Salt Lake Telegram | 1936-05-25 | Page 12 | Backseat Driving

PRANK FRANK K BAKER BAKER- The conference track meet at Denver last weekend was more than a persona personal conquest for the champion Cougars from Brigham Young university It was 2 a triumph for the whole Beehive state because Utah schools led by the champions won three of the first four places place in the meet After Ater the Cougars retained their title with 60 points Colorado Colorado Colo Cob rado university finished second with 54 points Utah university university university sity landed third with 35 and Utah earned fourth with 26 th there re were only 74 points left for the other eight schools in inthe inthe inthe the conference It is hard to understand in the face of these cold cold statis statistics statistics sta sta- tics why the smaller schools want to continue this disheartening disheartening disheartening ening competition for their athletes Instead of being perennial cellar champions in the R R. M. M C. C I should think that schools like Colorado Mines Mine Western State Colorado college and perhaps Greeley State would be much more content to compete on more equal basis in a league of their own called perhaps the Colorado conference S So long as these schools insist upon traveling with the 2 l larger institutions the whole conference will have to move along at their slower gait The unwieldy nature of the current cur- cur current current rent school 12 conference is an old old story but none the theN N less subject for or amputation Intelligent discussions of the problem are often hard to obtain because it is awkward to talk about dropping certain tam tain schools with traditional backgrounds in the conference Mines lines and Colorado college each have been powers in the K U. M. M C. C Greeley State has shared the gridiron title in the modern era era Wyoming is invariably a basketball contender and Montana 1 State has been the king of kings so far as basketball basketball basket basket- ball ban is concerned that in the era ern of the Golden Bobcats There is the question too of manpower distribution in case some of the Colorado scho schools schools' ls' ls dropped out of the conference Some authorities beli believe ve that a number of Colorados Colorado's good athletes who now attend the smaller schools under the current situation would be drawn to toC C C. V. V U. U Denver and Colorado State by the same urge for forthe the time big-time competition that k keeps eps these small schools taking it on the chin each year now and liking i it C. C U. U recognized this theory years ago before B. B Y U. U had become an athletic power in inthe the conference Buffalo representatives representatives representatives were outspoken n in favor of having the Y in the c conference along with Utah and Utah even if f the Cougars hadn't devel developed ped their teeth at that time Their comment we went t something like this There is only so much athletic talent in Utah We prefer to have that manpower divided three ways instead of only two As a state Utah's reply to that theory has been to develop all three schools into topnotch members of this conference as has been amply proved by numerous contests preceding last weeks week's e ks k's tr track ck meet ck t Now New Mexico 1 compliments the conference by seeking membership in the B. B M. M C. C but conference authorities must rem remember that a thirteenth member will make the league still sun more unwieldy and that the Lobo institution would be a remote place to reach for Cor home and home play Perhaps there be room in a B. B RM I. M. M C. C big eight for New v Mexico but that would push another current member out of the stronger group S 0 Dale ale Schofield concluded his c collegiate competition in fit fitting fitting fitting fit fit- ting style by scoring 18 16 points in the conference meet equaling his conference record of in the low hurdles for his outstanding performance Jack Thornleys Thornley's new javelin record of feet and Dick Kearns' Kearns seconds performance in the high hurdles to equal Buck Grants Grant's five year old year old record were high spots inthe inthe in inthe the meet