Unanimous
Laurels belonged to Ryun
By BOB KEARNEY
Kansan Sports Editor
Nothing could have been more appropriate to climax the 44th Kansas Relays than the unanimous selection of Jim Ryun as the Outstanding Performer.
His blazing 3:57.6 mile anchor leg helped the jayhawks clock a world record 9:33.0 in the distance medley relay. Ryun kicked with an amazing :55.6 final 440 while an estimated 20,000 spectators-basking in the Saturday afternoon sunshine that again rescued the Relays from a disaster--cheered every stride.
The selection of Ryun as the foremost individual marked the third time in his four years at KU the world's distance running king was accorded the honor. Thirty-three sportswriters, broadcasters and Relays officials voted, and 20,000 others would have concurred.
Yet while Ryun, running the 24th sub-four-minute mile in his career, assuredly stole the limelight, the Jayhawks were magnificent. Nothing in the history of the Texas-Kansas-Drake circuit would match this performance; not before, and maybe not ever.
Fantastic efforts
The Jay:hawks did everything but vault the Campanile.
Through record and near record-setting efforts, Kansas accumulated more watches than you'll find in a Swiss jeweler's window display. Six dayhawks earned two watches—the prize for university and college division winners—and altogether, KU kept 23 timepieces to itself.
Kansas parlayed victories in four of seven relay events, six of 10 individual events, and an open division title into a performance befitting the NCAA Indoor champions.
Besides the world mark in the distance medley, KU trackmen bettered meet records in the 440-yard relay and discus. George Byers, Mickey Mathews,$^1$-Stan Whitley, and Julio Meade—all winning a watch for both wrists—churned to a :40.3 in the 440 relay.
That time matched Rice's clocking in winning the event one week earlier at the Texas Relays. But the Owls voted the Outstanding University Division team at Austin, were runners-up Saturday at 40:6.
Meade started slowly for 20 yards, then buzzed the final 90 to hold off a challenge by Rice's Dale Bernauer. That same pair duelled as 880 relay anchormen—again Meade had that little extra.
Julio from behind
Bernauer started with a slight lead, after KU's Mathews, Randy Julian, and Jim Hatcher delivered the baton to Meade. On the curve, Meade edged ahead and cruised across the finish with a 1:23.6 win. Bernauer pulled a muscle in the stretch run and disgusted threw down the baton.
The Kansas 880 clocking was two-tenths of a second slower than their winning Texas effort. Next week, KU aims for a sweep on the Midlands relays circuit at Drake.
Discus champion Doug Knop eclipsed his own KU Relays standard with a winning 189'8" heave in Friday's competition. Knop sailed the plate one-half inch farther at Texas in reaching a career peak, and his stiffest test is yet to come. Next weekend, Oregon State's Tim Vollmer and Washington State's John VanReen - of the nation's best throwers are expected in the field at Drake.
Whitlev ioins elite
Those were the records -but only a sprinkling of KU's overwhelming dominance. Whitley became the third long jumper in Big Eight history to surpass the 26-foot mark in winning his first Relays title.
Whitley soared $26'0\frac{1}{2}'$, equalling previous conference bests set by KU's Ernie Shelby (1958) and Oklahoma's Anthony Watson (1962).
Right behind Whitley was teammate Ron Jessie, leaping 25'10/3/4" for a career best. Jessie also ranked second in the 120-yard high hurdles, again behind a Jayhawk—George Byers—as both clocked .13.9, one-tenth of a second faster than their 1-2 finish at Texas.
Typically, Kansas posted a 1-2-3 sweep of the shot put. NCAA Indoor champion Karl Salb pegged $63'5\frac{1}{4}$ to outdistance Steve Wilhelm and reverse their finish of a week earlier. Knop placed third in the shot put but headed the KU strength corps in a 1-2-3 discus sweep. Salb fell some 13 feet short of his Texas throw at $176'4\frac{1}{2}$.
Gaines, Johnson shine
Two other KU athletes scored stunning upsets. Triple jump specialist Ken Gaines went $49'1\frac{1}{2}$" to edge defending champion Lennox Burgher of Nebraska. Burgher hopped, skipped and jumped $51'6\frac{1}{2}$" in the 1968 Kansas Relays and had reached 53 feet in the Big Eight Outdoor competition.
In the pole vault, freshman Jae Johnson surprised teammate Bob Steinhoff with his personal peak of 16'4". Steinhoff, clearing 16'6" to win at Texas, brushed the bar on his final attempt at 16 feet and finished at 15'6".
(Continued to page 7)
6 KANSAN Apr. 21 1969
Jim Ryun shadows Drake's Elliott Evans on the final leg of Saturday's distance medley relay. Ryun's blistering 3:57.6 mile anchored the Jayhawks to a world record time of 9:33.0 and earned the Kansas senior the Outstanding Performer award for the third time.
Photo by Ron Bishop
Summary of Events
UNIVERSITY RELAYS
DISTANCE MEDLEY — Kansas
(Neihouse, Juhan, Bigley, Ryun),
9:33.0 (World Record, Old Mark)
9:33.4 (B for Fort MacArthur, 1968);
2 Drake, 9:47.2; 3 Colorado, 9:52.4;
Oklahoma, 9:55.6; 5 Missouri, 9:56.2
440RELAY-1 Kansas (Byers,
Mathews, Whitley, Meade), 40.3
(Meet record. Old Mark 40.5 by
Nebraska, 1965, and Rice, 1967); 2
Rice, 40.6; 3 Oklahoma State, 41.0;
4 Missouri, 41.9; Colorado, 42.4
TWO-MILE RELAY-1 Kansas State (Howe, Peterson, Swenson, Barrati), 7:22.6: 2 Texas, 7:22.6: 3
Missouri, 7:26.0; 4 Nebraska, 7:30.0;
5 Wichita, 7:30.4
880 RELAY - 1 Kansas (Mathews,
Julian, Hatcher, Meade), 1:23:6; 2
TEXA & M, 1:24:7; 3 Kansas State,
1:24:7; 4 Oklahoma State, 1:24:8; 5
Colorado, 1:28.2
MILE RELAY 1 Rice (Grandiean, Brown, Straub, Askey), 3:07.0; 2 Nebraska, 3:09.3; 3 Texas, 4:01.6; A&M, 3:10.8; 5 Oklahoma, 3:10.8
FOUR-MILE RELAY-1 Kansas (Kathol, Solomon, Smith, Ryun), 16:4.24; 2 Kansas State, 16:54.6; Missouri, 16:55.6; 4 Drake, 16:57.4
SPRINT MEDLEY RELAY -1
Kansas State (Collins, Weldon,
Holbrook, Swenson), 3:20.8; 2 Rice,
3:21.0; 3 Nebraska, 3:21.4; 4 North
Texas State, 3:29.1; 5 Wichita State,
3:29.1
UNIVERSITY-COLLEGE
UNIVERSITY-COLLEGE
DISCUS 1 Doug Knop, Kansas,
189-8 (Meet Record. Old Mark
181-11% by knop, 1968) 2 Karl
Salb, Kansas, 176-4%; 3 Steve
Wilhelm, Kansas, 169-1; 4 Mike
Mulvane, Peru State, 165-7; 5 Brian
Spencer, Nebraska, 164-11%
(Continued to page 10)