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.