Big Green Teams
Unusual Post-Vacation Weather Sends All Spring Teams Out of Doors Early and Boosts Their Prospects
Spring came early to Hanover in die year 1941. Coach Harry Hillman, who has suffered through the mud and trying conditions of some 32 normal months of April, states that this has been the best post-vacation weather with one other exception in his three decades at the helm of Indian track. In contrast to the usual two weeks of confined workouts in the gymnasium that traditionally follow southern trips and holiday rests, every sports team went directly out of doors on April 8 and thoroughly enjoyed the good footing and spaciousness of the many practice fields.
What is even more important than the fact that it was pleasant to be out sopping up the warm sun and gamboling over the green sod, the weather conditions will play a vital part in the successes of the spring athletic groups and will even have a helpful effect on fall teams now undertaking offseason workouts.
Last year, for example, Big Jeff Tesreau's baseball team played four Eastern Intercollegiate League games before practice on the home diamond was possible under satisfactory conditions. Likewise the track team, and the lacrosse team, and the crew necessarily spotted their opposition valuable weeks of advance training because their own environment kept them more to winter workouts than to spring drills.
Little wonder then that each of the spring teams can now be more optimistic concerning its future than otherwise might have been the case. The varsity baseball squad, for one, can thank its lucky stars that for one year at least Dartmouth can match other League foes in training facilities. Few nines of recent years have needed the work as much as the aggregation that second baseman Jackie Orr leads. With two League contests to be played on the 19th (Princeton) and the 21st (Columbia), it takes slight experting ability to conclude that a below-par nine without benefit of outdoor drills would have been a pushover for Tiger and Lion teams their equal or better in ability plus several weeks of the right kind of training on their home fields.
As the case now stands, the Big Green nine holds some chance of starting off at the right tempo despite the weaknesses of the lineup—especially at the plate. In losing all but two of its southern-trip tilts, the Indian nine showed a woeful lack of punch as Jeff had predicted during cage workouts. Actually men like first baseman Chet Jones, second baseman Orr, short stop Johnny Lendo, right fielder Dick Burns, center fielder Gus Broberg, and recently converted from pitcher to catcher Johnny Koslowski, shape up as more potent hitters than the current statistics would indicate. The one answer to this problem is hours of batting practice, and this has been possible far beyond normal expectations. Tesreau's problem at third base and right field is one of deciding whether or not he can afford to carry two candidates who can fill the bill defensively but will be weak with the willow. Warren Kreter, substitute catcher, may be inserted at third if the team's hitting average does not react to intensive batting practice. In right field Tesreau can place an outstanding fly chaser in sophomore Dix Daniels or else utilize his pitching staff on their nonworking days to advantage offensively. If all this does not add up to some definite prediction as to where the Indians are likely to end up in the League race, don't blame the writer, but put the bee on the uncertainties of the team's makeup. Knowing the skill of Tesreau, and taking into consideration the marvelous break from the weather, we'd guess that Dartmouth will finish no worse than third and any spot higher than this will be gratefully received in this corner.
On the cinder paths the prospects can be written up in much more glowing terms. There is even reason for downright op- timism. On the basis of dual meets during the winter and keeping in mind the fact that even in early meets the tracksters will be in top condition, Dartmouth stands ready to be one of the strongest dual-meet earns in the East, if not the best. For one thing the winter rivalries did much to revitalize interest in track locally and also served to bring along men who benefited greatly from the experience and work of the indoor competitions.
In every event Harry Hillman has at least one man who will fare well against Dartmouth's opponents and in a few events there is depth as well. Starting with the 100- and aao-yard dashes the Indians will couple Larry Ritter, College recordholder in the 100 at 9.9, and Fred Heinbokel, who improved during the winter to the extent that he was pushing Ritter over the short dash route each time out. The quarter miie pack will not have a one-two punch but little Paul Hanlon, who ran brilliant 300-600's during February and March, will present Hillman's forces with a star No. 1 man.
Captain Dick Howard will head the half-milers and two promising newcomers, Art Brown and Hank Kidder, should prove to be dependable threats for the cleanup points. Lee Trudeau, who made a grand comeback during the winter after two years of tough breaks, will be one of the East's top milers, leaving out the big-time loop competitors, and Bill Uptegrove will never be far behind Trudeau's best. The two-mile, often a sorry spot in the Dartmouth track picture, will be capably handled by Sid Bull, undefeated in dual tests this winter. Only in the hurdles, often the Big Green's high spot in track, will the Indians be short of talent.
Going into the field events, a good place to start is the broad and high jumps where Don Blount and Andy Hunter rate one-two in intercollegiate circles. These men, barring unforeseen happenings, are sure shots for first and second places in any competition the Indians will be called upon to enter. Dick Godfrey, who missed a new College record in the pole vault by the ripple of his jersey when the Indians met Harvard indoors, will carry his share of the load outdoors as will Dave Warren, his teammate. The shotput will be handled by Bob Nissen, the discus by Nissen and Frank Bixby, and the 16-pound hammer by Sumner Fishman.
Noteworthy cooperation between the football coaching staff and the track team will also improve the javelin event prospects where right halfback Dale Bartholomew is the ace in the hole. In fact there are other gridsters, end Joe Crowley being one, who may be of more help than anticipated, once they get back into the groove after being absent from track warfare since high school days.
UNDERGRADUATE LEADERS OF BASEBALL TEAM Manager Douglas G. Atwood '41 of Winsted, Conn., and Captain John I. Orr Jr. '41of Pittsburgh, Pa., talk things over on the bench, thankful for the early outdoor practice.
