. •, ' '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.