Relay--Dartmouth, Harvard, Cornell.
This list gives Dartmouth 41 1-2, Harvard 40 1-2 and Cornell 34, but if Cornell and Dartmouth swapped places in the relay and the other places were unchanged the totals would be H 40 1-2, C 39, D 36 1-2.
The beauty of Saturday's three-cornered competition is that the slightest flick of an elbow may upset the plans of any of the coaches. Cornell always comes to town as an unknown quantity; Dartmouth possesses potential power, but can't quite duplicate its Hanover performances on a foreign surface. It is easier to keep track of the form of Harvard's athletes than it is to follow the ups and downs of the boys who strive so diligently under Harry Hillman and Jack Moakley, and that's why the meet promises to have a stronger Crimson tinge than the "dope sheet" indicates.
The shot-put and 35-pound weight events will be held at the Briggs Cage, Saturday afternoon. All the other contests will be fought out at the Garden. The new plan whereby the 300-yard event is to be raced as three separate heats, with each runner to be timed and fastest times to determine the three place winners, is an innovation which gives each college a chance for a sweep of all three places. Heretofore, each college has been limited to two starters in the "300," which has been run in one heat.
Winners of 1928 who will try to repeat are Captain Reid of Harvard, who lowered the mile record to 4.26 4.5; Captain Swope of Dartmouth, whose 600-yard triumph resulted in a record of 1.16 3-5; Reid in the two miles, Maynard of Dartmouth in the high jump, Levy of Cornell in the shot-put, and French of Harvard in the broad jump. French has rounded slowly into top stride; Maynard until recently has been handicapped by a lame back, but Reid, Swope, and Levy are in prime fettle, although I'll be surprised if Reid wins both the mile and two-mile.
It happens that Harvard athletes run best when they are running for points. It is becoming a tradition that they arrive in this mid-winter meet. Harvard was slow in getting its first H-D-C victory, but since first crashing through in 1925, the Crimson has made it a habit, for Harvard has won four in a row under Farrell. Count up Harvard's winning totals of the past four years and you will find that the 200 mark has been surpassed. Neither of the others has touched 135 points in this period. It's dangerous business to count Harvard other than the favorite until it has lost the winning habit in this meet.