g r t o e e l d n s
Kansas Relays Edition
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
The University of Kansas—Lawrence Kansas
82nd Year, No.127
Friday, April 21, 1972
Kansas Relays Edition
Former Jayhawks Karl Salb, top, and Steve Wilhelm, above, will battle the world's top two shot putters Saturday in a rehasl of last year's Kansas Relines open competition. The photo, since last year has taken over the leadership from Randy Matson, right. They are the only two shot putters who have brokely the 70-foot barrier, but not the long-distance record. All four shot putters are shooting for berths on the U. S. O. Olympic team.
Shot Put Giants to Clash
Kansan Sports Writer
Bv BILL SCHEELE
"There were giants in the earth in those days," Gen. 6, 4. Moses wrote of an era.
Sports writers will be writing of modern giants in Memorial Stadium Saturday, when some of the world's largest and best athletes meet the Kansas Relaxes open shot event.
Steve Wilhelm and Karl Salb, who only a year ago dominated the collegiate ranks for the University of Kansas, will compete against the only 70-foot shot putters in track history, Al Feuerbach and Randy Matson.
While Salb and Wilhelm have been burdened with scholastic endeavors at KU, Feuerbach and Matson have been able to maintain a number of indoor sports this past winter.
It will mark the second year in a row that the four giants have met at KU in the third week of April. Last year Matson heavened the iron ball 88-four, 3½ inches; Feuerbach, 67-5·3; Sail, 61-10; and Mackenzie, 42-10. Continuation. It may not be as close this time.
Matson, a 270-pound Texan, had been king of the shot put world for seven years until Feuerbach, an Emporia State graduate, surpassed him this winter. By the end of March, Feuerbach owned a seventy consecutive victories over Matson.
Matson holds the world record of 71-52. Feuerbach's best has been 70-1.
"We'll probably just go out and compete in the KU Relays," said Salb. "I don't know if I have a chance of winning. Those ways will probably toss it around 70 feet."
Sab's all-time best is 62.7%, at the AU
finals in Eugene, Ore., last summer. He
will return to Eugene July 8 for the
Olympic trials.
Salb and Wilhelm, meanwhile, have seen united action this year. Indoors, Salb's players and teammates reacted.
Wilhelm, a first-year KU law student, and Salb, who graduated in physical education in December, have not received a salary under the weather for their spring workouts.
"It hasn't been too bad for workouts here in Kansas," Salt said. "It's been too
cold and wet. Weather has really hampered our efforts to practice outside. We've been concentrating on lifting weights and throwing inside."
However, both men went to more clement regions for their spring breaks—Sabt to his hometown, Crossett, Ark., and Wilhelm to his Altos, Calif.
The temperature got up to 75 and 80 degrees in Arkansas, "Salb said. I got wet."
Wilhelm went to California to receive some pointers from Hank Norker, his high school coach, who has helped him improve his form on past occasions.
"That's the only thing that counts this year," said Sah. "The Olympic trials are what we're shooting for. We have to be at our best at that time."
Both men are trying to build to a peak by July 8.
Track Stars to Shine In Saturday's Events
Although the Kansas Relays have entered their third day at Memorial Stadium, all that has taken place before is a practice in comparison with Saturday's events.
Saturday's action will include most of the open events—the ones with the name stars, and nearly every event will decide who will receive the awards. Friday were devoted to preliminaries.
That's not to say that nothing worthwhile will happen this afternoon, though. The university-college division four-mile relay committee was meeting in medley relay finals in three divisions.
The Masters' Mile, an event for runners 35 and over and one which usually proves the winner, has been a favourite.
Today's other finals will be the Cliff
Custman 400 yard hurdles and the in-unit
hurdles.
Competition will begin at the crack of dawn Saturday with the Kansas Relays Marathon at 7 a. m. Stadium shadows will be lengthening across the field when the meet finally concludes with the university division mile relay at 5:06 p.m.
The Glen Cunningham Mile at 2:40 p.m. probably will be the largest crowd attraction between those times. World record-holder Jim Riyun, who will run in the event, still draws a large following when he runs.
Last year, Ryum's scheduled appearance created quite a problem for the ticket agent.
"Ryun was scheduled to run at about 2:40." John Novotny, assistant director of athletics, said. "So at about 2:15 we had a team of students show up. About 2,000 of them."
"And when you have 2,000 people show up at once wanting to buy tickets, you've got problems. There's no way they could all get in at once."
Novotny and Meet Director Bob Immonds decided to open the gates at the South side of the campus.
Open Events Remain
"We didn't want to disappoint anybody." Novady said. "The students still have to do what they need."
Novotny said plans had been made to open more ticket booths to handle larger
Relays Include All Olympic Events To Assist U.S. Track Preparations
By BOB SIMISON
Kansan Sports Editor
In past Olympic years, the Kansas Relays have participated in preparations for international competition by using a single-ball course and an open mile, which became a 1,500-meter race. Contributions to the United States effort by the Relays more recently have led to the inclusion of a
Since 1970, the Relays have regularly included every type of Olympic event, if not distance, in an effort to develop U.S. strength in several weak areas. So even though this year's mile will be a mile, the team will move more toward preparing for the Olympics.
For example, Timmons added two mile walking events to the Relys in 1970, one in the high school division and one in the open division. The two Olympic walking events are for 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) and 50 kilometers (31 miles).
The mile walk takes roughly twice as long as the mile run, so 20 and 50 kilometer events would take a considerable amount of time. That's why the edition in the Relays is only a fraction of the Olympic walking event. Timmons explained.
were weak," KU track coach Bob Timmons explained. "Now, the relays touch on all the Olympic events, but not all the distances."
"We've added events through the years to help the Olympic effort in the events"
on the high school level. I guess it is a little dangerous and it does teep up the ground where it hits, but it's something we need to learn about, and it's fully weak event for the United States."
The hammer throw was added to the Relays in 1968. That's an event the NCAA will host in 2014.
The Relays have for several years included the marathon, a 28-mile, 385-yard event which originated in the same ancient city of Naples. The NCAA does not include that event, either.
So the influence of the Olympics definitely will be present in this year's Relay, but the Glenn Cunningham Mile metamorphosis to a *18-meter* event.
Ryun's Ritual Run to Be Important
"That's an awfully important event," Tirmitson said. "Only Rho Island uses it."
"We've gone to the standard mile distances mainly because the fans don't understand the metric distances," Timmons explained. "It's just meaningless to them when you talk about 1,500 meters."
By DANGEORGE Kansan Sports Writer
It's gotten to be something almost as regular as the seasons themselves: summer, fall, winter, spring, the Kansas Relays and Jim Rivn.
That's the way it is, seemy. With the exception of 1970, Jim Rim has run in the last few years, but he has nearly become synonymous with the event. It's taken for granted by most track fans not only that he will be running in the event, but also that he will, of course, win.
One person who won't be taking the upcoming Relays for granted, though, is the 1,500-meter qualifying for the 1,500 meter run and with the 1972 U.S. Olympic trials only three months away, the Wichita speedster is likely to be in trouble should be the most crucial he has ever run.
In the Meet of Champions March 4 in Los Angeles, he finished dead last with 4:19.6. In the Florida Relays, he ran a 1:48.6 half-mile in the two-mile relay and a 2:56.3 half-mile in the distance medley. Between the two events he had returned to Lawrence to train.
Ryun's recent performances have been spotty. In January, he beat his 1968 Olympic nemesis Kip Keino of Kenya in the mile in slow time, then three weeks later finished sixth in a field of seven in even slower time.
If but Ryn, who holds world records in the mile, 1,500 meters and 800, is to get back on the winning track, he would be hard pressed to find a better place than the Kansas Relays. The famed runner has a history of fine performances in the event.
In 1963, he won the high school mile with a time of 4:21.3. He was also the anchor man on the Wichita High School East two-mile relay team.
In 1965, as a senior, he broke his own meet record in the high school mile with a mark of 4:0.8. In addition, his 800-ydr anchor time of 1:47.7 helped Wikiastia East set a national record of 7:42.9 in the two-mile relay.
The following year, he also won the high school mile, this time with a meet record of 4:11.0 Again, he was a member of his school's two-mile relay team.
Joining the University of Kansas track team in 1986, Ryan promptly set a meet at Graceland. He and Mile in 3:55.5 His 3:59.0 distance medley mule enabled the KU freshman to set a national record of 9:54.0. He also ran at 47.0 on the backtrack to hawks to a first place in the mile relay.
In 1967, he again won the Cunningham Mile, this time with a record of 354.7.
He prepared for the Mexico City
Olympic Games, with 1,500
meters, which he won in 3:42.8.
The following year, his last with KU, he was the anchor man on a Jayhawk distance medley team which set a world record of 8:30.5. He ran a 3:67.1 mile in
When Ryun entered the Kansas Relays last year, he was in the beginning stages of his comeback drive—one aimed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. His performance in the meet, then, verged on the critical.
But that's history and of no importance to Ryun. His only goal is a berth on the U. S. Olympic team and another shot at a gold medal.
But he proved himself more than equal to the test. In running the Glenn Cunningham Mile in 3:55.8, he posted the world's best mile mark in three years.
And he knows more than anyone that a good performance in the Kansas Relays would be a big step toward attaining that goal.
crowds this year. Even so, he is hoping students show up early so he doesn't have to wait.
Tickets sell for 50 cents for students with
KU identification cards. High school student admission is $1 and general admission tickets sell for $2 and $3, Novotny said.
★ ★ ★
Relays Schedule
Friday Morning
Field Events
9- Shot put (high school) preliminaries and final.
10—Long jump (high school)
preliminary and final.
9:30.-Javelin (high school) preliminaries and final.
Track Events
8:30-100 dash (high school) preiminaries
8:40-100 dash (uni.-col.) preiminaries
8:50-120 high hurdles (high school)
preiminaries
prehmatter 9-120 high hurdles (univ.-col.)
9:10-Sprint medley relay (university)
preliminaries
9:30-Sprint medley relay (college)
reliminaries
9:50 - Sprint medley relay (junior college)
preliminaries
10.10—Sprint medley relay (high school)
reminimates
10 40-440 relay (college) preliminaries
10 45-800 relay (high school)
10 85-1250 relay
11-Distance medley relay (high school)
finals
11.15--800 relay (college) preliminaries
11.15--800 intermediate hurdles (high
school)
11:45- 440 hurdles (open) preliminaries
Friday Afternoon
Field Events
1- Pole vault (high school) preliminaries and final
1:15.-Shot put (univ.-col.) preliminaries and final
1:30-High jump (high school)
preliminary and final
See RELAYS on Page 4
Kansan Staff Photo by HANK YOUNG
Jim Ryun Walks Off the Track After Mile
Newman then, as now, hound his heels immediately . . .