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Show IVI r. . ff F- f ; E f Cll Ii i United Siaes Will Have Classy Array of Distance Runners I Robert Martin, Ogden A. A. Star, Touted as One of America's Representatives on Olympic ; Track Aggregation i I 'By JACK KEENE. To -win the marathon run is the crowning glory ot the Olympic games. In another month the task of picking the men who will wear tho shield oC i Uncle Sam when they face the starter's start-er's gun iu the classic event of the Olympic games in Antwerp next Au-Siist Au-Siist will be well under way. A number of preliminary marathons will bo held in various parts ot tho country and the leaders in these will compete iu tho Boston marathon. Probably the first twelve men iu thatj event will go to Antwerp, but only four will be allowed to start. Victory over the lond grlhd of 26 J miles 3S5 yards is the supreme triumph I of the great international lueeL The late James E. Sullivan former president presi-dent of the Amateur Athletic Union of j tho United thought more of winning ( this long-distance event than any oth-j er three races for he once said.: "Amer-1 ica would sooner win the marathon i than any other three races on the program." pro-gram." Many Stars. Among the men who are sure 'to be' included in the final list are Nick Gum-' nakapulos, the Greek runner of tho Mil-rose Mil-rose team; Charles Pores, who holds ( the national five-mile championship;' Sidney Hatch of Chicago. Harry Park-1 inson, who won the 101-1 Seagrit mar- athon and 1915 Yonkers marathon; J.I Simmons, junior national cross-coun-j try champion of Syracuse University, i and Jimmy Henigan, the New England champion cross-country runner of the Dorchester (Mass.) A. C. Franz Zuna, who the Frank B. "Whitney "Whit-ney American Legion Post of Newark. N. J., offered to send to England to take part In tho annual English mara-J thon of Junen 21, may be a doubtful! starter. He is America's chief reliance J for winning the latter event, but the il American Olympic committee does not 1 favor barnstorming by United States. 1 athletes. Zuna probably will start jnl t the British classic, and his physical! I: condition after thah't event will have F a great bearing on the ruling of the! I; American committee. !, Barnstorming is prohibited by the' I American authorit ies to save the Uuil-i ; cd States athletes from injuries or ill- j i nrjs which may berall them from tak-i 1 ing part in competitions prior to the! , Olympic games. For that reason, with I : exceptions for those who are to take I i held in April, America's representa-1 i part in the ice events, which will be j thes'in the Olympic games will leave) here in a body, and from the time they board the liner until the competitions! are over the athletes will be under j military discipline. ' Zuna a Champion. Zuna is counted upon being Ameri-J ( cc's ace for the big classic pf the 'i Ulmpics by virtue of his winning the) ! service., men's marathon of twenty, ; miles from Trenton to Camp Dix last year, added to his recent victory in the 1 Brooklyn twenty-five mile marathon, j i He is a native-born American of Bo-j Bo-j hemian parentage and a crack dis-J lance man before he answered the call; to the colors. Ho showed much better bet-ter form when he returned from j France. In capturing the Brooklyn marathon a few months ago ho beat Otto G. Laakso, who represented tho Todd Shipyard A. A. by a' full mile. Pat Ryan and Matt McGrath, two of tho noter trio of New York ''Police Babies," who are candidates for the weight events of -the Olympic games, started training recently with outdoor work. Ityan threw tho hammer 177 feet and McGrath got it away 173 feet. John Conway, junior champion of the metropolitan district, beat them both with tho shot Willi a toss of 34 feet 3 inches. - Robert S. Martin, western long distance dis-tance runner, will represent the Ogden Athletic association in. the trials. Martin, Mar-tin, a former University of Illinois stalls stal-ls touted as one of the stars of America's Ameri-ca's representatives in the Jong race. He is a polished star and may spring the unexpected. |
