sports__
Pre Classic wins world-class praise
By JODY MURRAY
Oltfw Emaratd
If Hayward Field had an ego,
the synthetic track would have
burst at the seams with the
praise heaped upon last Satur
day's Prefontaine Classic by
several world-class athletes
"This place is utopia," said
Tom Byers, winner of the 1,500
meters in 3:36 5 — the third-best
time in the world this year "I'm
from Ohio State, where we d get
200 (fans) at the most "
"The crowd s on everybody's
side." said Craig Masback, who
was nipped by Byers at the tape
"The spirit is certainly here " He
said the great European races
depend on several factors,
some of which were shared by
the Pre meet — most notably a
good-sized (about 7,000),
knowledgable vocal crowd
John Walker, the former
world record holder in the mile
and third-place finisher in the
Pre 1,500. continued the
accolades
"You give the losers an ova
tion. and that s great Track is
for everybody You don't need
the primadonnas
"It reminds me a little bit of
New Zealand (his home
country) On some of the back
streets in Eugene you d swear
you were in Norway "
Such an allusion seems fit
ting. since the Pre meet was the
last competition for many ath
letes before hitting the Eu
ropean circuit Judging by Sa
turday's marks, most are ready
to make the trip
Byers, winner of the Twilight
Mile one week ago lost the lead
to Masback after setting the
pace for 3'/? laps But the Athle
tics West standout ignited a
mini-kick with 20 meters to go
and nipped Masback at the tape
by two hundredths of a second
"When you take the pace
you've got to be careful
because someone always
leeches off you," Byers said "If
someone else takes the lead
then it becomes their problem,
because now they have to worry
about me This time it paid off "
"Tom deserved to win He did
all the work." said an ailing
Walker, whose third-place time
was 3:37 29
Oregon's Leann Warren
couldn't take all the credit in her
race, the 800 meters Teammate
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Tom Byers blazed to a 1,500 meter win in 3 36.5. the third fastest time in the world this year, at the Pre-classic Saturday night
Rhonda Massey ran rabbit for
her, taking the field through 400
meters in 57 7 Warren roared
away from the pack on the
second lap and finished in
2 00 47 — the world s best this
year and sixth-best on the all
time U S list
"Very close,' said Warren,
who would have liked to break
two minutes "I've got to say I'm
disappointed, but not deeply
disappointed I wanted to get in
a good race in Eugene
Warren said she didn't look at
the scoreboard clock as she
came down the final stretch
"That would have slowed me
down I just gritted my teeth and
tried to keep my form "
The next big race for Warren
will be the Athletics Congress
meet later this month A good
showing there will qualify her for
several biggies such as the
World Cup
"It's hard to say (if she'll break
two minutes) at the TAC,
because the races are more
tactical because they mean so
much more Plus there are three
rounds So I don't know if a
great race will happen there, but
it could lead to some great
races "
In the women's 1,500, Athletic
West's Cathie Twomey shaved
six seconds from her personal
best to win in a U S -leading
4 1 1 96 Twomey hung back
until the last turn, kicked into the
lead and held off a late charge
by Joan Hansen (4 12.09)
"I felt so strong,'' said
Twomey, grinning from ear to
ear "I came through the turn
and said, Big deal about pass
ing on the turn I ve got to go
when the momentum is go
ing "
Mike Bolt, the Kenyan Olym
pian doing his graduate work at
the University, took the 800 in
the world's third-tastest time
this year (1 45 18) Randy Wil
son of Athletics West was
second in 1.45.32, followed by
Wayland Baptist s Joel Ngetich
(1 45 34)
"I think I did all right,’' Boit
said "I am a little disappointed
in my home stretch I'll have to
work a little on that But I'm sure
now that I can run 1 45, so now I
can shoot for 1 44 "
In other events, Matt Cen
tiowitz blazed through the last
400 in 56 seconds to win the
5,000 in 13:27.06, Amos Korir of
Kenya clocked the world's
fastest steeplechase of 1981
in 8 18 57, nipping AW's Ken
Martin (8:21.52): and Peter
Farmer won a duel with Dave
McKenzie in the hammer, 233-2
to 233-1
(Coburg Jnn-1B?7
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memorable one.
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484-0633