Page 16 THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1980
sports
Stenmark wins giant slalom
for his first Olympic gold
Bad luck doesn’t hurt
Lacaze diving skill
United Press International
WILMINGTON, N Y. — On its
face, it seems ridiculous to hold the
first men s giant slalom run one day
and the race for the Olympic gold
medal the next. But Ingemark Sten
mark made the 24-hour wait worth
while.
The man called the “silent Swede”
produced a dynamic, almost acroba
tic run Tuesday, powering past
Liechtenstein’s Andreas Wenzel to
claim his first Winter Olympic gold
medal.
“It is a great feeling,” said Sten
mark, in an unusually talkative
mood. “I really wanted this race. It is
the one giant slalom I had not won.”
The victory extended his winning
streak in the GS to an incredible 15
going back to the start of the 1978
World Cup season.
The Swede so dominated the
second-day run only one skier, Swit
zerland’s Jacques Luethy,finished
within one second of his time.
Luethy, .95 of a second slower than
Stenmark, climbed from 12th place
after Monday’s competition to finish
fifth.
Stenmark, meanwhile, jumped
from third to win the gold with a time
of 1:20.25 Tuesday, and a combined
total of 2:40.74.
First-run leader Wenzel dropped
to second, taking the silver in
2:41.49. Austria’s Hans Enn claimed
the bronze in 2:42.51.
Speaking in his native Swedish,
then in English and German, Sten
mark said he was surprised to be
greeted by King Carl Gustaf of
Sweden at the finish.
“He congratulated me,” Stenmark
said. But, asked what else the king
said, Stenmark replied, “The rest of
the conversation was just between
us.”
Stenmark had ignored the fans and
reporters after the first day of com
petition, then snapping back, “You
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always want to know what happened
when I’m not first.”
But he turned accessible following
his victory, saying, “I didn’t want to
answer questions yesterday because
I wanted to concentrate on today’s
race.”
Phil Mahre of White Pass, Wash.,
was the top American, in 10th place
with a time of 2:44.33. His twin
brother, Steve, finished tied for
15th, another .61 of a second back.
Cary Adgate of Boyne City, Mich.,
and Pete Patterson of Sun Valley,
Idaho, both fell.
“I’d have to say I’m disappointed, ”
said Phil Mahre. “But I’ll be better in
the slalom Friday. That’s been my
best World Cup race all year. ”
Wenzel said, “I lost the race at the
top. I had trouble there yesterday
but I was able to get back ahead be
cause the others had problems on the
bottom. But today I knew if they
skied the race well all the way down,
they’d beat me.”
Wenzel’s second-place finish put
him in the running for a combined
medal, awarded by the International
Ski Federation but not part of the
Olympic ceremony.
Austria’s Leonhard Stock, winner
of the downhill and a 26th place
finisher in the GS, led the combined
standings with 39.59 points, while
Wenzel was second with 40.83 and
Phil Mahre third with 46.99. Wenzel
and Mahre were expected to finish
1-2 in the combined following the
slalom, Stock’s weakest event.
By JOHN BRASHER
Sports Writer
There’s an old saying which says,
“Life is full of its ups and downs.”
Kerry Lacaze, a freshman diver for
the Texas A&M swim team, is one
person who has had his share of both.
Lacaze was born and raised in
Natchitoches, La., a small town 70
miles south of Shreveport. When he
was three years old, his mother was
seriously crippled from an auto
mobile accident, and she died five
years later.
Lacaze said times were rough after
the death of his mother and credits
his father for keeping Lacaze, his two
sisters, and one brother together
during that trying period.
“My father,” Lacaze said, “was
one hell of a man and I really admire
him. He accepted the death of Mom
and took on the responsibilities of
raising us.”
Lacaze found his place in life when
he began diving at the age of seven.
“I enjoy diving because it’s a sport
that focuses on the individual. It also
makes me feel good both mentally
and physically. It’s a personal accom
plishment, and it makes my dad feel
proud of me.”
At the age of 12, the happiness he
found in diving was taken away from
him when the diving team in Natch
itoches broke up. For three years,
Lacaze ignored athletics and didn’t
do much of anything except go to
school.
Once again however, fate fell upon
Lacaze. As though history would re
peat itself, Lacaze, age 15 at the
time, was seriously injured when the
car he was riding in slammed head-
on into a tree.
The next day, the depressed and
confused teen-ager found himself
laying in a hospital bed with two rup
tured discs, a fractured vertebra,
whiplash and several cuts and
bruises.
Lacaze recalls that fateful night
and said, “I was riding in the front
seat and I turned around to talk to
the people in the back. The girl in
the back seat screamed, and when I
turned around, the car had already
run off the road and we were about to
hit a tree. I raised my arms to cover
my face and then we hit.”
Lacaze underwent surgery to re
pair his back and was confined to a
bed for about a month. Half a year
later, he found himself struggling to
walk and doctors told him he would
probably never be able to dive again.
Lacaze said, “When the doctor
told me I couldn’t dive anymore, it
made me more determined to want
to dive. I realized the feeling hand
icapped people experience of not
being active and not able to do the
things you want to do.”
While laying in the hospital bed,
Lacaze decided that once he got
well, he would never again neglect
or abuse athletic talent and would
continue to improve himself.
Fortunately, he kept that promise
because it was his courage to con
tinue diving that got him to Texas
A&M.
Dean Hollingsworth, the Texas
A&M diving coach, wasjj
through Natchitoches ones
saw Lacaze practicing his i
ter a lengthy conversati®!
quick meal, Lacaze foundi
the verge of attending Teal
In December of
came back to College Statin
Hollingsworth and talkedtl
Swimming Coach Mel Nasl|
diving for Texas A&M.
August took over a swimminj
ram that didn’t have anyjj
offered Lacaze a scholarsti
since then he has becomes
of a success story.
Lacaze enrolled at Teias|
this semester and since!
already won three diving met]
has a chance to qualify fortlei
Nationals in Boston, Massj
27-28.
The ironic thing about hiss]
is that he excells in the thre
diving events, yet he is i
practice on the three-meterln
Texas A&M because
ties.
“When we have a homei
Lacaze said, “we dive
meter board because thepodl
10 feet deep. We seldomdivtl
three-meter board because J
bottom.”
Lacaze feels he has thep
become one of the top 10 d
the nation in a couple of yei
A&M’s football signees
Thanks
to you, I still
have a home.
For over 30 years, Smokey has been
asking you to be careful with fire.
During that time, you’ve helped cut
the number of careless fires in half.
So from Smokey Bear and all of
us who live in the forest, thanks for
listening. And keep up the good work
A list of players signing national
scholarship agreements with Texas
A&M University. High school play
ers who change their mind after sign
ing national letters of intent forfeit a
year of eligibility.
TEXAS A&M
Jim Beautrow, WE, 6-3, 225, Santa Barbara
(Calif.) JC; Robbie Beavers, TE, 6-2, 225,
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Thomas Graham, LB, 6-3, llil
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Tommy Hobison, L, 6-5,250,Cn
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Smith. K, 6-2, 235, Texas City; Nai
man, L, 6-4. 235, Hou. Scait
Stuard. K, 6-4, 175, Abilene Cod|)r|
Thompson, L, 6-3, 246, ContnC
JC; Greg Williams, QB, 6-1,
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