Show S Pr THE HE pink haired gentleman with only a n touch of gray In his thatch was watching one of his Olympic vaulters shooting at 14 feet His name was Dean Cromwell head coach of the U. U S. S Olympic track team for the year 1948 desti 1948 desti destination na nation tion London Cromwell has been head track coach at Southern California since Charley Chanley Paddock vS- vS was a kid and Fred S Kelly was a n hur hur- dier That means a along z long par parade a d e of J S years The firstS first S S query query fired at head c coach 0 a c h Cromwell 5 was not too sensational sensational sensa sensa- S How are we fixed for tor the next Olympic Gil Dodds games All AU set Cromwell Cromwell Crom Crom- well said He ought to know He has turned out more Olympic winners in his day and time than any coach coachI I ever ran across I figure it this way the head 1 coach continued with thousands of ol American kids in training training kids kids and older men with men with from to track coaches who arc are the best in inthe inthe inthe the world how can we lose Weve We've made a great showing in every Olympic Olympio pio so far We should do the same in this one We are better equipped than any other nation Oh Ob we wont won't mop up The Swedes will be tough at the mile orthe or orthe orthe the 1500 meters The Finns will be tough at and meters Here and there someone else will pick up a victory But we have too much manpower are too ably coached to lose out The Swedes may need one or two of those or milers with the way Gil Dodds Is running Well We'll have some good sprinters some good jumpers and pole vaulters but I cant can't see any long-distance long men now who can run with some Finns and Swedes who were running for 5 to 10 miles when they were mere youths only 10 years old We dont don't have many athletes who like the grind of training for tor or meters Most of them want the dashes the hurdles or the half halt mile We wont won't have any Jesse Owens around but Mel Patton can travel a bit It is bound to be a good team If Picking the Team Explaining the procedure for pickIng picking picking pick pick- ing the team Cromwell said the big showdown will come in the Intercollegiate Intercollegiate Intercol Intercol- games in Minneapolis and the AAU game in Milwaukee both championship tests It has been suggested that we take the six best men for each event in the two meets meets making making 12 men all told Cromwell added We wont won't need that many In any e event ent the winners In these two championships championshIps championships champion champion- ships held in June will be the ones who get the calL It will be all aboard for London only for those who prove their place in these two big championships I This should be simple enough Hundreds of track coaches covering the vast athletic map of the United States soon will start getting their stars in shape The main idea will be to get the Olympic possibilities or probabilities ties ready for the Intercollegiate I and the AAU games i I dont don't know who the best men are today Cromwell admitted Neither does any other coach But they soon will be popping up all allover allover allover over the map map map-a a few o of them great some of them good others not so soi i good The East and the Midwest are strong The South and the Southwest Southwest South South- j west are far tar from weak The world has been better off oil before but these next games will be among the best weve we've had Perhaps they can help create a better feeling Forty Years of Drouth Probably the top running race of any track meet is the mile or the 1500 meters Here we have a combination com corn that demands both speed and stamina especially when you get down In the low minute four class But nut how many know that It has been just 40 years since an entry from be the United States ever won this major event in Olympic competition competition competition com com- petition The last American to finish finish fin fin- ish In front was Mel Sheppard in London in 1908 1903 Since that time the British the Finns or some other foreign nation has taken over the job of mopping up in this bis long Ions distance distance dis dis- tance event Back in 1936 in the games at Berlin BerUn Bertin Ber Ber- tin lin we seemed to have a shining chance with Glenn GInn Cunningham on the job But Cunningham couldn't handle the fast flyer from New Zealand who set a new Olympic record This was Jack Lovelock Lavelock who ignored time and yet set a record He ran only fast enough to win Cromwell has been looking for some time at our year 40 record atthe at atthe atthe the mile or 1500 meters Id sure like to end that losing streak this summer he said slid but the way those Swedes can cover the distance makes it tough They've had bad two that broke for tor the mile mile mile-Ander- Ander Anderson son and Hagg Th That's ts t's too fast faRt for tor us S SS S j S S k 1 S |