Tennis, basket ball and battle ball were the first competitive sports to be widely participated in by the colleges. Miss Harriet Ballintine, Director of Physical Culture at Vassar College, thus tells of the beginning of track and field sports for women in her book, “The History of Physical Training at Vassar College”: “Following basket and battle ball a demand was made for other out-of-door activities. The students became interested in hurdling, running and jumping, etc. They organized an athletic association and in November, 1895, the first field day was held. This was the beginning of track and field sports for women. Before this time there was no record of girls taking part in such competitive events. In 1896 at the Harvard Summer School a course in athletic training was opened to women. This first class was composed principally of teachers from schools and colleges whose students had asked for instruction in athletics. After Vassar’s first field day many schools and colleges became interested in such contests. Previous to 1896 a course in athletics had been offered to women at the Chautauqua Summer School, but as there was no demand for it, the Harvard Summer School was, therefore, the first school to give systematic instruction to girls in track and field sports. This first class in athletics for women was in charge of Mr. James Lathrop, for many years athletic trainer at Harvard and instructor in the Theory and Practice of Athletics at the Summer School. He ordered for Miss Eva G. May, then an instructor in the gymnasium at Vassar, the first pair of spiked running shoes ever made for a woman. The Vassar College Athletic Association provided these running shoes for every student who entered field day.” One of the main difficulties in track work at the present time is that there is no set standard for coaches and participants to use. A very creditable attempt has been made by Dr. Harry E. Stewart, Physical Director of the New Haven Normal School of Gymnastics, to collect the records made by girls and women. (See Spalding’s Athletic Almanac, published annually.) However, it is not the exceptional girl who is of the record-breaking ability that should be considered entirely. Track work should be first regarded from the point of view of exercise. The equipment for track work should be supervised carefully. The clothing worn should be the lightest and the least harmful to the limbs. Light shirt waist or middy blouse, bloomers, spiked or rubber-soled shoes should be adopted. The track itself should be level and smooth, the jumping pits soft so that there is no jar, and the throwing events should have plenty of room. [Illustration: One of the hardest faults to overcome in shot putting is to stay within the circle. The girl in the picture does not get all of the ground in the circle that she might, nor is her left hand helping her get the shot “up” with her right.]