Oregon s swimming team—-Mike Hoyman coaches it: Co
(’aptains Gerry Iluestis ami Dick Smith lead it; sophomores
crowd it; and nobody lias beaten it. Last week the Aqua-Ducks
drove into California couched in the very-creditable but not
overly-gdainorous Northern division dual meet swimming title.
Monday Coach Hoyman brought the team home to Eugene, and
it was acclaimed the best on the coast.
Significantly, it had nearly drowned San Jose State
college, 52 to 23; more significantly, it had splashed like
wild over Stanford, reigning aquatic power in southern
division collegiate circles, 49 to 23; most signiffcantly, it
had spilled the San Francisco Olympic club, for five years
unspilled and the toughest team on the Pacific coast, 38
to 37, Saturday morning’s Emerald notwithstanding,
What a change of complexion! After watching the Webfoots
in their season’s first dress rehearsal. Hoyman grunted: “None
of my sophomores showed anything today, with the possible
exception of Ralph Iluestis (and they didn't). If you have any
money, you’d better put it on Washington in the dual meet
and the Northern division.”
Early Grief
A few days later scholastic eligibility broke Sprint-Sensation
Bob Irvin and Hoyman’s heart . . . momentarily. In any case,
it piled more grief on that which already stung when Cub
Callis, backstroke hope, left school.
Irvin’s and Callis’ loss, however, didn’t dull any of the
Aqua-Ducks’ spirits for long. Hoyman, in his very toler
able way, kept paternally cracking the whip. The team—
Frcestylers Gerry Huestis, Dick Smith, Jack Robinson,
Johnny Mead, and Dick Allen; Breaststroker Ralph Hues
tis; Backstrokers Chuck Nelson and Chuck Weitzel; and
Divers Tom Corbett and Ox Wilson—plugged along.
Before the first Oregon State meet, Hoyman peered through,
over, and around the OSC Barometer (student publication) for
evidence of a Beaver swimming team, then grinned: “11 mm,
4h.ey don't appear to have a swimming team,” and they didn’t,
for the Webfoots thrashed the Beavers, 63 to 12. Oregon
showed something in that encounter.
Beaver Complaints
Following this first Oregon-OSC clash, Beavers complained
about the short Oregon pool (Oregon’s tub is 60 feet short,
while the Beavers splash around in a 100-foot tank), about
the slippery sides enclosing the Oregon pool.
To this Hoyman shrugged, remarked matter-of-factly:
“Well, water is water. Whether in a 100-or a 60-foot pool,
it’s all the same—water.’’ The next Saturday he took his
mermen over to Corvallis and showed the Beavers just
what he meant by “water is water,” the Webfoots tubbing
RISC’s mermen in the latters’ pool, 59 to 16.
Oregon dunked Washington February 14, pleased a host of
dads down for Dads’ day, and grabbed the dual meet crown
from the Huskies, 53 to 19. Oregon lost that same title in
Seattle last year, when Gerry Huestis, a swimming anchor for
the Webfoots in the crucial 400-yard freestyle relay, came
within 6 inches of bridging the gap between him and the Husky
anchor, a gap that had been established by the three previous
Washington swimmers.
California Thrust
Last week came the California invasion . . . very successful.
Oregon’s “untested” sophomores were tested and passed with
honors. “Spindly” Nelson was unbeaten in two races—against
Stanford and the Olympic club—and emerged as the best
backstroker on the coast, with the possible exception of USC’s
—kvan Duke.
Before the 300-yard medley in the Olympic club meet,
Ralph “Po” Huestis cracked: “Who’s this guy Werson
anyway?” Werson’s national records meant nothing to
“Po,” who knew nothing about them, and the gangly
Webfoot edged the Olympic club star out in their lap
of the medley, after “The Face” Weitzel had swum the
backstroke lap. Nelson, thrashing on his stomach this time,
went on to win the event.
Hoyman commented afterwards: “If there’s a 100-yard col
legiate breaststroker on the coast better than Huestis (Ralph),
I'd like to see him.”
On Jack Robinson
Outside of Lucas of the Olympic club, Hoyman thinks
and has good reason to believe that Jack “Rabbit” Robinson
-L the best freestyler on the coast. Against Stanford “Rabbit”
paddled into the last lap % of a length behind Monroe of
-flie Indians, then outsprintecl his opponent to touch *4 length
ahead.
Gerry Huestis beat this same Monroe in the 100-yard
freestyle, and looked “good” doing it. For that matter,
| SpitidJi&i On . . . WiUau\
“Oh, Up floats through the air
With class and with grace;
His dive was a short one
So he messed up his face." f
Diving, beautiful' but brutal,
dates far back into (he past. But
diver Willard E. “I’d -Just as Soon
be Known as ‘Ox’” Witan dates
back only to three days after the
armistice of the first all-world
feud.
Ox's home address is The
Dalles. He began his diving ca
reer at 10 and two years later
sprang from the 24-foot tower.
It wasn’t all fun for our hero as
many times in doing a one and a
half dive he would complete only
one and a quarter and meet the
water with his midsection. His
body was bruised black and blue
all too often as a reward for his
efforts.
Before :i dive in a meet Ox,
at the bottom of the 13 rungs,
eloses his eyes and visualizes
the aetions of the dive. After
fixing them in his mind he
hoists himself to the plank and
gets ready for his hop and flop
into the pool below. Every no
tion must be planned before
leaving, for it's hard to think
while dropping through space,
he says.
Willard E. is larger than most
divers, with 175 pounds wrapped
around his six-foot frame. His
weight was around 187 but Coach
Hoyman said that he would be
counted out before he left the
board so Ox trimmed his figure.
Hard luck has overtaken Ore
gon’s diver this year. First it was
a pulled leg tendon in November
which netted a three weeks’ rest.
Immediately following came
pneumonia and back he went to
the infirmary for 10 days.
Willamette Transfer
Wilson is a junior transfer
from Willamette. He is a BA ma
jor and plans to enter advertising
and selling upon completion of his
studies.
When the Wfebfoot water
team took the California jaunt
it was Ox’s first trip to that
state. He points put that when
he left Oregon ho was healthy
but that during his southern
stay he caught cold.
But . . . “After diving on those
California boards, this board
seems like trying to do a spring
board dive from a platform.”
With these word$5 he launched the
“Buy a Better Board for the
Boys” campaign which he hopes
will result in a new diving tower
here at Oregon.
Sigma Nus Power
Sigma Chis
Clip Phi Delts
23-2l;Top,B’
By JOE MILLER
The roaring Sigma Nus hit the
end of the trail yesterday, the
coveted “A” league championship.
They swept over the battling
Betas, 30 to 21, to take the crown
in a hitter, hard-fought affair.
The Sigma Chis staved off a
last minute Phi Delt rush to gar
ner the “B” league title in an
other “Pier 6” brawl, 23 to 21.
The Sigma Nus started slow as
usual. The Betas took a 10 to 6
halftime lead. Rathbun and Side
singer got the Beta boys off to
this lead with a contribution of
eight points.
sigma Nus Are Hell!
The second half started. Hell
broke loose. They scored six
points in less than 60 seconds to
lead 12 to 10. Rathbun knotted
the count. Bubalo was right back
for Nu, hitting from the side, 14
to 2. Sidesinger spun in the key
hole, and Newquist took a nice
pass from Rathbun to make it
16 to 14, Beta. “Bird Dog” Whit
man dropped in two fouls and hit
a long howitzer from center, but
the Nus were having a hard time
running with the Betas, particu
larly Sidesinger, slowing them
down. The third quarter ended
18 to 16, Nu.
John, the Boob, set from left
center, but Rathbun tipped one
in to keep the Betas within
snarling distance. Whitman hit
long one on the run. Rathbun
staved off a certain Nu score,
but Nowling picked off re
bounds firing long passes to
Bubalo and Bongo Williamson
who sunk twm cripples, making
it 26 to 18. There was a lot of
contact throughout this second
half play. Newquist hit a foul,
though, Hoyman says Huesti
and against anybody.
Diver Corbett grabbed two
against Stanford and San Jose
Corbett, loud and self-styled
Coach Hoyman and the team 1C
the Palo Alto suburbs after bein
to the Stanford campus.
Williamson dribbled in all the
way unguarded, Jayne fought
in a rebound, and Boob hit in
the closing seconds, completing
scoring and the ball game. The
final score, 30 to 21, and the
Sigma Nus are the champs.
Beta Theta Pi
A third period flurry of buckets
proved to be the Sigma Chi mar
gin over the game Phi Delt “B”s.
The uproarious battle ended, 23
to 21. The game was locked
tight throughout, 4 to 4 at the
quarter, 8-all at the half, and
until Dick Hanen and Dave Waite
tanked four fast buckets near
the end of the third canto giving
the Sigs a fat 19 to 12 margin, it
was a tossup.
Phi Del'ts Battle Back
The Phis came back furiously.
Doc Hayes, one of the best men
on the floor, whipped a bullet
pass to Wimberly who hit. Wim
by then got an underhand push,
and Baumgartner swished from
center, and the Sigs had a shaky
19 to 18 lead. Smoky Stover, play
ing his peak ball for Sigma Chi,
tipped in a rebound. Church came
back with a foul throw, but Lloyd
drifted' into the keyhole. Boom!
23 to 19, Sigs. With time running
out the Phis shifted to “fire en
gine” play. Hayes hit a miracu
lous shot, but the gun rang out,
and the Sigma Chis were the
champs, 23 to 21.
ND
Point Parade
Top 10 Scoring Leaders:
FG FT PF TP
^Turner, Ida. . 57 40 33 154
Mandic, OSC . 48 52 39 134
Bishop, WSC . 57 19 26 133
Gilbert, WSC . 55 20 33 130
P. Jackson,
Oregon .36 55 27 117
Andrews, Ore. 36 43 28 115
Taylor, Ore . 46 20 33 112
Beck, OSC .44 22 20 110
Dalthrop, UW 50 10 22 110
Lindh, UW .31 40 22 102
* Turner, Idaho, has played
hut 12 games while the others
have played 14.
3 would look good anyplace
firsts in tlie diving events—
—but was tlie butt of the trip,
authority on California, led
miles out of the way and into
g asked to direct the entourage
1M ALL STARS
Independent and Greek “B”
league all-stars will meet to
day for practice on the PE
court at 3:30. The Indepen
dent stars will report to Bill
McArthur on court 43 and the
Greek stars to Ted Sarpola on
court 40. All' men that were
named in the Emerald Thurs
day will please report.
Cougars Roost
(Continued from pai/e four)
men into the “big chair” unchal
lenged.
Might Split
One logical solution would be
for both Oregon State and the
Cougars to split their series, ne
cessitating a post-season playoff
—the first since 1937.
Individual scoring leaders’^p/
for the northern conference still
rests in the capable hands of Ray
Turner, elongated Idaho star. The
stellar Vandal center has an av
erage of almost 13 points per tilt
—154 points in 12 games. With
four games left, Turner can pul
verize Wally Palmberg’s ancient
scoring record of 187 points by
tossing in 8 V2 points in the re
maining contests.
A much tighter battle is being
waged for second place, far be
low Turner who has so badly out
classed the field. Rugged John
Mandic, who is one of the league's
roughest players with 39 personal
fouls, has 134 points in 14 games.
Just a shade below him is Gail
Bishop, talented Cougar sopho
more center, with 133. Following
Bishop is Marv Gilberg, State
teammate, having 130 counters.
60 Recruits Greet Oliver
(Continued from page four)
hadn’t been out for frosh or var
sity ball before.
The Webfoot grid mentor has
tentatively scheduled three
practices this week—today, to
morrow, and Friday—and five
next week, and hopes to be well
into the quota of 30 rehearsals
when spring term rolls around
March 30.
Lettermen on last year’s squad
will aid Coach Oliver and his
assistants in getting the raw re
cruits into shape, according to the
Webfoot mentor.
Frederick Hard, dean or New
comb college at Tulane univer
sity, was at one time golf coach
and leader of the band at Tulane.