team defeated Williams, 20 to 0, on Pratt Field. To win over Williams makes any football team at Amherst a success. Captain Arthur K. Demarest, '20, Walter N. Zink, '21, and Franklin Wing, '22, seemed to the writer to be the best players on this team.
1919 saw a new kind of track competition among colleges called the Nation-wide Intercollegiate Freshman Contest. The contest consisted of four events, - the 100 yard dash, the bar vault, the running broad jump, and the high jump, - and was open to the freshmen of all colleges in the United States, the only requirement being that 80 per cent of the class enter all events. The tests were held on May 17-27, 1919. The Amherst Freshmen won with a score of 10.75 points out of a possible 12 points. Thirty-two colleges entered. Oberlin was second and Wesleyan third. A two hundred dollar loving cup was the first prize.
In the fall of 1920, football came to life after a period of stagnation. Captain Card, aided by coaches R. G. Gettell and A. F. Youngstrom, led a fighting Amherst team on to Pratt Field, November 20, 1920, and defeated Benny Boynton and ten other Williams football men. Those of us who have seen Boynton of Williams in action know that he was the greatest back-field man ever to wear the Purple. Williams was easily a three to one favorite in that game, and the Amherst football eleven that won by a score of 14 to 7 is good enough to go down in history as one of Amherst's great teams. From a team as good as this one, I can pick no stars; but the work of Glenn F. Card, '20, Walter N. Zink, '21, Franklin Wing, '22, and R. Sheldon Clapp, '23, deserves mention.
In 1921, Amherst produced another champion swimming team, Captain Douglas Whitcomb, '21, Stuart B. Damon, '22, and Edward R. Ewer, '22 were the stars of the team. Damon was National Intercollegiate 50 yard champion.
The 1921 baseball team made a creditable record, defeating Williams twice and Dartmouth and Harvard once each. The team was weak at the bat but was a fair fielding team. Captain R. A. Clark, '21, and "Walt" Zink, '21, were two good pitchers and their work kept their team in the running. The 1921 football team defeated Columbia and M.A.C. in games which were the high points of the season. The 1922 track and swimming teams were good. A great track star was developed in E. R. Clark, '23, a high jumper. His record of 6 feet, 2 5/8 inches, still stands as the best ever made at Amherst.
The 1922 baseball team made history by losing nearly every game they played, and the football eleven tried to duplicate the record of the baseball team. This was "Tuss" McLaughry's first year as coach at Amherst but what he did later made him a great coach. In 1923, Amherst was represented by another good swimming team but in other minor sports, no records were made, al- though the hockey team was better than the average of recent years. Soccer which appeared in 1919 at Amherst was started in 1922 at Williams and Wesleyan. The Little Three champion- ship was won by Amherst in 1922, '23 and '24.
On April 5, 1924, the Trustees of the College voted an appropriation from the Centennial Gift for the erection of a cage 160 feet square and 80 feet high with dirt floor and glass roof. This provided a full-sized diamond for baseball practice and a running track. As it is now used for the Alumni Dinner at each Commencement, the majority of Amherst alumni are familiar with this building. A new gymnasium will be the last great step toward improving the conditions for athletic practice. And then in the short span of sixty-five years, Amherst College will have reached the point of having the finest indoor and outdoor athletic equipment of any college of her size in America.
The 1924 hockey and soccer teams were the only successful ones. Charles Drew, '26, the star of the football eleven made up a one-man track team, being a consistent winner in every track meet which Amherst entered. The 1924 football team looked good in some of the early season games, but injury to Drew took the fire out of the squad and they lost to M.A.C. and Williams. The soccer team did better; they defeated Wesleyan and Williams and that makes a successful season for them. The basketball and swimming teams of 1925 were winners.
The 1925 baseball team was better than an average team. It defeated Williams twice and M.A.C. twice, but lost one game to Wesleyan, and the other game with Wesleyan was cancelled by rain. G. B. Woodruff, '26, pitched several fine games for his team, and the work of S. M. Cameron, '26, at short stop was impressive.
On November 14, 1925, Coach D. 0. McLaughry demonstrated what can be accomplished by following a definite line of coaching policy over a period of years. Amherst 13, Williams 7 does not look like the score of a superior team; but the condition of Weston Field-the rain and the wind, - prevented either team from showing its real strength. If the weather and field conditions had been as favorable as existed at Pratt Field on October 24th when Amherst defeated Wesleyan, 73 to 6, the score would have been similar. That Amherst really had two strong teams was demonstrated at Princeton, when the second string team held the Princeton team to no score in the first half. Here is the first team as it lined up against Williams at the opening of the game: Morse, L. E., Nelson, L. T., Smith, L. G., Richardson, C., Miller, R. G., Lyons, R. T., Walker, R. E., Capt. Moore, Q. B., Drew, L. H. B., Priddy, R. H. B., Cadigan, F. B. The substitutes were Wilson, McBride, Pratt, Whitney, Higgins, Graves, Wilder, Merrill, and Mohardt. This team deserves a place in the hall of football fame at Amherst. The players who impressed this writer as the stars were Charles Drew, '26, A. J. Lyons, '26, William Shankwiler, '28, R. Van I. Miller, '28, and C. H. Cadigan, '27.
In January, 1926, Coach De Ormand McLaughry resigned to receive an Associate Professorship at Brown University and became coach of the football team. This was bad news for Amherst, but it was a case of much higher salary at Brown. The remarkable success of Brown football teams during the past eight years shows that parsimony does not pay. When you get a good man in any position, pay him what he is worth and keep him. This was the advice of "Curley" Smith years ago.
The 1926 football team won the "Little Three" championship for the second year in succession. This was a good sturdy team, well drilled by "Dad" White, the new football and basketball coach. The team won six games, tied one, and lost one to Princeton. The score of the game lost was Princeton 14, Amherst 7, which shows that Amherst had a fighting team right through the season. This team developed no particular stars but the whole backfield played, a brilliant game; their defense against the forward pass was very effective.
The 1927 basketball and soccer teams were very successful, and the baseball team closed the season in a tie with Williams for the "Little Three" championship. The soccer team did not lose a game and was probably the best team Amherst had produced in this new line of sport. The 1927 football team lost the "Little Three" championship because of a series of fumbles in the Wesleyan game, which caused Amherst to lose by a score of 20 to 12. In this game, Amherst made 17 first downs to Wesleyan's 3 and played a superior game, but lost. Amherst defeated Williams at Williamstown 7 to 6, - not a very impressive showing but a win.
Captain R. Van I. Miller, '28, was easily the star of the team and one of the best guards ever to represent Amherst in football Notice of the retirement of Professor Richard F. Nelligan, to take place July 1, 1928, appeared in the Student for March 1, 1928. This marked the passing of a great track coach. Scores of Amherst athletes owe their prominence in various sports to the advice of this grand old man. Albert E. Lumley, of Michigan State Normal College, '25, succeeded Mr. Nelligan as track coach, and Michael J. Kennedy, formerly assistant coach, succeeded Professor Nelligan as coach of swimming.
The track team of 1928 lost to Williams and Wesleyan, but the baseball team won the "Little Three" championship. The team developed a good battery in Nichols, '30, and Trenchard, '30. Captain W. B. Parker, '28, and his brother, L. S. Parker, '28, were a pair of fine out-fielders and good batters. Walker, '28, was a good first baseman.
The 1928 football team tied Wesleyan, defeated M.A.C., and took a drubbing from Williams. One star player was disclosed, in Howard H. Groskloss, '31. G. G. Felt, '29, deserves mention as a first class end rusher.
The spring of 1929 saw Amherst blossom out with one of its greatest baseball teams. Winning thirteen games out of fifteen and defeating such teams as Harvard, M.A.C. (twice), Seton Hall, Princeton, Williams (twice), Wesleyan (twice) is a splendid record. The champion baseball team of 1929: George A. Dean, '29, Captain, third base; Robert S. Pennock, '29, manager; George A. Goodwin, '29, right field; Eugene S. Wilson, Jr., '29, second base; Albert J. Nichols, '30, pitcher; George 0. Trenchard, '30, catcher; Bernard L. Gottlieb, '31, left field; Arnold S. Hemley, '31, first base; Howard H. Groskloss, '31, short stop; Arthur S. Williams, '31, center field. Substitutes: Merritt B. Pratt, '29, pitcher; Donald L. Belden, '29, pitcher; Hugh B. Campbell, '29, catcher; Earl G. Pithie, '29, infielder. Alfred G. Wheeler, the coach of this team should receive praise for its consistent work. The bright particular star was Albert J. Nichols, '30, the pitcher who held Williams to a no-hit, no-run game. This lets Nichols into the Amherst hall of fame.
The 1929 track team coached by Albert E. Lumley made a clean sweep of the five dual track meets. This was a well-balanced team, but as it did not compete in the N. E. 1. A. A. meet, it is not possible to rate it with other great Amherst track teams.
The 1930 baseball team, with its great battery of "Al" Nichols and "Doggie" Trenchard, duplicated the record of 1929 by winning thirteen games out of sixteen played. Albert J. Nichols, '30 pitched another no-hit, no-run game against Princeton at Princeton. The score was Amherst 2, Princeton 0. This was nearly a perfect ball game as only one Princeton player reached second base. The champion baseball team of 1930: George O. Trenchard, '30, Captain, catcher; Herbert D. Howe, '30, manager; Albert J. Nichols, '30, pitcher; Arnold S. Hemley, '31, first base; Bernard L. Gottlieb, '31, left field; Howard H. Groskloss, '31, short stop; Lewis R. Whitehead, '31, right field; Arthur S. .Williams, '31, center field; Wilburn C. Campbell, '32, second base; George L. Reynolds, '32, third base. Substitutes: Samuel A. Boutwell, '31, pitcher; Charles L. McCuskey, '32, pitcher; Frederick W. Knutson, '32, utility fielder. Groskloss, '31, and Nichols, '30, were the stars of this great team. In the fall of 1930, the writer was in Amherst just prior to the Williams vs. Amherst football game and on almost every tree and pole were the mystic words "Smear Langmaid." I thought this was some new "gag" about Sabrina but further inquiry led to the information that the football team was out to "smear" the captain of the Williams team. On November 15, 1930, after seeing the game, I decided that Langmaid did his own smearing; at least he and his cohorts smeared Amherst to the tune of 16 to 13. Amherst had a team of good players but they just did not click at Pratt Field, and Williams carried home the "Little Three" championship.
The 1931 baseball and track teams were not impressive, and the football team was swamped by Williams. As I roamed among the alumni, every one was asking: "What is the matter with Athletics at Amherst?" The cure came in 1932 with dramatic suddenness, a new King - "Long live the King!" Of the other sports during 1931 and 1932, little need be said except that the 1932 track team, although defeated by Williams, won a number of dual meets and developed some star athletes of whom Van Schenck, '33, Stebbins, '33, Washburn, '34, and Sweet, '34, should be mentioned.
The College opened in the fall of 1932 with Stanley King in command; although not formally inaugurated until November 11, 1932, his hand was on the wheel and I believe every alumnus fully expected to see another "golden era" for Amherst College. The appointment of Lloyd Jordan, a protégé of Glenn S. Warner, as football coach is the first step toward the fulfillment of this expectation. The football team of 1932, champions of the "Little Three", was the answer that the College received from President King and Coach Jordan. This 1932 football team could hardly be classed as great. There was a wealth of material, but the team did not seem to play at top speed in all games. There is no doubt that the loss of the "Aggie" game was the making of the team, for in the last two contests no one could ask for a smoother running outfit. Captain Cadigan, Warner, Thompson, Moses, DeBevoise, English, and Feinburg impressed this observer as being the outstanding players.
Of the minor 1932 teams, soccer made a good record. The "Little Three" soccer season ended in a triple tie. The swimming team of 1933 clinched the championship, Captain Westfall and Ralph W. Wheeler being the outstanding men. Hockey passed out of the athletic picture in 1933, but wrestling won the "Little Three" title.
Professor Allison W. Marsh, '13, has been coach of soccer since the introduction of that sport in 1919. The Amherst teams under his coaching have had the remarkable record of having lost to Williams only once, and that was when Professor Marsh was in Europe.
In track athletics Amherst had a great team in 1933. Gold is beginning to glitter in the first year of a new golden era. Without the services of their Captain Jack Van Schenck, this team won four dual meets in a most decisive manner. E. K. Wylie, '34, broke the college record in the discus throw, marking 125 feet, 5 inches. Waldo E. Sweet, '34, was the star of the team and the finest two-mile runner ever to sport the Purple and White. He did the iron man act when he ran the half-mile, one- mile, and two-mile in the Williams meet, placing ahead of his Williams rival in each event. He scored over fifty points during the season. Other stars were Charles W. Perry, '33, Henry S. Hanford, '33, Richard King, '35, Richard S. Hawkey, '35, John H. Washburn, '34, Henry H. Stebbins, '33, and John McD. Burrows, '35. The baseball team of 1933 was very weak and lost the "Little Three" championship. Captain Walter J. Murphy, '34, played a star game at short stop and deserved to have a better team. In the fall of 1933, the football team opened the season with fifty men on the squad. This writer cannot recall an early season prospect so good, but Captain "Hal" Warner was injured early and the offense which was built around this great running back fell to pieces. In the "Aggie" game, Amherst seemed to get going again and the way the ends and tackles smothered Louis Bush, the great Aggie half-back, was a sight to behold. The team that day looked like a champion, but championships are not won with a swelled head and the little Trinity reduced the swelling some. The team in the Williams game simply did not click. Captain Warner limped perceptibly but played a sterling game as did DeBevoise, Kehoe, Moses, and English.
From time to time, various writers dealing with sports and athletics have indulged their fancy in selecting, so-called, all-time teams. This pastime has become increasingly difficult as the rules have changed the style of play in football and, to some extent, in baseball. In track athletics, the removal of certain events and the addition of others makes the selecting of an all-time team most unsatisfactory. If the all-time teams here recorded do not please the reader, he is at liberty to pick one to suit his fancy.
Anyone who has followed football during the past forty years knows that the rules of the game, the clothing and protective armor of the players, and even the location of the goal posts have undergone changes from year to year. In the mind of the writer the adoption of the forward pass and the requirement that a definite number of players must be on the line of scrimmage when play is resumed after a down have changed the whole game. The forward pass places a premium on players with speed rather than poundage. The changing of the five yards in the three downs to ten yards in four downs, as the yardage to be gained without surrendering the ball, was a distinct advantage to the defending team; and the result has been smaller scores. It is hardly fair to compare players of the last two decades of the nineteenth century with those in the present century. In the earlier period two halves of forty-five minutes each was the duration of the game and players who retired from the game could not rest up and return later as is the practice in the modern game of four fifteen minute periods. The placing of the goal posts ten yards back of the end line of the playing field has almost eliminated the drop and placement kicker. In fact it has removed the foot from football. Such great kickers as "Curley" Smith, George Pratt, and "Al" Steams would have little to do in their specialty if playing under modern rules. Gone are the days when we shall see such great kickers as Brooke, O'Dea, Herschberger, Kipke, Coy, and Mahan on any college football team.
All-time football teams at Amherst College from 1888 to 1934. First Team L.E.-Byron Van Leuven, '96 L.T.-Anthony T. Lyons, '26 L.G.-Harris B. Haskell, '94 C.-William H. Lewis, '92 R.G.-Randolph V. Miller, '28 R.T.-Franklin E. Pierce, '05 R.E.-Alexander E. Rosa, '97 Q.B.-Clifford B. Lewis, '05 L.H.B.-John H. Hubbard, '07 R.H.B.-Edward B. Gray, '12 F.B.-James J. Quill, '04
Second Team L.E.-John J. Raftery, '05 L.T.-Edgar W. Connell, '08 L.G.-Walter W. Palmer, '05 C.-John R. Pinkett, '11 R.G.-James W. Park, '03 R.T.-Ralph E. Rollins, '05 R.E.-John H. Madden, '12 Q.B.-Stowe Wilder, '26 L.H.B.-Charles Drew, '26 R.H.B.-Maxwell C. Shattuck, '08 F.B.-Harry A. Smith, '89
Third Team L.E.-Harold R. Crook, '07 L.T.-William N. Shankwiler, '28 L.G.-Harold A. Varnum, '03 C.-Henry R. Howard, '04 R.G.-Roswell W. Bryant, '09 R.T.-Frank W. Allen, '91 R.E.-Verne E. Priddy, '06 Q.B.-George D. Pratt, '93 L.H.B.-James H. Biram, '04 R.H.B.-Stuart W. Rider, '16 F.B.-Charles H. Cadigan, '27
Fourth Team L.E.-Ernest M. Roberts, '11 L.T.-Martin T. Baldwin, '93 L.G.-George A. Morse, '91 C.-Sydney D. Chamberlain, '14 R.G.-Henry S. Osborn, '07 R.T.-Anson E. Morse, '02 R.E.-Robert A. Walker, '28 Q.B.-William H. Swift, '02 L.H.B.-Salem W. Goodale, '94 R.H.B.-Harold L. Warner, '34 F.B.-Alfred E. Stearns, '94
Fifth Team L.E.-Charles L. Upton, '91 L.T.-Marshall H. Tyler, '97 L.G.-Donald C. Smith, '27 C.-Frank D. Edgell, '93 R.G.-Harlan F. Stone, '94 R.T.-Harry C. Crocker, '91 R.E.-Alonzo H. Shannon, '06 Q.B.-Paul C. Phillips, '88 L.H.B.-Paul W. Mohardt, '28 R.H.B.-John B. Shay, '04 F.B.-Daniel N. Miles, '12
In addition to the all-time teams here named honorable mention should be given to Harrison, Warriner, Houghton, Jackson, Ellis, Nourse, Ballou, Anderson, Washburn, Hall, Wilson, Powel, Coggeshall, Cook, Kilbourne, Guetter, Swasey, Tow, McGay, Creede, and "Si" Hubbard.
As baseball is a game in which the weather, the condition of the possible pitchers, the makeup of the opposing teams as to right and left hand batters and many other minor details enter into the decision of the coach or captain as to who will play in a certain game, I have made no choice of a first, second or third team but have listed at least five outstanding men for each position in the order in which they have appeared on Amherst baseball teams. The changes in the location and elevation of the pitcher's position makes it questionable whether pitchers who were effective in the eighties and nineties would be more or less effective under present conditions.
These are the outstanding baseball players in their respective positions during the past fifty years.
PITCHER, Edward P. Harris, '85, George R. Hare, '90, Kimball G. Colby, '95, John F. Dunleavy, '04, Edson A. McRae, '06, Lawrence L. McClure, '10, Walter N. Zink, '21, Albert J. Nichols, '30.
CATCHER, Rufus S. Woodward, '81, Jesse H. Allen, '93, Daniel B. Sullivan, '97, John P. Henry, '10, George 0. Trenchard, '30.
1st BASE, William E. Davidson, '88, Alpheus H. Favour, '03, George F. Palmer, '08, Wilbur F. Burt, '12, Rome A. Betts, '25, Arnold S. Hemley, '31.
2nd BASE, Alfred E. Stearns, '94, Jeremiah H. Kelliher, '05, Thomas L. Kane, '11, James Douglas, '24, Wilburn C. Campbell, '32.
3rd BASE, Cornelius J. Sullivan, '92, Robert S. Fletcher, '97, Alan Stork, '06, Harold P. Partenheimer, '13, George A. Dean, '29.
SHORT STOP, Frederick C. Taylor, '84, Henry R. M. Landis, '94, Harry T. Beach, '07, John E. Booth, '23, Samuel M. Cameron, '26, Howard H. Groskloss, '30, Walter J. Murphy, '34.
RIGHT FIELD, Richard Belcher, '89, James F. Gregory, '98, Ralph W. Wheeler, '06, Thomas B. Elliott, '22, Gerald B. Woodruff, '26, Arthur S. Williams, '31.
CENTER FIELD, Frank A. Leach, '92, John B. Shay, '04, Albert R. Jube, '10, Henry C. Swasey, '15, Walter B. Parker, '28.
LEFT FIELD, Herman S. Cheney, '94, John J. Raftery, '05, William F. Washburn, '11, Joel L. Leete, '23, Bernard L. Gottlieb, '31.
An all time track team can only be made up of the star athletes as they appeared at Amherst from time to time. Since the eighties and nineties there has been a considerable change in the listed events. The old high bicycle gave way to the safety, and later bicycle racing was dropped. The one mile walk and the tug of war also became obsolete. When the hammer throw record was hovering around one hundred feet, the wooden handle was discarded for the wire handle with the spade grip. This change caused a sudden increase in the recorded distance of the throw. It is interesting to speculate what such a giant as W. 0. Hickok of Yale would do with the modern hammer. The addition of the discus and later the javelin makes it necessary to place men on an all-time team to cover these events.
This all-time track team is composed of the outstanding men in their events at the period in which they performed. It comprises Samuel D. Warriner, '88, Charles 0. Wells, '91, Robert B. Luddington, '91, William W. Gregg, '92, Addison A. Ewing, '92, George B. Shattuck, '92, N. Dwight Alexander, '92, George D. Pratt,'93, Frank J. Raley,'93, Robert L. Pellett,'94, H. F. Houghton, '96, Asa W. Grosvenor, '97, Albert E. Curtenius, '01, Eugene S. Wilson, '02, Prentiss Carnell, '02, James W. Park, '03, Fred L. Thompson, '04, Harry E. Taylor, '04, William D. Eaton, '05, Ralph E. Rollins, '05, Walter P. Hubbard, '06, John H. Hubbard, '07, Heath E. White, '08, Herbert 0. Smith, '09, Donnell B. Young, '11, Harry W. Cole, '15, Robert L. Hunter, '18, Robert H. Clark, '23, V. Brock Darling, '24, Charles Drew, '26, Anthony T. Lyons, '26, Donald H. Hubbard, '29, John S. Hall, '30, Stanton B. Keith, '31, Henry H. Stebbins, '33, John C. Van Schenck, '33, Waldo E. Sweet, '34, and Edmund K. Wylie, '34.
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