Knop on record setting trail
Discus champs, past & present, to duel
By BOB KEARNEY Kansan Sports Editor
Probably the most celebrated "red shirt" in Kansas football history, Doug Knop swapped a pigskin for a discus two years ago. Turned out to be quite a bargain.
Only one fellow might be complaining today, but KU's phenomenal Olympic performer - discus champion Al Oerter - will have an opportunity to settle any grudges Saturday at the 44th Kansas Relays.
Oerter will be protecting his only remaining link to the Kansas record books -his Memorial Stadium mark of 184' $1\frac{1}{2}$ set in a 1957 Kansas-Missouri dual. Oerter and Knop meet head-to-head in a special invitational discus event at 3 o'clock Saturday.
Oerter marks fan
"Just competing against him should really help me get out there," says Knop enthusiastically. 'Out there' means somewhere between 190 and 200 feet. although Knop declines to reveal his personal goals.
Oerter marks fall
Since Knop traded shoulder pads for the discus, the Olathe junior has bested Oerter's school record and KU Relays mark. Knop successfully defended his Texas Relays title with a record 189' $ \frac{8}{2} $ heave last week. That bettered his previous best of 187' $ \frac{3}{4} $ in the UCLA dual.
Still must improve
The 260-pound behemoth captured the 1968 Texas Relays crown at 176' 1" after throwing only 161 feet the week before in a similar dual with UCLA. Then Knop sailed the discus 181 $11\frac{1}{2}$ for a new KU Relays standard, and that mark should be toppled in the University Division competition tomorrow afternoon.
But Knop peaked with his toss in the Jayhawk track carnival, later ranking a disappointing sixth in the NCAA Outdoor. His confrontation with Oerter should keep his mark climbing. "Oerter should throw 200 feet even if he hasn't been working out much lately," Knop feels, "That's the kind of competition that helps everyone improve."
Long an admirer of Oerter and a student of his technique, Knop needs little more to spur his mental preparation than to glance at Oerter's astonishing record.
The meet will be dedicated to the 32-year-old Oerter, the only athlete ever to win four Olympic gold medals in a single event. The ex-Jayhawk will be making his first trip back to Memorial Stadium since finishing his collegiate career in 1958.
Impressive string
Oerter won his first Olympic gold at Melbourne in 1958 as a KU sophomore at 184" 10½" and has since stretched his record to 194" 1/2" (Rome,
1960) , then 200' $1 \frac{1}{2} $ " (Tokyo, 1964), and finally 212 $6 \frac{1}{2}$ at Mexico City last fall.
Knop and teammate Karl Salb, the NCAA's Indoor shot put champion, both eclipsed Oerter's school record of 188"2" with their Texas tosses. Salb whizzed the plate a remarkable 189 feet but placed third—behind Knop and the 189"4½" throw of Florida's John Morton.
"My throw was too low at Texas—too much of a line drive," said Knop. "I have to get better height before the NCAA meet."
Improvement is a must before Knop compares throws with defending NCAA champion John VanReenan of Washington State or Oregon State's Tim Vollmer. Best distance this spring has been a 190' 4" Vollmer toss in the Oregon Preview meet of March 8.
Nat'l preview
All four, along with Florida's Morton, may get together next week at the Drake Relays.
"That would be just like the nationals," says Knop, "and better competition means better throws."
But all that can wait with Oerter here this weekend.
"All three of us (Knop, Salb and Steve Wilhelm) want to ask him about his training schedule," said Knop. Actually, the KU trio would like to compare notes.
Knee could hinder Grinvalsky in 880
You see, the most important factor in Knop's rise to success has been his diligence to a weight training program.
"We devised it ourselves, but Wilhelm knows the most about it," Knop says. "Steve's from California—where everybody works with weights."
Throughout the winter and spring months Peggy Grinvalksy, New York City junior, and one of the nation's top women half-milers, has been jogging through the streets of Lawrence preparing for the KU Relays.
The Kansas weightmen worked almost three month:hs.
This afternoon at 3:35, Peggy will enter the women's open 880, hoping that months of hard work won't be lost to a recurring knee injury.
shot would be pretty good throws." Knop recalls.
6 KANSAN Apr.17 1969
Miss Grinvalsky, who was unable to try out for the 1968 Olympics because of a broken leg, first noticed a stiffness in her right knee last Sunday. That afternoon she went to Dr. Forest C. (Phog) Allen for advice. Dr. Allen suggested that they go jogging and see how the knee felt. After her work-out with the ex-basketball coach Miss Grinvalsky could hardly bend her knee.
Sunday and Monday she was treat in the KU Medical Center in Kansas City.
outlining an acceptable weight program, and it's a year-round thing. Routine drills include bench presses (400-420 pounds), power clean jerks (315-340), military or standing presses (280-320 pounds) and squats (500-525 pounds).
"We do very little running," tells Doug. "At first, I experimented with running, but you only pull muscles and lose weight."
His 60' $9 \frac{1}{2}$ peg in the NCAA Indoor earned third place—and Doug has grown accustomed to No. 3 with teammates the caliber of Salb and Wilhelm.
Doug laughs at the goals he set for himself last year. "I thought 170 in the discus and 53 in the
Scales hit 260
Obviously, Knop hasn't been running. His weight jumped from 205 to 230 last year, and now his weight approaches 260. Solid 260.
Weightlifting has also boosted Knop's distance in the shot put.
For the record, Doug Knop thinks 200 feet would be a "pretty good throw" in his specialty. And wouldn't it be funny if Doug could laugh at that goal in the 1972 Olympics?
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