-~ I AGE TWt)Y: THE MICHIGAN DAILY WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 21, 1949 m - Thinclads Seek To Regain Win Habit -4 ., Fonville May Hold Key To Michigan Title Hopes By BILL CONNOLLY Varsity track men at Michigan, with more than a seldom inspir- ing thought of years gone by, find themselves working more enthus- iastically each year to live up to the heritage laid down on the cinderpaths by their forerunners. For they know that they are traveling over the same grounds that were once trod by such f a- mous runners and field men as Eddie Tolan, the Hume twins, RalphrSchwarzkopf, Bob Osgood, DeHart Hubbard, Charlie Fon- ville, Herb Barten, Bob Ufer and their coaches Don Canham and Elmer Swanson. A BRIEF review of the records shows that the achievements of Varsity trackmen at Michigan are among the most outstanding rec- ords turned in by any Wolverine athletic squad. Wolverine runners have won fifteen Big Ten indoor track titles since competition began in 1911, and dominated the Conference indoor paths from 1934 through 1940 by winning seven consecutive champion- ships. And the outdoor record is even more impressive. The Wol- verines have racked up 20 wins in 49 years of competition, be- ginning in 1901. Veterans of some of the later championship teams are the pres- ent Wolverine coaches, Don Can- ham and Elmer Swanson. To- gether they comprise the youngest coaching staff in the Conference. ONE OF MICHIGAN'S greatest track athletes, Canham was cap- tain in 1941, fou rtimes a Western Conference individual champion and National champ in 1940. He set both the Wolverine varsity in- door and outdoor records in the high jump by jumping 6-ft. 63/4 inches indoors and 6-ft. 71/4 inches outdoors. He has had the distinction of competing under two of Michi- gan's most outstanding track coaches-Charles B. Hoyt and J. Kenneth Doheryt, who is now at Penn. Canham was selected by Doherty as his assistant in 1946, and took over the reins last year, with Swanson moving in as Assistant. Ranking high on the list of ver- satile Michigan athletes, Swanson was a six letter man, winning QUESTION MARK--Charley Fonville, generally recognized as the nation's finest shot putter until a back injury halted his career last fall, will attempt a comeback next season. If his back holds up and he regains his past form, Fonville will be an invaluable aid in Michigan's bid to regain the track honors which they have held so frequently in past seasons. Charley has another goal to shoot for too. While recuperating from an operation he saw his world shot put mark shattered by Jim Fuchs, formerly of Yale. DON CANHAM . . . bright future * * 10 three each in track and baseball. Running for the Conference cham- pion Wolverines, he won both the Big Nine high and low hurdles titles in 1944. * * * BESIDES scoring a double vic- tory in the Conference track championships, Swanson served as a utility infielder on coach Ray Fisher's 1944 baseball squad, an- other team of Conference champs. Thus it was with two new coaches at the reins that track- men climbed aboard the wagon when workouts began early last September in preparation for the 1949 season. Distance men took to the hills-the hills of the University Golf Course, where four-mile cross-country jaunts are a daily routine dur- ing the fall. Meanwhile, the field men, sprinters and hurdlers took ad- vantage of the Indian Summer and worked out on the outdoor track at Ferry Field. ALWAYS ONE of the first men to don a sweat suit in the Sep- tember heat is shot-putter Char- lie Fonville, who was captain- elect for the 1949 season and hold- er of every world record in his specialty. It was a tremendous blow to track fans at Michigan and the world over when it was an- nounced by Don Canham last October that Charlie was forced to drop out of school to under- go an operation on an unfused vertabra and would not be available for the coming season. It was doubtful if he would ever throw a shot again. Charlie still has a year's eligi- bility remaining, but he is still the number one question mark on Coach Canham's list of prospects for the 1950 season. Those early fall workouts again this year may tell the tale. * * * THE CROSS COUNTRY season wound up just before Thanksgiv- ing, with Bob Thomason setting a new varsity record for the one and two-thirds miles distance. He was clocked in 7:32.8 for the hill and dale course, and shortly after was elected by his teammates as cap- tain of the 1949 squad replacing Fonville. Track news next hit the pa- pers whe nit was announced by the National AAU that official recognition had been made of Fonville's world's record out- door toss of the 16 pound shot. He threw the iron ball 58 feet %/ of an inch in the Kansas Relays run the previous April. Moving idoors around Thanks- giving time,- the thinclads began workouts on the 220 indoor cinder track in Yost Field House, in (Continued on Page 8) HEY JOE! "Meet me at that popular student Tonsorial Parlor." The DASCOLA BARBERS Liberty near State 1313 South University t KNOW HOW TO BALANCE YOUR BUDGET? I HERE'S YOUR FIRST LESSON IN ECONOMICS at the "Biggest little store in the world" If you come, I can't increase your £ , I in- . A cut down on your expens- es by shopping these items: TWO OUT OF TWO! Gymnastics Coach Develops Trampoline Kings 1 Famous Brand 5.95 Swim Trunks 99c pr. -r Developing two different men into national trampoline cham- pions in two successive years is the recent accomplishment of Michigan's gymnastics coach, Newton C. Loken. First of Loken's pupils to ride for the National AAU Champion- ship was Phillipine - born Bob Schoendube, who graduated last June. HE TOOK THE title in 1948, after a successful season in dual meets and a first place on the tramp in the Big Nine. Bob dropped to eleventh place in the NAAU of 1949, as team- mate Ed Buchanan, sophomore sensation from Amarillo, Texas, copped the trampoline cham- pionship not only in the NAAU, which draws the finest gymnasts from all over the United States, but also previously in the NCAA, the Big Nine, and the Midwest Open meets. Another stellar performer in his first season of competition was Pete Barthell, who will captain this season's squad. He earned the nickname "daily double" as he took both the tumbling and par- allel bars, contests in each of the Wolverines' meets and also in the Big Nine affair. THE WESTERN Conference Meet was held for the first time in Ann Arbor last March 26. It attracted the largest number of competitors in the history of the Conference, with 50 entries from seven schools. There were 10 Wol- verines in the meet, the largest number from one school. Strength wasn't found in numbers, however, as Minneso- ta, with only four men, fought to the title edging Illinois by one point, while Michigan fin- ished third, 17 points off the pace. Three individual crowns were taken by the Maize and Blue, while Minnesota and Illi- nois split the other four. During the regular season, the team lost only one dual meet, that to Illinois. They won six times, downing the University of Chicago, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State, Kent State, Uni- versity of Ohio, and Wisconsin. * * * AFTER THE Big Nine Meet, the Wolverines traveled to Chicago for the Midwest Open Meet, where they placed fifth. In the NCAA meet held in California, the two man entry of Buchanan and Bar- thell, who accompanied Coach Loken to the University of Cali- fornia, finished ninth in team to- tals, with Barthell placing fifth in his two specialties, while Bu- chanan was winning the trampo- line title. Chicago, was also the scene of the NAAU Meet, which four Michigan men entered unat- tached in the trampoline event, with all four placing within the first eleven. Besides Buchanan, who won the title for his fourth award of the season, Dave Lake finished seventh, while Gordie Levenson held the eighth spot and Bob Schoendube, previous year's champ, came in eleventh. Michigan's present gynastic team got its start in 1945 and 1946 when Newt Loken led the unofficial Gymnastics Club through 29 exhibitions, traveling 2700 miles around the state of Michigan. * * * AFTER THIS show of talent, the team was given-the okay to represent Michigan in Big Nine competition by the Board in Con- trol of Intercollegiate Athletics. In their first season of compe- tition, 1948, the Wolverine gym- nasts finished third in the Con- ference Meet after winning four of six contests during the sea- son. Trampolinist Schoendube was Michigan's only winner in the Conference that year. Lettermen returning ror duty this year, besides Buchanan and Barthell, will be Gordie Levenson, tumbler and trampolinist; tum- bler and parallel bar artist Tom Tillman; and Jeff Knight on the side horse. * * * BOB CHECKLEY on the horse. Wally Niemann on the high and parallel bars, and Bill Parrish on the high bar are the reserve award winners who should strengthen the squad this year. 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