on from
Chicago, 14 to 0, and Minnesota, 3 to 0.

Though informal running, jumping, and hurdling matches as well as
wrestling and boxing always had a certain degree of popularity among the
students, track athletics, as a form of inter-collegiate sport, was not
organized until football and baseball had been recognized for some time.
A University Athletic Club was organized in 1874, with the captains of
the running and jumping squads among the officers, though no public
contests were held, apparently, until 1876 when the first "athletic
tournament" took place on the Fair Grounds. This was followed in June,
1879, by the first Field Day, with the 100-yard and 220-yard dashes,
standing long jump, baseball throw, ten-mile walk, and a fencing contest
among the principal events. The next year saw two such tournaments,
under the auspices of the Football and Baseball Associations
respectively. The merchants of Ann Arbor gave prizes for these contests,
some contributing medals, while one firm gave two boxes of cigars and
another "the best hat in the store."

By 1884 the program became very elaborate, some twenty events were
scheduled with records of one hour and 51 minutes for the ten-mile walk,
26-1/2 minutes for the three-mile walk, and 2.33 for the half-mile run.
Such events as a standing jump backwards, a three-legged race, and
passing the football and punting also found place on the programme,
which was concluded by a Rugby match. Particular interest was taken at
this time in running, and it is told by one of the members of the
football team that almost defeated Harvard in 1883 that an impromptu
race at Buffalo, while they were waiting for a train, went a long way
toward defraying the expenses of some of the men, who were paying their
own way. The outstanding track athlete of the day was Fred M. Bonine,
'86_m_, whose record in sprints led Michigan to enter the
Inter-collegiate Athletic Association, where he won the 100-yard dash in
10-3/4 seconds at New York in 1885. This was Michigan's first and last
effort for some years; and track athletics had a fluctuating career
until the Northwestern Inter-collegiate Athletic Association, composed
of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Northwestern, was organized in
1893. The first Field Day of this organization was held June 3, 1893,
with Michigan the winner with 52 points against 45 for Wisconsin, her
closest competitor. Michigan did not again win first honors until 1898,
and then,