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Friday, April 22, 1977
University Daily Kansan
52nd Relays field has fast pace to continue
By ROB RAINS Sports Writer
If yesterday's performances are an indication, this year's Kansas Relays could be one to remember.
There were four events contested yesterday. There were four Relax records set. There was also one American best.
All of this isn't to say that there will be a meet record set in every event in today's and tomorrow's competition in the 52nd running of
the season.
But with the field assembled, there could be quite a few
There are some familiar names among this year's participants, including a name from the past, Al Oerter.
Oerter, a KU graduate, is the only person who ever won four Olympic gold medals in one event. He will be competing on Saturday morning in the event dedicated to him two years ago—the Al Oerter Discus Throw.
Oerter, 40, is on the comeback trail. His goal—a berth on the 1980 U.S. Olympic team.
ALTHOUGH OERTER will be among those participants shooting for an individual championship, the emphasis of the Relays will be in the game.
Last year, as the second leg on the Midewest Relays circuit, the Kansas meet was swept up in the fervor of an Olympic year. This season's season ended with a victory.
"During an Olympic year like last year," KU head coach and
meet director Bob Timmons said, "I think there is a tendency to put a lot of stress on individual development. Each athlete had geared themselves to perform."
"1 THINK this was evident to a degree on the relays circuit in 1978. A lot of time and effort was put into invitational events for too-
Jennings, Collins scratch
Two entries in tomorrow's invitational events have scratched from competition.
Evian Jennings of Mississippi State, the defending champion in the 400 meters, is sidelined with a pulled leg muscle.
Bill Collins of the Gulf Coast Track Club, scheduled to compete in the 100 and 290, have elected to go to another meet.
The Field for the 400 will still include Olympian Mike Solomon of New Mexico, Robert Taylor of the Philadelphia Players, Dele Udo and Andrew Gorodenkoff.
name athletes. This year, we'll attempt to get back to what the Midwest circuit is all about—collegiate competition."
Partly responsible for the upswing in interest in the relay races is the decision of a young man from Texas.
That man, Johnny Jones, captured the attention of the track
Women head to state tournament pursuing softball championship
The KU softball team will try to capture the state title today and tomorrow as it takes part in the state softball tournament at Hays.
As of last night, five teams had qualified for the six team tournament.
The other divisional winners are:
Benedictine, Kansas Wesleyan and Fort
Hays State. Pittsburgh earned a berth as a run-uper. Wichita State and Kansas
State were scheduled to play at 8 this morning to the other runer-u.
The Jawahares' first game is scheduled for 4 p.m. against the winner of the Kansas State championship.
KU coach Bob Stancilt said he was optimistic about the Jayhawks' chances of winning the tournament, but he didn't know very much about the other teams.
The Jayhawks will be relying heavily on pitcher's Sliuelin Sterlac, 8-0, and Gloria
Graves, hitting .300, leads KU hitters. She is followed by Debbie Stilgenbauer, .385 Nancy Stout, .377, and June Koleber, .355.
Stancliff said his biggest hope was that the weather would clear up.
"Id just like to see the sun come out," he said. "Cool weather bothers the pitchers—special Gloria—because they can't get it." And rains they have problems with control.
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world three weeks ago at the Texas Relays where he won the innoturnal 100-meter dash in an unofficial record-time of 9.85
Jones' time was not recognized as a world record because it wasn't electronically timed.
JONES WAS invited to run in the open 100- and 200-meters at KANSAS, but after consultation with Texas coach Cleburn Price, he decided not.
He's scheduled to anchor the Longhorn teams in the 440, 880 and mile relays.
Don't automatically concede those races to the Longhorns, however. Not by any means.
Expected to give them a great deal of competition will be teams from Oklahoma and Kansas. Oklahoma defeated the Longhorns in winning the 400-l relay at Texas, and Kansas, with acer spinner Cliff Brown, outscoring them by a great deal of improvement since their failure to place in Texas.
"OUR HANDOFFS are looking a lot better." Timmons said. "There seems to be more spirit at practice and more of a team feeling. I think there'll be a big improvement in how we handle the baton this week."
KU will attempt to field a team in every relay except the two-mile. That adds up to six, ranging from the 440 to the four-mile. Every KU runner entered in the meet is scheduled to go in at least two relays, with freshman sr dive Dave Blatcher slate for four.
"We're going to try to run in all of them, but there's probably no way we can," Timmons said. "We'll be thin right down the line because of two things: We're running a lot of sprint relays and permitting some of our athletes to compete in individual events."
WILEY AND Kevin Newell will be entered for KU in the in-
vitalized 100, scheduled to be decided a little after 2 p.m. tomorrow. Others entered in the field include Ed Preston of Arkansas State, the defending champion in the 100 and 200, and John Garrison of Oklahoma.
In the 200, Wiley will team with Blutcher as KU's entries.
Today's competition began at 8 a.m. and will end with the preliminaries in the men's mile relay at 5 p.m. Tomorrow's schedule will begin with the marathon at 7 a.m. and will end with the Chuck Murray mile relay at about 5.9 m.
Six individual champions from the Texas Relays will be trying for their second win on the relays circuit at Kansas.
THOSE TRYING for their second relays triumph will be Dean Hageman of Wichita State in the West Santee 1,000-meter run; Paul Clement of Glen Cunningham mile; Nat Page of Missouri in the high jump and Bob Berry in the 5,000 meters and Earl Bell of Arkansas State in the pole vault.
Other relay teams besides OU4's 401 unit that will be trying to pick up their second win will be the Sooners in the sprint medley, New Mexico in the two-mile, and Arkansas, anchored by Olympian Nail O'Shaughnessy, in the distance medley.
Jones, who was a member of the gold-medal-winning 400-meter relay team for the US. in last year's Olympics, will be one of seven athletes to compete in Tokyo this summer.
OTHERS INCLUDE Bell, Preston, Garry Bjorkland of the Chicago Track Club who will run in the 5,000, Terry Porter, an ox KU athlete who will compete in the open pole vault and Wendy Knudson of Colorado State, who will run in the women's 200 meter
Back to defend their titles from a year ago will be Anthony Coleman of Kansas in the 110-meter high hurdles, Mike Kee of Southern Illinois in the 100 meters, Sorchik Sorchik of Nebraska in the javelin, Preston and Porter.
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The wet or ferene
in