Page 104 - 1921 VES Meteor

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THE )fETJ:on
The season was also remarkable because of the almost entire absence of injuries. Throughout the fall the excellent physical condition of the squad was particularly noticeable, a sit~wtion in large part due to the strict training and careful pl1ysieal oversight insisted npou by :Mr. 13ranham. l!is suc- cess iu this connection has decidedly }Hlt the emphas1s upon a more business-like treatment of this sport, wbicl1, if not carried to excess, with the cxcclleut material then available, gives promise, at least, of a snrcessfn1 eleven for 1!>21.
Along with the first team, the usual junior squads were developed, and some interesting games played with various groups of our boys from Lynchburg. The valllO of this work has been shown again and again; and it is, therefore, to be hoped that as much energy as possible should be devoted to the secondary organizations, not only in football, but in the other sports as well.
Concurrently with football, our first venture in cross- country running was made. Our short season consisted of but two meets, both with the Fniversity of Virginia FTcsh- men and both of which we lost by slight ma1·gins. This pre- limi~arywork in the fall has pTovcd extl'emely beneficial be- cause of the training afforded for the candidates for regular track in the spring, and also because of the discovery of some ne~vandvaluablematerial. Adkins,inparticular,wasthe chief find in this connection.
F1·om the standpoint of victories only, the basket-ball sea- son, which occupied our chiefest attention athletically in the second term, was conspicuously unsuccessful. On the other hand, much of distinct spiritual value was accomplished. The usual ·vigorous, energetic playing was manifest, with the tesult that our losses were in most cases by a very few points; while the satisfaction of victory was often missing, the feeling that we had made a l1ard fight against the power- ful handicaps of inexperience was never absent.