Rowing and Track Athletics (extract)

Track Athletics in the Colleges 291 not retarded by any Puritanical scruples, but dur– ing the early days there was too little chance for competition particularly to encourage their de– velopment. College athletics began to make themselves felt in California during the latter eighties, however, and in 1893 the first meet was held between Stanford and Berkeley, or, as it is more commonly known in the East, the Univer– sity of California. Berkeley won by the score of 91 to 35, and also won the succeeding two years. In 1896 the score was a tie, but, generally speak– ing, the track athletes of the state university have thus far been more successful than those of Stanford. It was in 1895 that Berkeley felt her– self strong enough to send an attacking party on a tour of conquest down East. Games were held in various places along the way, the team's record was a good one, and at Mott Haven Cali– fornia won two seconds and one third. That was the year that Crum of Ohio vanquished the East– ern sprinters and won both the short distances. Had it not been for those two unusual hurdlers, Bremer of Harvard and Chase of Dartmouth, two firsts instead of two seconds would have gone to California. As it was, "Father Bill" Curtis, after watching the Berkeley hurdlers run, remarked that he would never again question a record that came from the Pacific coast. Many excellent track men have been developed