Red and Blue Is Ready For Tough Season

(This is the second of a series of seven articles on winter sports prospects of members of the Eastern Intercollegiate Leagues.)

Improvement over the form of 1939 in both major winter sports--basketball and swimming--is looked for by Pennsylvania during the 1940 season that will begin late this month. With outstanding sophomores coming up to the varsity and with plenty of veterans left for both teams, the Red and Blue mentors in each sport see Pennsylvania reaching greater heights in its league competition than it did a year ago, when it finished in a tie for fourth in the Eastern Intercollegiate Basketball League and in a triple tie for fifth in the Eastern Intercollegiate Swimming League.

Beginning his sixteenth season as coach of the court squad, Lon Jourdet, the only alumni coach in the league, will have a completely veteran team available if he wishes to use it. The Quakers will miss Payson Brickley, 1939 captain; Tony Mischo, runner-up for the league's individual scoring crown, and Bill Dignan and Chuck Diven, but they still have Ross Hahn and Bruce Pearce as forwards; Harian Gustafson, football captain, at center, and Captain Gerry Seeders and Bernie Schrieber at the guards. In fact that is the way Pennsylvania will line up, at least for its early games. All of these men saw plenty of action a year ago. All but Hahn are letter men. He was ineligible for the second half of the 1939 campaign.

Six Good Sophomores

In addition, and this is why Pennsylvania expects improvement, there are at least six good sophomores ready to step in whenever necessary. Their chief attribute is size, something the Quakers did not have last year. All are over six feet in height. All are potentially better than average performers.

Tallest is Bill Hook, a 6 foot, 3 inch center from Lower Merion High. Then there is Henry Solaliac, star of last year's freshman quintet, a 6 foot, 2 inch athlete with plenty of experience. Sid Levinson, from Rochester, Walter Reinhard, formerly of Weequahic High, Newark; and John Townsend, of Friends Central, Philadelphia, also are being counted on to lift the Quaker court fortunes. There are, as well, Gene Davis, the sophomore foot-baller; Ray Frick, football captain-elect: Johnny Dutcher, who also played football; Eugene Weisberg and George Dietrick. Reserves from the 1939 team include Tony Caputo, who doubles as a baseball pitcher, and Tom McNichol, the latest of Pennsylvania's famous basketball family of McNichols.

Williams Hard to Replace

The swimmers lost Paul Williams, sprinter, for two years individual high scorer in the league; Jim Daugherty, a very promising breast stroker, and Charles Smith, another sprinter. Frank Gosling, a diver, left college to go to war with the British Army. But the Quakers have come up with several good sophomores to take their places, notably Daniel Freeman, a New York boy who is as fast now in the 50 as Williams was; Joe Tyson, a back stroke; and John Houck, who will compete in the distance events.

There is also a fine squad of holdovers from 1939, including Captain Sam Tator, George Jack. Bob Chapman and Lester Halpern in the free style events; George Embrick and Levick Tolan in the back stroke; Lafe Weeks in the breast stroke and Bob Logan and John Rogers in the dive.

Other sophomore possibilities are Jim Fieldler and George Hagerty in the back stroke and Frank DeLone, brother of Pennsylvania's former star, Joe, in the breast.

Strong in Back Stroke

Bill Merriam, Pennsylvania's veteran coach, figures that this team will be stronger in the back stroke and distance swims, a little better in the breast stroke and slightly weaker in the sprints and dive.

Pennsylvania's basketball schedule begins early this year, on December 30. When the Red and Blue will meet California in the second of two double-headers listed for the Palestra. It has seventeen games altogether and its league season will begin on January 6. with Cornell in the Palestra.

The swimming team will open own on January 6, with Penn State, and will begin league competition with Columbia a week later.