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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, April 18. 1968
Turck jumps, laughs
By Mike Shurtz Kansan Staff Reporter
This weekend's KU Relays mark the midpoint of the second year on the Midwest relays circuit for John Turck, varsity high jumper. The Midwest tour includes the Texas, KU and Drake Relays, all run in April.
Turck started his sophomore year out right at the Texas Relays last year when he was in on a gigantic water fight with his teammates that soaked the carpet on the seventh floor of the hotel. This is typical of Turck's antics and good humor that keep the track team's spirit high.
The Wichita junior reserves most of his energy for high jumping, however. He first began jumping in grade school. In junior high, he and a classmate shared the school record with 5 foot 7 inch jumps. In high school, Turck began concentrating on the high jump and set a Wichita
Southeast school record at 6-4. He was Kansas class AA state champion in 1965.
With this successful past, Turck enthusiastically began his college jumping career at KU in the fall of 1965. Now in his third year at Kansas, he has a best indoor jump of 6-8 and a best outdoor jump of 6-10. Surprisingly, the 6-10 leap came last summer while Turck was counseling at Kamp Kanakuk, a boys' camp in Branson, Mo., and had not been working out hard for several weeks.
Turck's efforts have earned him a partial track scholarship at KU this year.
When he begins his training each fall, Turck doesn't high jump for the first month of workouts, which consists of running sprints, running on the hill south of Memorial Stadium and running the steps of the stadium. On alternate days the jumpers lift weights.
After the first month, KU's jumpers begin practicing their events and lifting weights on alternate days. When meet schedules get into full swing the practice routine is lightened.
Turck placed second in last month's Big Eight indoor championships with a jump of 6-8. He was scheduled to go to the NCAA indoor championships this year but three days before he was to leave he found out that his 6-8 mark was not sufficient to qualify him for the meet. The NCAA had decided that a 6-9 qualifying height was necessary.
Turck was able to compete a year ago, however, and finished in a three-way tie for sixth place.
When he's away from the track, Turck devotes his time to working towards a degree in American studies. He hopes to attend graduate school at KU or Wichita State University. Turck plans to work for the government when he finishes his education.
Ultramodern timekeeping will clock 1968 Olympics
NEW YORK —(UPI)— Time-keeping will be more sophisticated than ever in the 1968 Olympics.
For example, no longer does a swim meet begin when a pistol just goes "bang," and no longer does a row of judges stand at the end of the pool with hand-held timers to see who finished first, second and third.
Now a swimming match has a completely automatic timer. To make sure all the swimmers start together, the report of the starting pistol is broadcast through loudspeakers placed behind the contestants so that each one hears the signal at the same instant.
The pistol also controls an electrical apparatus consisting of a quartz clock assisted by a computer with memory banks and transistorized registers. Three impressions a second during the contest are transcribed on a roll of paper.
Times are printed in minutes, seconds and tenths, hundredths and thousandths of a second, to
the accuracy of a thousandth. And as the swimmers race toward the end of the pool, other equipment is waiting to time their arrival.
Every swimmer's lane is equipped with a touch plate, which is half submerged but reacts to the slightest touch of the swimmer's hand. It is unaffected by waves or currents, however, and the height is adjustable between the plate and the pool edge so that the instant the contestant's hand touches the end of the pool, the automatic timer records it.
Two starters
There are two types of starting pistols, standard and luminous in 7.5 m/m or .38 calibre, so either European or U.S. cartridges can easily be obtained.
The standard model has a device installed so that at the instant the hammer strikes the cartridge cap, an impulse is transmitted to timing equipment loudspeakers. The luminous electric pistol also fires, but if a meet
is noisy, it turns on a row of lights facing the contestants as the starting signal.
There is a time recorder which, with its quartz clock, prints the time at the speed of thought. There is a scope designed to bring the television viewer closer to the action. The scope projects a moving strip of figures at the bottom of the screen and, running from left to right, they show minutes, seconds, tenths and hundredths of a second.
There are specialized devices intended for a single sport. A printer for horse racing, a double timer for basketball, a scoring clock and goals for ice hockey, an automatic starting gate for skiing, clocks for weightlifting, judo, high jumps, triple jumps, boxing and wrestling.
There is an infra-red photoelectric cell unit for bobsledding, electro-magnetic devices for rowing and arrays of timers, with the figures raised so as to prevent a faulty reading through paralax, for other sports.
Rugby is becoming more popular here
By Robert Burdick Kansan Staff Reporter
Rugby has experienced a sharp increase in popularity at KU this year.
Introduced at KU five years ago by George Bunning, then a KU graduate student, rugby now boasts a team with 34 members and an excellent won-lost record this spring.
"We were also invited to an earlier tournament in St. Louis but were unable to attend because we received the invitation too late." Crowther said.
"A lot of people have gotten interested in rugby because the teams here have had such good records the last two years," said Malcolm Crowther, president of the KU Rugby Club.
Crowther said the KU team will travel to Chicago May 4 for the annual Chicago Rugby Tournament.
The KU Rugby Club is a member of the newly formed Heart of America Rugby Club, which includes teams from Kansas City and surrounding areas.
Rugby is played on a football field by two teams each having
15 members. In the "scrum down" a ball is tossed between the opposing teams who then charge it and kick and carry it over the field.
No blocking or forward passing is allowed in rugby and the players wear no protective equipment.
Goals are scored by carrying the ball into the end zone and extra points are added by kicking the ball above the goal posts. A goal is worth three points and two extra points are awarded for the kick over the crossbar.
There are no time outs and no breaks in the two 30-minute halves of the game. If a player is injured the team must play on without him unless the other team grants them a replacement.
The KU Rugby Club has a president, a captain, vice-captain and three council members who decide players for the games and strategy on the field.
members pay five dollars dues in both the spring and fall seasons and the club gets outside help from some area businessmen.
All home games are played on the field west of Oliver Hall.
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