Supermen & Cripples

Three of the greatest athletes in U.S. track history made their final appearance in intercollegiate competition last week.

The meet: the 66th annual outdoor Intercollegiate A.A.A.A. championships. The athletes: Penn State's Sprinter Barney Ewell, New York University's Miler Leslie MacMitchell, Georgetown's Shot Putter Al Blozis. With customary prowess, each of these supermen dominated his particular field:

> Ewell, for the third year in a row, won the 100-yd. dash, 220-yd. dash and broad jump bringing his accumulation of Intercollegiate titles (indoors and out) to an even dozen, a feat no other track star has ever accomplished.

> MacMitchell, who has run within two seconds of every world's record for half a dozen distances from 440 yards to 1,500 meters, took the mile in 4:12.2 for his eleventh Intercollegiate title (cross-country, mile, half-mile).

> Blozis, world's No. 1 shotputter, undefeated in three years of I.C.4-A competition, hurled the 16-lb. shot 55 ft., 4 7/8 in. for a new meet record, then won the discus throw with a toss of 160 ft., 3 7/8 in.

Great as Blozis and MacMitchell are on track & field, they are considered cripples by the U.S. Armed Forces. MacMitchell was turned down by the Navy because his heart beat (40) is too slow. Blozis (who stands 6 ft. 6 and weighs 240) was rejected because he is too big.

Noteworthy performances by other cripples in last week's meet:

>Colgate's one-eyed Al Diebolt, considered the East's fastest quarter-miler, in the biggest upset of the day, lost the 440 by a foot to an up-&-coming Georgetown sophomore named Hugh Short. Winning time: 47.2 sec.

> Notre Dame Alumnus Greg Rice, rejected by the Army because of a triple hernia, chalked up his 42nd successive victory in an invitation two-mile race. Greatest distance runner since Nurmi, Rice was ashamed of his time: 9:25.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.