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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 29, 1985)
. •, ' 'o* * KoMirald fil«* phuto ° This Saturday's Wthjinnual Prpfontaine-(Classic, held in honor of Steve-PreftmtaineJaboveJ. one of America's'greatest distance run „ .. n«i*; will b$'ona of'the-biggpst and.letst meets ydt;. accordilift to director Tom Jordan. ; .* '• ;>>•; • : Classic s 1 Oth anniversary: is a befitting: tribute to pre By Robeil Coljias Off Ihr Kmrrdd o • • * * o’.. It was a cojd .early morning. May-3"0: 1975 *' . Steve; Prpfontainer. one of America’s greatest0 '.distance runners, wasitleatj;.; " " • • “Pre,,; as he was known to track fans around • the world: was dnvihg’*his 1973 gold* MG home from his friend ^and' Olympic teammate Kenriy Moofe's hduse in Hendricks Park- As he prodSed-'. ed along.Sky.line [friveiin tlie'parkjsdmething ter-. . ’ rible happened:^ o... \ .; • > • "• • ” . Hjs.'car overturned and crushed him beneath ' the rubble a't 12*40 a.m*.'-*. * . : ; ; .... No one rea'IJy'knows how it'fiappeneii exact- \ ly.* end controversy-'over -the,"accidenfls cir- • .cumstances’isStill' being ^debated. But Prefon- l. . talne's death was a faet,*and it set the track-and field -world, intq*permanent 'mourning*. ■ •_ Many 'believe his'.sheer. energy’ on the-t.rapk : and'his persona.) charisma with the fans.w.hodoV- • ed him so" much will never be replaced.* . ’ • ■ ’.... With him clied onV.of ’America's brightest hopes • for -the 1970.Montreal 'Olympic (lames. Prefontaine.had held at the time of his-death, every American" record from . 2,000-meters to ,10.000-meters. He. finished fourth in the 1972'. Munich Olympic 000-meter, final as,'a junior from the University...'. ; . .. He. came home.from the Olympics that year to finish a feat *that'had never -before been -ac complished as he won the three mile champion ship for the. fourth straight. year at the NCAA tnick-and-field meet.’ At the. time'of, his- death he .was. a mere 24 years old. jusf reaching his prime competitive years. He had* already been offered-the largest .contract, in the history of the International Track Association, a professional'. track and field association that lias;since disbanded! By his own description. Pnefontaine felt he had his best races ahead of him. •' .. - • ‘ •'* * r * '.,*.. . Prefontaine was more than a runner however. His dreams carried him to the edge of greatness. His ambitions led to the construction of Pre s Trail, 'four miles pf. running-trails ’ along the. ’ . Willamette River.'and helpe'd’toestablish'Eugene, as-the unofficial “tfack caridar’of the'world. . • . ° On May 29,-. 1975, he*ran his.'last rape.Tn an. . . NCA'A preparation jneet’at Hayward Field’ Jle ran’the second'/astest fime"'in.the' 5 .fiod-fhet&rs in ” . *’ • "’American _ history on than’day. .The; only time faster .was his own*. < . . •'• ! ... ’ .' . • .That meet became the'legacy of the PreFon- ; «, taine^Xilass'ici frack-and’-fie’ld’ meet held.a’nnually “ oh'the week of ;May>29jat HayWard> Field in the . ” V spirit of the great'iihamjai'pn it is.’desigrted'to, .' •Honor..',. :/ . . -’This.year’s FJi^efonJame.Classic,. will", bet the lOth anpual'memorialJp jlhis.legeiid of. track and; field. Oyet-the*past decade, the meet has grown into, one’of t he. t He’ pre m ier annpaI ipeets • held, in the United States..This year’s fieldi.s no.clifferent. Th.e list of Olympic’phampions is impressive; it ; incl.udes' Roger .'Kingdom'. ‘ 110-meter high hurdles champion from, the United States and joa quim.Cru/. former Universjty runner and Olym pic; 800-meter champion from Brazil. A1 Joyner, the triple jump gold medalist, from the United States will alsobe at,Hay ward; Field to pay tribute to Prefontaine.. Pole vault gold medalist Pierre Quinon will also be competing. In all. there will • be' ltV.medalists from the 1984 Olympic Games in I .os Angeles! •*' Mary lacker Slaney.will make her 1985 out door, clebu't in the. w.o,me'n:s 5000-meter race, and double world recordholder Jarmila Kratochvilova will "battle against .silver.medalist Kim Gallagher in the women's 800-meter. . Meet 'director'.Tqrrr Jordan is very excited about this year’s meet. “This will undoubtedly be the best.Pre Glassic field ever," Jordan says. It couldn’t for a more fitting tribute to Steve Prefontaine, • Tickets are still available for the Prefontaine Classic at the University ticket office at McArthur Court. For more information call 686-4461. a twist comes of age By Michael Duncan Of th«i KmrraM When I’red Morrison invented the first Frisbee in 1948, he speculated that the discs would soon hi) seen flying in backyards, parks or just about anywhere across the nation and possibly the world. Hut he didn't guess that the discs would make their way to encroaching on one of the most popular leisure pastimes: golf. Since the '70s, disc golf has grown in to an international sport with serious participants numbering in the thousands. The popularity and seriousness of the sport is impressive when one considers that Wham-O, owner of the Frisbee trademark, annual ly sponsors the U.S. Open Frisbee Disc Championships that is offering a total of $35,000 in prize money this year. As interest in disc golf competition grew, so did the noed for regulation. After the Professional Disc Golf Associa tion was established, official guidelines for disc specifications and tournament regulations were established. Under the new regulations contestant identifica tion numbers, issued by the association, became a requirement for tournament play. Golf discs are designed with distance and stability in mind. A variety of disc sizes and weights are available, but it is thu rim design and weight loading that determines the particular use of the disc, whether it be for driving, pitching or putting. Until recently the most commonly us ed design was the Aero series, a disc with a wedge shaped rim and an even thickness from center to edge. The Aero is designed with distance as a primary objective. A half-round groove on the underside of the rim creates a slight tur bulence that increases the disc's max imum time aloft at the cost of some stability. A newcomer to the market bv the same designer is the Aviar, a slight variation of the Aero. The Aviar’s rim has been trimmed back and the underside groove lessened. The result is a more predic table flight due to its less turbulent design. Most discs are marketed as a series with weight ranging from light, 95 grams, to heavy. 170 grams and up, and diameter ranging from mini, 18 cen timeters, to large, 25 centimeters. Kim designs are unregulated but the FIX'.A has size and weight limits for golf discs in tournament play. The Recreation and Intramural Ac tivities office, Room 103 Cerlinger Hall, organizes disc golf leagues and also distributes free maps of campus courses for people interested in participating. To join the PDGA, send name, address and $15 lifetime membership fee to: PDGA membership, P.O. Box 9250, St. Paul, MN. 55109. Emerald file photo University sophomore Mark Smith displays his form as he chips to the "hole” in a recent disc golf contest on campus.
