Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 28, 1973)
Another Duck in track’s record books— Lost in the wash of one Steve Prefon taine American record after another is one of track and field’s greatest performers. His name is Mac Wilkins, and the record books list him as the greatest three and four-event weight man in history. That means nobody in the world can throw the discus, shotput, hammer and javelin as well as Mac can in combination. In Bakersfield four days ago Wilkins did his three-event thing and had the greatest day of his life. He threw the discus an Oregon record 202-3, put the shot 59-10 %, and came up with a 176-10 hammer throw. Oregon Coach Bill Dellinger called it the greatest performance of all time. “That was an outstanding triple,” he said Tuesday in reflection. “I don’t know of anyone who has done anything equal to that-ever.” The discus throw was the longest by an American this year. “We felt he had the potential to throw well over 200 feet if he got a few things corrected,” noted Dellinger. “He was doing those few things pretty good. He got a lot of 190 throws off and felt he had a lot more power. He got himself into position where he was able to use some of his strength and speed.” Two years ago Wilkins was a highly touted freshman from Beaverton with apparently unlimited potential in the javelin. He was third in the Pacific-8 championships that year (231-1) although his best that season was 257-4. He scrapped that event after suffering an elbow injury and began to concentrate THROW Weight star Mac Wilkins Photo by Phil Waldstein on the discus and shot. Most of all, he threw the discus. Wilkins’ best last year was 196-11, and in a season where he met the likes of Jay Silvester and Tim Vollmer, that was far from enough to make a dent at the Olympic Trials. But 200 feet appears just the beginning. As Oregon prepares for Saturday’s Oregon Invitational at Hayward Field, Wilkins is the team’s top man in all the weight events. There is no problem at practice: he concentrates on the discus. “The majority of his practice time is spent on it,” says Dellinger but the Ducks’ new coach pointed to Wilkins’ shot potential in upcoming meets. “I’m sure he’ll get over 60 feet,” Dellinger nodded. “It’s just a matter of getting it all together. He should place in both events in the Pac-8 meet.” CURRENT SEASON BESTS 400 RELAY—40.8 Ross Blackman, Bob Martin, John Mays, Albert Hearvey. MILE—Scott Daggatt, 4:05.9; Todd Lathers, 4:08.2; Lars Kaupang, 4:10.3. 120 HIGH HURDLES—John Woodman, 14.7 . 400 DASH—Dave Hagmeier, 47.5; Doug Chapman, 47.6; Vince Buford, 48.0 100—Al Hearvey, 9.6; Bob Martin, 9.7; Roger Crawley. 9.7 . 880—Steve Bence, 1:49.6; Mark Feig, 1:52.7, Greg Stewart. 1:54.6. 440 INTERMEDIATES— Paul Wilkinson, 54.9. 220—Al Hearvey, 21.3; Al Dukowski, 22.4; James Holloway, 22.6. THREE MILE—Pat Tyson, 13:37.0. SIX MILE—Steve Pretontaine, 27 09.4; Mike Long, 28:11.0; Bob Grubbs, 28:55.4 MILE RELAY—3:16.0 (Buford, Chapman, Hearvey, Blackman). SHOT—Mac Wilkins, 59-10'/j; Craig Brigham, 48-8V2. JAVELIN—Jeff Carter, 221-4Vj. LONG JUMP—Ross Blackman, 23-7Vj; Craig Brigham, 21 6' 1. Rick Hedges, 20-9%; John Reed, 20-0. POLE VAULT—Craig Brigham, 15-0; John Reed, 14-6; Judd Eddy, 15 0. HIGH JUMP—Craig Brigham, 6-8. DISCUS— Mac Wilkins, 202-3, Craig Briaham, 146-lVj. TRIPLE JUMP—Ed Bilusak, 49-5'A. HAMMER—Mac Wilkins, 176 10; Mike Bolliger. 170-2. DECATHLON—Craig Brigham, 6.744; John Reed, 6.630; Rick Hedges, 6.362, Judd Eddy, 5.938. Cherubic Jumbo always draws a crowd By MIKE YORKEY Of the Emerald Probably a good many people have seen Jumbo Fernando, star tennis player for Oregon and team ego, ambling around the grounds or playing on the tennis courts. It isn’t hard to miss him. Hie slightly rotund but cherub Jumbo always draws a crowd whenever he plays. Sooner or later he will dip into his bag of histrionics, which consist of hamming it up by yelling his name, occasionally throwing his racquet, or in more serious instances, “swearing in four different languages.’’ A tennis player of unlimited talent, he hits every shot in the book, “plus a few of my own,” said Jumbo Fernando in an interview at his apartment. A native of Ceylon, Jumbo is Oregon’s top tennis player. That doesn’t mean he’s going to have the best record. Shackled with the No. 1 seed in every singles match, Fernando confronts the opposing team’s ace every time and that added up to a 5-10 record last year. This marks the third straight season he’s been No. 1, and as when the Ducks left on a four-day road trip to California he was 2-2 on the year after the Pacific Northwest Meet last week. The Ducks take on Canada College in Redwood City this afternoon, then on successive days face Cal-Hayward, San Jose State, and Cal-Berkeley. This is Fernando’s fourth and final season as a Webfoot and he had a few things to say about his career. “My parents took an interest in my tennis when I was younger. They wrote to Dennis Van de Meer, (a top tennis coach in the U.S.), and he got me to come to America to play the tennis circiat here. I was playing at Lake Tahoe with Dennis where I met Buzz Summers, (Oregon’s tennis coach) and he offered me a scholarship to come to Oregon, which put the idea in my head to go to college,” said Jumbo. “My dad said the most important thing for me is to [day tournaments all the thne, because he feels that sharpens my game competitively. It’s been disappointing to me to see some of Oregon’s top players not come back after one year,” said Fer nando, in reference to Phil Stevens’ and Jon Toneys' decision to move back to Australia and California, respectively. “We can’t afford to lppe players like that. It’s essential that we keep our top players in order to have a good teamhe said. Don’t get the impression that Jumbo Fernando had to machete his way to civilization from the dark jungles of Ceylon. Accustomed to world travel, Fernando has played the European Tennis circuit for the past seven summers. “I played in seven tournaments in England this past summer,” said Jumbo. “I got to the semifinals of the Liverpool and Northern England Championships. All the players on the toir eat, drink and think tennis. We Oregon’s No. 1 in tennis '-■noio ov bteve i wedt all live together and have a great time.” hi looking at the six-foot Fernando, one would not expect him to be the great athlete he is, but appearances can be deceiving. “I love to eat and cook,” said Jumbo during the interview, as he poured more catsup on his pork chops, after wolfing a can of applesauce and a plate of brownies. When asked whether he felt he was overweight, he grabbed his mid-section and replied, “Hell, no! I run a lot on my own, maybe two hundred yards a week.” After coming off a much-improved 18-11 season last year with Fernando as the focal point, Oregon tennis should continue its’ improvement under coach Buzz Summers. The team’s first official meets took place over the spring break here in Eugene, when the Webfoot tennis players hosted the Pacific Northwest In tercollegiate Championships, held under the covered tennis courts from March 22 24. With June comes the imminent graduation of the popular Jumbo, and a possible career along the lines of tennis. “I’ll be working for Tennis America at Lake Tahoe with Dennis Van de Meer for the summer, but I don’t know what I will be doing after that. Eventually I hope to go back to Ceylon and teach tennis,” said Jumbo. Until that moment, Jumbo Fernando will play out his four-year career at Oregon. “I love to play in front of a crowd. The bigger the crowd, the shorter the words I yell. Sometimes I try to be a comedian out there on the court,” said Jumbo. He often succeeds. It will be hard to picture Oregon tennis without Jumbo Fernando. BasebaUers try again today Both the varsity and JV baseball games Tuesday were called on account of rain. The varsity’s away game with Portland State and the JV game with Linn Benton will be rescheduled for later this week. Weather permitting, there will be a double-header at Howe Field today featuring the Oregon JV going against Lane Community College at 1 p.m. and the varsity taking on Pacific at 3. Mike Shoup, Oregon’s undefeated mound ace, is scheduled to start for the varsity.
