by Amy Gassen
sports editor
The year Mother Ursula Infante, MSC, was born.-1897-was an historic year in the wide world of sports.
The Boston Marathon, a currently highly public event, started that year. It is America’s oldest regularly contested foot race. Originally run at 24 miles, the race currently completes a 25-mile course. John McDermott of New York was the first winner of the famous race with a time of 2:55:10.
Also in that year, the University of Pennsylvania and Purdue University joined the Division I intercollegiate athletics for the sport of basketball. Both of these schools now sit in the top 25 percentile for winning teams.
While the two new schools did not place in the final four that year, the NCAA Championship of that year was captured by Yale University with the Individual Championship captured by Louis Bayard of Princeton.
While Babe Ruth was then a figment of the imagination, Honus Wagner hit .300 for 17 consecutive seasons, starting with 1897. He played for Louisville and Pittsburgh during his reign.
Bob Fitzimmons held the world heavyweight title in boxing while Solly Smith was the world featherweight champion.
The U.S. women’s pro tennis started that same year. “The Lawn Tennis Championships,” now known as Wimbledon, were won by Blanche Hillyard for the women’s individuals and by Reggie Doherty for the men’s individuals.
