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University Daily Kansan, April 25, 1983
Sports
Soviet team dominates Relays
By BOB LUDER Sports Writer
Coach Iqor Ter-Ozayanevan had been saying all week that his Soviet track team was far from peak condition; that this time of the year was their "preparational" season, and not a time for serious competition. If that is indeed the case, it certainly wasn't evident last weekend at the 58th annual Kansas Relays.
w wasn't evicted just week before.
He has a team that commanded the Rebaks as the Soviets did. The Soviet contingent of the team won all nine events in which they were entered, setting meet records in seven. Except for the pole vault, the only time a Russian athlete lost in an event was when they beaten by a teammate.
THE SOVIETS BEGAN their domination of the Relays by sweeping the top two places in the men's decathlon on Wednesday and Thursday. The 10-event competition was won by Grigory Degtyarev with a meet-record 8,202 points. When converted to a hand-timed total, Degrityarev's score would be 8,252, which betters the old Relays record of 8,240 set by Bruce Jenner in 1974.
college competitor was KU's Owen Buckley with a score of 6.47.
On Saturday, the Soviet team really showed their world-class talent.
old Reds record in 2014, with a score of 8,178. The closest collegiate competitor was KU's Owen Buckley with a score of 7,482. The closest professional competitor was Toronto's Eric Hammond with a score of 7,482.
On Saturday, the Soviet team really showed their world-class game. YURI TAMM WON the men's hammer throw, heaving the 16-pound ball a meet-record 244.2. That throw beat the old record of 222.8, set by Southern Methodist's Robert Weir in 1982.
Harris's Robert Weir in 1962.
Shot putter Janis Bojars, ranked third in the world last year by Track and Field News, set a meet record with his throw of 68-7 $ \frac{3}{4} $ , breaking Mike Lehmann's year old record of 67-2 $ \frac{3}{4} $ .
Nikolai Musienko and Gennady Valyukevich swept the top two places in the triple jump. Musienko set a meet record of 55-8-4. That leap broke the mark of 55-4, set by Southern Methodist's Keith Connor last year.
Southern Methodist's Kendy Tebbuth that they
MEANWHILE, the SOVIET women were doing some record-breaking of their
own.
Switzerland Ulmasova and Raldigua both set meet records. Ulmasova won the 3,000 in 9:15.00 and Raldigua kicked to a 4,084.94 finish in the 1,000.
own
the two-mile relay team of Lymdima Veselkova, Nadezhda Raldugina, Oliga Minneva and Nadezhda Olizarenko flew past the rest of the field with a time of 8:49.06, the team from the Air Force Academy being closest with a second-place time of 9:11.98.
Nadezhda Oilarenko, the 1980 Olympic Champion and current world-record holder at 800 meters, ran her first 800 final in almost four years, winning in a time of 2:06.87, far above her record time of 1:53.43. Mineva and Veselka took second and third to complete a Soviet sweep of the top three places in the event.
TWO OTHER SOVIET athletes competed at the meet Saturday in the event which kept the crowd of 19,200 on the edge of their seats for most of the afternoon — the pole vault.
Alexander Krupsky and Sergel Kulbaba led the most competitive pole vault field in Relays history. Five vaulters in the field had jumped 18 feet or better, including KU senior Jeff Buckingham, who had become the new collegiate record holder in the indoor vault when he scaled $18.71/on Feb. 5 in Lincoln, Neb.
indoor vault when he scaled it before Four of the five 18-footers jumped at least that high in the swirling winds in Memorial State's new maul vaulting difficult. Saturday was the first time that Marshall deared the 18-foot barrier in Memorial State, Krupsky, who was ranked fourth globally last year and has a best of 18-81.4, won the event with an 18-4 vault. Kansas State's Doug Lyle was also over the bar at 18-4, but took two attempts to make it. Krupsky cleared 18-4 on his first try.
BUCKINGHAM, WHO WAS the last to enter the competition at 17-8, made that height and 18-0 on his first tries, but ran into trouble at 18-4. He almost made the height on his first try, but his final two attempts weren't close.
height on his first try, but the hand was too weak. Brookingham, who weighs 155 pounds and is 5'7, said the wind made vaulting difficult.
difficult.
“In the stadium, the wind would be at my back one second and then blow across my side the next,” he said. “It was blowing me all over the runway. I think it might have affected our smaller guys, like Joe Dial and me, more than the bigger ones.”
Dial ended up in job loss. BOTH players LAYHAW track squad had several other good performances, with two individual champions and two winning relays.
with two individual champions and two winning tennials.
Senior quarter-miler Deen Hogan won his second 400 dash championship in four years, holding off Kansas State's Mike Bradley down the homestretch in 46.24 to 46.48.
"I was a little supposed that Bradley was so close," Hogan said. "I looked over and saw him in the last 100 and had to really turn it on at the end.
saw him in the last 100 and had to ready for it a few days. "I 'got tight during the race because of the cold weather. I was especially pleased to win today since I hadn't run in the wind. The back stretch was like running through a tornado and I hardly had anything left coming down the home stretch."
through a torched CAME BACK LATER in the day to anchor the KU mile relay to victory in 3:11:47, again battling Bradley to the finish. Others on the relay team were Leonard Martin, Rodney Bullock and Darin Hill.
Hill captured his second Relays watch of the day, running the 400 leg on the Jayhawks' winning distance medley relay. KU held the lead from the start on the merit of Van Schaffer's head-off 600 leg and drew away from the field throughout the race to win comfortably in 10:01.12. Dave Cole ran 1,320 legs in the third leg of the relay and Tim Gundy finished off the competition with his anchor mile leg.
relay and Tim Gundy innervated on the compartment of LONG JUMPER WARNEN Wilhoite continued his winning ways, leaping 25-2 to stretch his winning streak to four meets. The long jump competition was expected to come down to a duel between Wilhoite and Kansas State's Veryl Swisser, who had the best lifetime jump in the field of $26_{1/4}$ compared to Wilhoite's $26_{3/2}$. But Switzer fouled all three of his jumps in the trials.
Others placing in the Relay for KU were Clint Johnson, third in the discus and fifth in the shot put; Pat Craig, third in the high jump at 7.0; Tim Friess, fifth in the javelin; Brent Steiner, fourth in the 5,000 run; and Mark Rau, tied for fourth in the 400 intermediate hurdles.
400 intermediate hurdles
SHAWNEE MISSION EAST'S Doug Hendrick took the spotlight in the boy's high jump. He was one of the 300 intermediate hurdles on Friday and then won the 100 dash and the 110 high hurdles within about five minutes of one another. Hendrick was named outstanding male performer of the Relays for his triple win. He also participated in intermediates.
On Friday, Hedrick powered his way through the early going of the intermediates, but faltered at the end and was almost nipped at the finish by Danny Murphy of Norman, Okla. Hedrick's time of 37.6 is the best in Kansas this year.
BUT IT WAS ON SATURDAY that Hedrick's work really bogan. After winning the 100 dash in 10.80, Hedrick had to immediately run to the other side of the track for the finals of the high hurdles. He won the race in a photo finish with a time of 14.70.
the finals of the high hurdles. he won the race a little.
"I was a little tired from the 100 because I didn't have a chance to stretch out too much afterwards," he said. "I felt tired in the middle of the race and I tried to stretch out on my way over to the hurdles.
stretch but to stall the officials by walking over slowly so I could rest a little. I've never had to do this before. I was really dead at the end."
had to do this before. I was really ready at the end.
Hedrick, who's leaning toward the University of Tennessee next year, said that he would concentrate on the intermediate hurdles in college, but hoped to try the decathlon.
Jim Evans/KANSAN
Jim Earnest KANANDEL Soviet athlete Alexander Krupsky, clears 18-4 to take first at polite pole-vault field at the Kansas Relays. Krupsky's vault was a Relays record. K-State's Doug Lytle finished second and KU's Jeff Buckingham third.
leg of the Russian-American Peace Relay, Former Jayhawk Cliff Wiley and Soviet Svetlana Ulijasmova complete their handoff.
Running the final relay of the 1983 Kansas Relays were Nadezhda Oliarzenko of the Soviet delegation and KU great Jim Ryum in their
Debra Bates/KANSAN
Freddie Lewis, KU triple jumper, hits the pit after jumping 49-41\%, good enough for fourth place in the event.
David Waterman/KANSAN
KU's Cherise Taylor heads down the backstretch of the 400 low hurdles. Taylor finished sixth with a time of 1:02.54.
2 KU women place first in Relays
By EVELYN SEDLACEK
Sports Writer
In field competition, Becky McGranahan won first place in the discus with a 156-52 throw. It was her best record, but she also earned her to win her first Kansas Rallies title.
The Soviet women broke two Kansas Relay records and won several other events on Saturday, but the Kansas women's track team won two firsts from a wide field of competitors.
"I felt good and strong going into competition," McGranahan said. "There was something about the KU Relays as a senior — I wanted to do equally well if not better since this is my last year."
A GOOD COMBINATION of nature's forces — the wind and mild temperatures — may have helped McGranahan on her way to that outstanding tread, said Carla Coffey, KU women's head track coach.
Also taking part of the limelight was first place finisher Tudie McKnight in the long jump. McKnight's 21-7%
topped Angela Thacker from Nebraska, who came in second.
"Tudie was ready to go and ready to do a good job since this is also her last year," said Theo Hamilton, assistant women's track coach. "She felt some pressure competing against Thacker and I felt that could have gone both ways.
ways.
"Thacker had beaten Tudie at the indoor championships last year, but I feel that as a freshman she lacked the experience that was needed to beat Tudie. Tudie has had a lot more experience, but I have no doubt that Thacker will better her mark."
THAT WAS THE ONLY event in which Thacker bowed to the competition. She won first place in the 100-meter dash in 11.20 and ran a leg of the 440-vard relay that won first place.
Teammate Merlene Otley won the 200 in 22.11, breaking her old record of 22.61, but because it was wind-aided, it wasn't official. She was named the outstanding female athlete for her participation in the 200-meters and her anchor in the winning NU 440-yard relay.
The Jayhawk mile relay team of Donna Smithierman, Lorna Tucker, Cherise Taylor and Dora Spearmon finished in second place behind Morgan State with a time of 3:52.47.
THE OTHER TWO RUNNERS in the KU 440 relay were Spearman, who took fifth in the 200-meter dash and McKnight, who finished in sixth place.
Connie McKernan took third place in the 100-meter hard hurdle with a time of 13.5. She was also a member of the 440-yard relay team that took third in 46.01. In the 400-meter dash, Tucker, another member of that relay, came in fourth place with a time of 55.18.
Taylor finished sixth in the 400-meter hurdles, while distance runner Gretchen Bajema came in eight place in the 1,500-meter run.
"Her time wasn't recorded, but Gretchen came in something like 4:36. She had bettered that time at the Texas Relays by running that same race in 4:33." Hamilton said. "The only factor that slowed her up some, had been because of the strong wind that hit the runners full force when they came
around the turn running down the northern stretch of the track."
THE ONLY KU STANDOUT in Friday's events was Stine Lerdahl, who took third place in the shot put with a 47-10.1 throw.
"I don't know what went wrong, but I do know that I can still qualify for the outdoor nationals." Lerdahl said.
In the high school girl's competition, Ann Stadler of Shawnee Mission East, broke the Kansas Relay record in the mile run with a time of 4.57.22. Stadler said that although track conditions were wet and the wind was blowing, she had to go out there and give it her best try.
"I knew I was close the whole way," Stadler said. "Breaking five minutes is something I have dreamed about."
Stadler ran the anchor leg of the two-mile relay that won first place in 9:39.0 and broke the old Kansas Reels record in 9:44.28 set in 1979.
John Marshall High School set a Relays record in the mule relay, running it in 3:53.88, breaking the old record of 3:55.99.