Human feet probably have reached their fastest forward speed but their ability to probe the human body upwards should set new records for the pole vault and high jump within the next ten years, in the opinion of Larry Snyder, Ohio State track coach and "father" of Olympic cinder stars.
With the advent of another calendar year, Snyder observed his eighth year as track coach of Ohio State and he can look back on a long list of record-breakers who were his proteges.
But after fourteen years of connection with the cinder sport—he was assistant coach at Ohio State for eight years—Snyder believes there are new track worlds to conquer.
"It doesn't seem possible for anyone to break the mark of 9.4 seconds for the 100-yard dash now held by several men. But such events as the pole vault and the high jump will have higher ceilings," the gray-haired but comparatively young coach said.
He predicted the pole vault record height, now held jointly at 14 feet, 11% inches by Bill Sefton and Earl Meadows of Southern California, would be raised to 15 feet "or better."
The present high jump mark, held by Mel Walker, one of Ohio State pupils, is 6 feet, 10% inches. Snyder thinks it will soon take better than 7 feet to hold the record.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.