Army Edge

Annapolis and West Point, as everybody knows, are crawling with athletes. But there is a difference in their mental attitude: Navy has a sense of guilt about its manpower bulge; Army accepts its blessings with self-confident aggressiveness. Last week, on seven fronts, Army cashed in on its psychological edge.

In Manhattan's Madison Square Garden, West Point's track & field men ran away with the I.C. 4-A indoor championships. They began demoralizing the opposition by taking first, second and third in the first event, the shot put. Felix ("Muscles") Blanchard, the 220-lb. plebe, set the pace with a 48 ft. 3 1/2-in. heave. The Cadets took only two other firsts--against four, and one tie, for Navy--but Army placed in 13 events to pile up a record 73 1/2-points. Navy, second with 55 1/2, also topped the I.C.4-A winner's mark of 48 set two years ago by N.Y.U.

At West Point, too, the Cadets were unbeatable. The all-conquering Army swimmers, who snapped Yale's great 66-meet winning streak last month, sank the Navy, 44-to-31. Ray Thayer, an exponent of power rather than form, swam on the winning relay, took the 50-yd. sprint and cracked the Academy pool record with a 52-sec. 100.

Army outpointed the Midshipmen gymnasts, 63 1/2-to-32 1/2, and outshot Navy's pistol marksmen, 1,336-to-1,314.

The hottest front was Annapolis' Dahlgren Hall, where West Point's once-beaten basketball team (upset by Pennsylvania) had it out with once-beaten Navy (who lost only to Bainbridge Naval Training Station). Both teams suffered first-half jitters; both succeeded with the same basic tactics--keep the No. 1 scorers, Army's flashy Dale Hall and Navy's nimble Adrian Back, out of range.

Hall made just two points, Back only five--while an unsung Navy plebe, left-handed Perry Nelson, stole the show. At halftime, Nelson had collected 15 points and his team led 25-to-24. Army, as usual, came back strong in the second half, got its fast-breaking offense into high gear. Although Navy surged back after losing Nelson on personal fouls, Army had the aggressive confidence to squeak through to a 50-to-48 win.

Navy did win in fencing and rifle shooting. Even West Point was satisfied with its five out of seven titles.

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