N~iGoLDIEN, Captain MEYERS
1917 Varsity Cross-Country
By CWTAIN DEMMER GOLDEN
In consideration of the fact that it was an off year, the 1917 Cross-Country season was success-
ful. Some of our dependable men did not return to school and the war cut down the squad to
almost a minimum. Burr, who would have been a strong contender for first honors, did not
return, and several other prospective "W' men were not back, but in spite of that Wisconsin
put out a good team.
The Minnesota meet was a great success, for we decisively defeated the Gopher sextette over
their course at Minneapolis. In that meet the six men of the team showed that they were of
championship caliber and every one of them ran a game race. This is evidenced by the fact that
,r we had our entire team over the line before the first Minnesota man had finished. Dayton, who
came in first, ran the course in time which was but 3 seconds behind the Minnesota record held
by Watson, and the rest of the team was close on his heels.
Wisconsin was again successful in the annual conference meet held at Washington Park,
Chicago. There the team was the second in the Western conference to finish. In spite of the
cold day and the fact that the course was entirely snow-covered, almost all of the men ran well.
The season brought some good material to light. Elsom, especially, developed fast, and
from the beginning showed that he was Varsity material. He proved it by taking tenth place
in the conference run. Meyers showed marked development and Ramsey, O'Donnell, and Nash
ran wel at almost all times. The Non-Varsity meets brought out a lot of good material. Crump,
who won the class, college, and turkey races, is of Varsity specd and would have helped the team
if he had been eligible for Varsity competition.
At present the prospects for next season are very bright, and Wisconsin should have a cham-
pionship team if the war does not cut in on the team's personnel. All of this year's team, with
one exception, will be back, with a possibility of Burr's returning. With such a bunch as Dayton,
Burr, Elsom, Nash, Crump, O'Donnell, Ramsey, and Meyers to pick from, there should be a
record-breaking 1918 team.
Coach Benish's work was especially effective in developing green material into good runners
and in keeping them in good spirit all during the season. He, with Manager Bryant, has entered
the service and will not be back next year.
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