1916
Clubs ruled the indoor action. The indoor track
season saw the Gym (Cincinnati Athletic Club) and the Central YMCA battling for
domination in the first two meets. Miami
University, North Cincinnati Turnverein and “a team from the Colored YMCA” also
participated.
Who
are the Turners or a Turnverein?
Friedrich
Ludwig Jahn (1778-1852) founded the Turner movement in Germany as a half-secret
paramilitary training facility for resistance fighters against the Napoleonic
occupation. Shocked by the poor physical condition of the soldiers during the
Napoleonic war, Jahn devised a system of exercises and games to help improve a
person’s strength and stamina.
The
Turners were trained not only in running, jumping, swimming, and
weight-lifting, but also in the martial arts such as fencing, shooting, and
even bayonet-fencing. He also invented much of today's gymnastic equipment.
Thus, he is credited with the invention of the sport of gymnastics.
The
Turnverein, from their very beginning, were gathering places for German radical
democrats. The Turners were a constant threat to the nobility and were ardent
fighters for the Republic. They joined, and even started, many revolutionary uprisings
in all the various German-speaking countries.
In
1848, when the German revolution took place, many of these Turnvereins were in
existence. The failure of this revolution caused many Germans to immigrate to
the United States. Once here the Turnvereins were quickly started. The one in
Cincinnati, which was founded in 1848, became the USA’s first one.
The
most famous Turner from the Cincinnati area was President and Chief Justice of
the United States William Howard Taft. Whenever President Lincoln traveled, the
country Turners would gather to serve as guards much like the Secret Service
does today. The Turners still exist today; they moved out of Turner Hall on
Walnut St. in the 1950s and are now are located on Pinney Lane in Springfield
Township.
Mike Boylan adds: There was a Turners Hall in Covington, almost directly across the street from the Anchor Grill on the old Dixie Highway (we may doze but we never close) as recently as the mid 2000s.
Mike Boylan adds: There was a Turners Hall in Covington, almost directly across the street from the Anchor Grill on the old Dixie Highway (we may doze but we never close) as recently as the mid 2000s.
What
was the Colored YMCA?
In
1910, 25 African American YMCAs were built in 23 cities as a result of a
challenge grant program announced by Sears Roebuck founder Julius Rosenwald. Rosenwald
donated $25,000 toward the cost and an additional $50,000 came from Cincinnati’s
white community. The Ys included clean, safe dorm rooms and eating facilities,
which were a boon to African American travelers, especially servicemen, in a
segregated and discriminatory era. The Cincinnati facility was the Ninth Street
YMCA.
In 1916 sprinter Fred Stormer of the Cincinnati YMCA was
probably the most accomplished runner in the Cincinnati area. Stormer surprised the close followers
of athletics by finishing second in the 1915 summer junior national
quarter-mile championship at San Francisco.
UC
UC placed second to Ohio State at the Spring Carson
Field Meet. They competed on the track, which encircled the inside of Nippert
Stadium. The
track disappeared in 1936 when Carson Field was lowered 12 feet (3.7 m) to
allow for the stadium’s seating capacity to expand from 12,000 to 24,000.
Tommy Rodgers set a new record in the 1/4 mile,
finishing the race in 50 3/4 seconds. He also equaled a state record of 49 4/5 in
the Big Six Meet. UC’s two mile record was lowered to 10:20, while the mile relay
team set a new record of 3:28 3/5.
Around this time the Big Six Meet actually
consisted of more than six Ohio colleges or universities. They included: Ohio State, Oberlin, Ohio Wesleyan,
Cincinnati, Miami, Wooster, Denison, Ohio, Case, Kenyon, Baldwin-Wallace, Akron
and Reserve.
Of interest was a new WWI era event called the
Grenade. See the following explanation
and Big Six Records below.
An
unorthodox addition to the July track and field events competition at the
Inter-Allied Games, which was held at the Stade Pershing in Paris, France, was
the hand grenade
throwing competition. The event was open to all military personnel from
countries that were among the Allies of World War 1.
At
the Allied Games, the event consisted of throwing for distance rather than
accuracy. The winning distance of 245 feet and 11 inches, set by American
military chaplain Fred Thomson, was declared a new world record.
M67
fragmentation grenade, a hand grenade developed in the US
At the Big Six Meet, accuracy determined the Grenade
Throw winner.
See Grenade Record
Walking
Sebastian Linehan, a top race walker of the
day, founded the local chapter of the American Walkers Association (AWA) in
1916. By the end of the decade, of all the AWA chapters
nationwide, Cincinnati’s had the greatest attendance. The organization
is still active today and meets weekly for walks around the area.
Click this link for information about the group
Over the years Linehan proved to be an
outstanding promoter of the sport as well as a superb athlete.
Each of
the local walking groups, which existed at the time, hosted regular hikes
during the weekends. The following article is an example of an invitation to
the general public. The clipping demonstrates other activities, which they
engaged in while hiking.
Walking
was so popular that there was a regular column in the local newspaper entitled
“With the Hikers.” The paper described their weekly jaunts, which varied from 6
to 28 miles.
The
majority of the walks were co-ed. Mention was made of relationships that
developed as a result of the many hours spent together.
1917
High
School
Lee Roy, a student at Woodward High
School, set the all time Ohio high school record for the indoor 50-yard dash. He did this on February 10 at the YMCA
Midwinter Carnival at the Cincinnati Armory.
His time was 5.8 seconds.
Club
On April 6, the U.S. entered World War I. For three years, during the war and its
aftermath, club teams were depleted as many men joined the service.
UC
Oliver
Nikoloff came to the University of Cincinnati. He was to become the longest
tenured track and field coach at UC (1917-1959). He taught and coached (basketball, tennis,
track and field, and cross-country) at UC for 42 years. There was a time when Nick and the Athletic
Director (AD) were the entire UC athletic department. A current annual track
meet, named after him, is held on campus each spring. During World War II, the
Bearcats did not field a team, so Coach Nikoloff trained soldiers for the U.S.
Army instead.
Oliver
Nikoloff
High School
During
the outdoor high school track and field season, Norwood High School established
the Ohio state record for the Mile Relay. The
time was 3:35.? Albert Ficks was one of the members on that team. His
teammates’ names are unknown.
1918
UC
UC recorded
its first conference championship team. The team defeated the
Bishops from Ohio Wesleyan as they won the Ohio Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships for
the first time.
Thanksgiving
Day Race Cancellation
Due to World War I, the Thanksgiving Day Race
was not held.
1919
Club
In March the Gym continued its strong showings
in meets by defeating the University of Cincinnati and the YMCA in a triangular
indoor meet at the Central YMCA.
UC
Cincinnati placed first in an indoor triangular
meet. When they moved outdoors, they also beat Ohio Wesleyan for the second
year in the row. The Bearcats tied for fourth in the outdoor Big Six Meet.
Walking
Since walking was such a popular activity,
articles devoted to hikers and the locales that they visited appeared in the Enquirer and other newspapers each week. These
accounts noted rosters of the participants and a description of the walks. A
large turnout was typically present on any given weekend.
Local
Walkers in Indianapolis
A prestigious 10-mile walking race took place on
Labor Day in Indianapolis. Newspaper articles described the local participants
and the results.
Rules
for Race Walking
Race walking received quite a bit of attention
at that time. In order that everyone
abided by the same standards, the appropriate race walking rules were
published.
Thanksgiving
Day Race Articles
In 1919, with WWI completed, the Thanksgiving
Day Race resumed on a new route. Now it linked the Ft. Thomas Armory to the
Central YMCA, which was at the corner of Elm and Canal. News articles mention
that one needed to pass a physician’s test in order to participate. The
field consisted of 19 runners and nine walkers.
Handicap starts were utilized and Frank Martin
of Chicago, official handicapper of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), did the
honors.
American
Walkers Association Narrative
Near the end of the decade the American Walkers
Association celebrated its third anniversary.
A bit of the mission and history of the organization is noted here.
