Watkins Tries Twice and Fails; Makes
Good the Final Attempt To Set Record
Pete Watkins brought new glory to Aggieland last Saturday
evening at the Drake Relays when he hit the sand pit and looked up
to see the rod still hanging at the six foot eight inch mark.
Theres a funny story behind the Aggie athlete who broke the 21
year old Drake record, and it all started when the lanky Watkins start
ed his athletic career. But before that story is told, something else
should be mentioned in connection with the event Saturday.
That something goes like this. Before the exact day that Watkins
was to leave for Des Moines, theref
was some doubt to whether the
high jumper was going to make the
trip. Plans were before the officials
to let the All-American go, but
there were some questions to
whether he should make the trip
or not. Now that it is over and the
Aggie star has reached his goal,
the story can be told.
And then there is the thing that
had everything to do with putting
Pete where he is today. That is
that Watkins’ determination. The
first two tries for the high mark
of 6 feet 8 inches, saw Watkins
fail. Then the last and final try
was before him. A chance in a life
time to set a record at one of the
largest track meets in the nation
was standing before him. Like all
men that the Man Upstairs creates,
he was nervous. Anyone would be.
There never has been a champion
yet that wasn’t before the curtain
fell. But the lesson that Pete
knows well was exercised last
Saturday.
After knocking down the pole
the second time, Pete went back
and sat down. After a few minutes
of relaxation, with some 8000 fans
waiting to see what was going
to happen, he was ready to try for
the last time. That final try was
all that was required.
Pete broke a record that has
stood the pounding of 21 years and
trials by some thousand athletes.
The record was made back in 1922
and saw many tracksters trying
to make a new one. These track
sters were from many of the east
ern schools and many of the in
stitutions have had some strong
.iteams^fe the past.
The record that Pete set will
last through many of the Relays
to come and behind that record
will be seen Texas A. & M.
LONGHORNS CRYING
The week is here and the game
is just around the corner, when the
Aggies will tangle with the Texas
Longhorns in the last of the con
tests between the two schools that
the Army Aggies will see for a
long time.
Already this week, reports from
the 40 Acres come saying that the
Aggies were favored to take the
two-game series and along with
that, the conference title. Of course
the outlook is not so bright for the
Longhorns and as far as that is
concerned, it never was too rosy.
But it all boils down to the point
that the Steers are the underdogs
and if they can publicize that point
and then come from behind and
take the two games, it makes them
look pretty good. An underdog al
ways looks the best in the victory
column.
The Aggies are not relying on
that factor too much, for when
the first ball is pitched next Fri
day, the Longhorns will find facing
them a strong and determined ball
club. Although the Longhorns have
lost the services of Rip Collins,
their strongest hurler, and Grady
Hatton, their captain and biggest
hitter, the Aggies are expecting a
tight game from the Steers. Every
thing points to an Aggie victory,
but nothing is sure until the final
inning and the last out.
The Steers thought that they
might make a clean sweep of
Southwest Conference sports since
they took football, co-champions in
basketball, and swimming cham
pions, bpt they might fall short of
the goal as the outlook for track,
baseball, and golf looks dim.
Be on hand for the baseball con
test, and you will see' some fine
ball playing. Norton has not plan
ned any games for this week, in
order to give the team some rest
and get preparations for the final
and most important games of the
conference race.
Final Games Of Basedall Race
This Week End; Aggies vs; T.U.
Championship To Be Decided When Steers
Meet Aggies In Two Game Series Fri & Sat
When in Doubt About Your
Eyes or Your Glasses
Canaatt
DR. J. W. PAYNE
OPTOMETRIST
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Next to Pain** Tfc—tm
ies will be awarded to the team
winners of the various relay events,
No entry fee will be charged for
this meet.
Annual High School Swimming Meet
To Be Held At Aggieland May 15th
The annual high school swimming
meet to determine the state high
school swim champs will be held
here at A. & M. again in Downs
Natorium Saturday, May 15, ac
cording to Art Adamson, who is to
be in charge of the meet.
Entries from all over the state
are expected, stated Adamson, with
Houston to supply four teams.
These are San Jacinto, Sam Hous
ton, Lamar, and Stephen F. Aus
tin, all who are expected to send
strong teams. Other teams to be
represented will be Breckenridge
and Thomas Jefferson of San An
tonio, Highland Park of Dallas;
Paschal High of Fort Worth, Aus
tin of El Paso, and the A. & M.
Consolidated high school. There
may be more schools entered before
the meet, but as yet these are the
only entries to be received.
Breckenridge high, led by Dickie
Westkaemper, and Highland Park
will be defending the title jointly
in this coming meet. Tech another
strong San Antonio team, will not
be represented in this meet, and
will not be able to defend the titles
won last year.
First, second, and third place
winners in this meet will be award
ed medals, while handsome troph-
Aggie Golfers
Win From Owls
Coach Jack Lee’s Texas Aggie
Gold team opened their season
with a brilliant victory over the
Rice Owls Saturday afternoon at
Houston. The Cadets won five
matches out of seven they played.
Howell, Bill Jones, Jimmy Gard
ner and B. F. Julius scored the
victories in the singles for the
Aggies, Bill Compton being the
only Cadet to lose in singles. In
the doubles, Jones and Gardner of
the Aggies edged out Young and
Rayzor of the Owls, while the
Owls’ Taylor and Lewis paired
to defeat Howell and Compton of
the Cadets. %
Coach Lee was impressed with
the Aggie win over the Owls and
he expects the Aggies will give
a tough figh tto the Longhorn
Golfers in the Conference meet
to be held May 8 at Houston. The
Longhorns are great favorites to
carry off the conference golf
crown again.
Next Saturday, May 1, the Ag
gies and Longhorns meet in their
first test, and the winner of this
meet will decide to an extent who
will be the next Golf Conference
champion. The matches will be
played at Bryan Country Club
course.
—WATKINS—
(Continued from Page 1)
jump.
Prominent colleges and universit
ies taking places in the meet were
Notre Dame, Illinois, Michigan,
Missouri, Drake, Miami, Nebraska,
Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern,
Minnesota and Cornell.
Watkins will resume competition
with the track team May 7-8 hi a
SWC meet at Houston.
By Ruben R. Caro Costas
In preparation for their two cru
cial games against the Longhorns
this coming week-end, April 30 and
May 1 at Kyle Field, Coach Homer
Norton sent his baseballers through
a long batting drill Saturday and
Monday afternoons. With only
three more days before they clash
with the Longhorns, the Cadets
will stress more than anything
their hitting, as this has been the
main weakness in the Texas Aggie
nine, and by Friday the Cadets
will be an improved hitting club
who will blast the Longhorns out
of the conference with a complete
sweep of the two game series to
be played.
The Cadets are working very
hard and are spurred with the
burning desire to “beat the hell out
of the Teasippers.” If you drop
around the diamond one of these
days you will see that real old
fighting spirit and hustle charac
teristic of every Aggie team, and
when the umpire calls “play ball”
next Friday, the Cadet Corps will
see a bunch of players going out
onto the field with a grim deter
mination in their eyes—those play
ers none other than the hustling
Texas Aggie nine going after the
scalp of the Longhorns.
All of the starting players in the
Cadet nine will don for the last
time the Aggie uniform and be
fore they enter the army they will
end their baseball career in a blaze
of glory, hoping to give A&M one
more baseball championship.
Throughout this season every one
of them has been playing fine ball,
showing that spirit and aggressive
ness that makes them so feared by
their opponents. Although handi
capped throughout the whole sea
son by the army activation, lack
of sufficient time to practice, and
many other causes, the Cadets have
come through their schedule with
ten wins and five defeats. Of those
games won, five of them were con
ference victories; four against the
Rice Owls and one against the
Longhorns. The other victories
have been against army teams, one
against a strong Randolph team,
two against Kelly Field and two
against the Coast Guard club from
La Porte. Their losses have been
one to Texas U, for their only con
ference loss, and four to army
teams, three of them from Ran
dolph Field and one at the hands
of the powerful Waco Army Fly
ing School club.
J. B. Carden and Johnny Shuf-
ford have been carrying the heavy
load for the Cadets and they had
turned in excellent performances
against their foes. Smokey Carden
stopped the strong Randolph Field
club, being the only hurler in this
conference succeeding in this task,
and Shufford blanked the Lopg-
horns for the two outstanding feats
in the conference this season, and
before they are through they will
show the Southwest their caliber
when they face the Longhorns in
the last two games of this confer
ence schedule. Both of them are
all-conference chunkers and Friday
and Saturday afternoon each one
will take care of stopping the
Longhorns’ desires of carrying
back to the Forty Acres the South
west Conference baseball cham
pionship. If they need any help it
will come from Damon Tassos and
Les Peden.
In the infield, the Aggies boast
of having a great combination with
Peden at first, Ira Glass on sec
ond, Smith around third, Newberry
at short and Weldon Carden at the
backstop position. They have been
turning out sensational plays with
their smooth fieldings. The combi
nation of Newberry and Glass and
Peden is the best in the conference
so far, and this writer doubts that
when selections are made for all
conference players, these three
Aggie stars will be in every selec
tion. In the back stop position Wel
don Carden is far in front of the
backstops from Texas and Rice.
His record of fifteen pick-ups in
so many games played has made
him the most feared catcher in the
conference, not only by the confer
ence teams but also by the other
clubs the Cadets faced this season.
His strong arm prevented „many
would-be stealers in their vain at
tempt to steal a base. His hitting
brought many runs for the Aggies
and were big factors in some of
the Aggie victories.
All-conference outfielder and co
captain of the Aggie nine is Cullen
Rogers, head of the Cadet flychas
ing staff. He is one of the top hit
ters for the Aggies and right now
Cadet Net Team
Losses To Steers
Texas Aggie found the Texas
Longhorns net men too classy for
them here last Saturday, as they
fell to the Steer onslaught without
winning a match. As a matter of
fact, the Aggies were not even
able to register even a set vic
tory, as Doctor Penick’s men took
the meet 9-0. The Longhorns
found slight trouble in only two
of the matches, while in all the
other matches they took the
Cadets with ease.
Ags’ Billy Bennet gave Gordon,
Steers’ top netter, lots of trouble
in their second set, finally losing
out by an 8-6 count after Gordon
took the first set 6-1. The other
close call that the Ags gave the
Longhorns came in the doubles
match between Texas’ Frank Ar
rington and Tom Mitchell, and the
Aggies’ Bill Marshall and Jack
Thompson, the Steers finally win
ning out, 6-1, 9-7.
A 6-0, 6-0 defeat, the worst past
ing of the day, was received by
the Aggies’ Marshall at the hands
of the No. 1 Texas singles star,
Mitchell. The other singles match
es followed this trend, with Ar
rington taking Thompson 6-0, 6-1;
Ed Braswell beating H. C. Allen
6-3, 6-1; Clem Saunders holding
out Ellis Garlington 6-2, 6-3, and
Tom Runge brushing Duffy Stan-
lye aside, 6-2, 6-4.
In the doubles matches, Saun
ders and Braswell proved too much
for Allen and Garlington, taking
them 6-3, 6-3, while Runge and
Best rounded out the day for Tex
as with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over
Bennet and Stanley.
Buy war bonds and slap a Jap.
BATTALIONA—
Tuesday Morning, April 27, 1943
Page 3
T U Nine Falls,
Under Fliers, 8-6
An eighth inning rally Saturday
by the Longhorns fell short when
Walter Nothe, Randolph Field hur
ler stopped the Steer uprise cold
and prevnted them from making
good their efforts. Randolph Field
won 8-6, ever though, they collect
ed only eight hits off of the Long
horns chunkers while the Steers
pounded the starting Rambler
chunker for sixteen hits.
Texas U. took the lead in the
second inning when they scored
three runs, loosing it in the fourth
never to take it again. Their eight
inning rally was cut short when
Walter Nothe Rambler chunker
was rushed to the mound to check
the Steers in their uprise which
he succeeded in doing.
This was the last game for the
Longhorns before they will meet
the Aggies here Friday and Satur
day.
The Battalion needs reporters.
It’s your paper so do your part.
is batting at a .375 clip along with
the other co-captain, Les Peden.
He has been a great factor in
bringing victories to Aggieland
with his long drives that have sent
many Aggies across home plate.
This is the last season he will don
the Aggie uniform.
Along with Leo Daniels and
Seay, the Aggies have the best
outfield combination in the con
ference; fine fielding, good hitting
and strong arms. Rogers is a sure
bet to repeat as all-conference
player. Leo Daniels, playing the
center field, is running second to
Newberry in batting in the con
ference, with .420.
Seay is the other outfielder who
has been playing almost regularly
the right field position and has re
ceived some help from Walker, 01-
sak and Robinson. He is batting
.308 in the conference, which makes
him the fourth batter in the Aggie
nine. He has improved a lot in his
fielding.
With their big guns, the whole
Cadet Corps turning out for the
game along with the band, the
Texas Aggie baseball team will try
to retain the baseball crown they
took away from the Longhorns
last year at Austin.
Boys Interested In
Cage Team Asked To
Report At Gym Today
Cage Coach Manning Smith has
issued a call for all boys interest
ed in basketball who think they
might be in school next semester,
to report to the gym today to talk
over plans for a spring work out.
There are probably few boys
who know for sure that they might
return, but those who are interest
ed in basketball and have had
some experience, whether they are
sure or not, are asked to report.
Smith wants to get a general idea
of the prospects so some plans may
be made. All boys interested, please
report at 5:00 p.m. inside the gym-
mm
oot® ™i mm 2
BUY MORE WAR BONDS
U. S. Treasury Department
INTRAMURALS
By
John Stout
The Battalion needs reporters.
It's your paper so do your part.
Ho hum, this sure is sleepy
weather, or is it the weather ?
Well, anyway, if
I can think
straight I will
cut the conversa
tion and let you
know of what is
going on down at
the P. E. depart
ment this week.
Speedball
John stont A Field and I
will tangle Thursday afternoon in
a very impoi'tant Class A Speed-
ball game to decide who will play
3rd Hq. Field in the Finals next
week. The game Thursday after
noon is the only semifinal game
left to be played. I Field was the
first team in the class to enter the
semifinals and A Field was the
last team. A Field has been work
ing themselves up gradually while
I Field jumped to the top with
quick wins over all of their con
tenders. Well, anyway, this game
will be worth seeing, especially for
3rd Hq. who will play the winner
in the final game.
Make-Ups
It wouldn’t hurt, I guess, to put
a line of information in at this
point to let some of you know how
you stand, and how this P.E. stands
with the military department. P.E.
is the same as any other course
which you are taking, as far as
the military record goes, and if you
skip during the middle of the class
it will count as desertion just as
it would in any of your other
class. The sad part of this is that
it will be entered on your service
record as such. Another thing,
there are only four more weeks
to be used by most of you to make
up lost classes. Don’t forget about
the Intramural games either, be
cause at the end of this semester
you must have played 12 intra
mural games. You will not be al
lowed to take more than one make
up each evening. Let’s start mak
ing these up before it is too late.
Track Meet
The information about the intra
mural track meet has been re
leased to all of the recreational of
ficers and it is important that they
get their teams organized.
The intramural track meet will
be held at 2 p.m. next Sunday, May
2, on the Kyle Field track. Pre
liminaries will be held Saturday
afternoon at 3:00 o’clock, for most
of the track events.
There are twelve events this
year in the meet They were an
nounced last Saturday in the Batt
but some slight changes have been
made. Due to the fact that 300-
yard dashes are qualification runs
on so many physical fitness tests
today it was decided by the depart
ment to change the 440-yard dash
to the 300-yard dash. The mile re
lay has also been erased from the
list and a 440-yard shuttle relay
race has been put in its place.
The events are:
100-Yard Dash.
120-Yard Low Hurdles.
300-Yard Dash.
880-Yard Run.
Mile Run.
1.7 Mile Run.
440-Yard Shuttle Relay.
Shot Put.
High Jump.
High Jump.
Broad Jump.
Chinning.
Bar Vault.
Preliminaries will be held Sat
urday at 3:00 o’clock for the 100-
yard dash, low hurdles, 300-yard
dash, and the 440 relay. All other
Commodore Rank
Asked Restored By
Navy for Duration
Restoration of the rank of com
modore has been requested by the
Navy as temporary for the dura
tion and legislation to carry out
the proposal has been introduced
in both the House of Representa
tives and the Senate.
The bill to restore the grade of
commodore was reported by the
Senate Naval Affairs Committee
without extended debate, but with
an amendment which would insure
that commodores be subject to Sen
ate confirmation. The comparable
rank—brigadier general in the
Army—is subject to Senate con
firmation.
events will have no preliminaries.
Qualifications for the 1.7 mile
run will be made during this week
in P.E. classes. The qualification
time will be around 9:15. This is
no fixed point and the time may
vary from this if the weather gets
bad or changes, however, if the
weather this week was like last
week’s the time will be 9:15.
The track meet will be so organ
ized as to permit men to take part
in both the track and field meets.
Each participant will be limited
to four events, and no man will be
permitted td* enter more than two
running events, including the relay.
Also no man will be permitted to
run both the mile and the 1.7 mile
run.
In the field events, a man may
take his three tries at any time
during the course of the meet, but
a man must keep up with the rise
the bar in the high jump.
All recreational officers are re
minded that in order for your or
ganization to receive the 50 entry
points your organization must have
a minimum of five men to partici
pate in the meet.
The featui'e event of the meet
will be without a doubt the 1.7
mile run. Let’s get going and get
things organized and may your out
fit be the team to share the top
honors of the day neyt Sunday.
You can do it if you talk it up.
How about it?
<■*/***
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