Tuesday, July 19, 1988/The Battalion/Page 5
Sports
Coaches: Barnes set for Seoul Aggies Heard, Kerr
reach semis at Trials
-■■■■
Battalion Hie photo
Former A&M track star Randy Barnes has a shot at a medal at the
1988 Summer Olympic Games held in Seoul, South Korea.
By Anthony Wilson
Sports Editor
Former Texas A&M shotputter
Randy Barnes’ feats in the Netum L.
Steed weight room have become leg
ends of almost Herculean propor
tions. When Barnes positions him
self under 600-plus pounds for a few
sets of bench pressing, even the likes
of footballers John Roper, Adam
Bob and Jerry Fontenot stop to
gawk.
“When he’s lifting, he puts on a
pretty good show,” A&M Assistant
Track Coach Barry Colburn said.
“It’s something to watch. He can lift
the side of a building.”
However, what Barnes has accom
plished in Steed is nothing com
pared to what he could pull off in
Seoul, South Korea in September.
Barnes will be the first Aggie shot-
putter to be competing for the U.S.
Olympic team since Randy Matson
did in 1968. He will also be trying to
bring home the first gold medal to
Aggieland since Matson’s victory in
the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
The 6-foot-4, 285-pound Matson
won the United States Olympic Tri
als in Indianapolis Saturday with a
put of 71-9'/2. The throw bested the
second place finisher by over three
feet and set a stadium and meet re
cord that had stood for 16 years.
Barnes’ domination of the compe
tition may have startled some ob
servers, but it was certainly no shock
to his A&M mentors.
“I don’t think it was a surprise —
certainly not to us,” Colburn said.
“Randy’s been here training the
whole year with Coach Parker and
we’ve had a first-hand look at every
thing he’s doing. Last week I saw his
final workout and he was going
about half-speed flipping the ball off
his fingertips and was throwing over
68 feet.
“Before he ever got on the plane
to go to Indianapolis, we knew he
was getting ready to throw well. How
good we didn’t know. But we knew
he’d be in the running for it.”
Barnes will be the 11th Aggie tra-
ckster to compete in the Olympics.
The last was javelin thrower Juan de
la Garza who competed for the Mex
ican team in the 1984 Los Angeles
games.
However, unlike Garza, Barnes
will be one of the favorites to win his
event.
“I don’t know if you can ever pick
anybody to be the favorite to win
anything because anything can hap
pen on any given day,” Colburn said.
“We think that Randy will be in the
hunt and up in the medals some
where. If it’s his day, he can do it.”
Colburn said that at this point the
Soviets and East Germans do not
have an advantage over Barnes.
“I think it’s about even-steven at
this time,” he said. “They’ve got to
do the same thing — go out there on
that one day at that one moment and
throw their best. It always comes
down to that one moment.”
Barnes sat out the 1988 collegiate
season after two outstanding cam
paigns to concentrate on his training
and improve his chances for making
the Olympic team. Barnes, who
would have been a junior last season,
won the 1987 Southwest Conference
outdoor shotput championship and
was a two-time SWC champ in the
discus. He owns the SWC record toss
of 71-9V2, the second best ever by a
collegian and fifth best American
mark.
Barnes’ combination of size,
strength and speed made him highly
sought recruit for A&M, but no one
imagined that his career would blos
som into Olympic glory.
“I think the staff thought that
Randy was going to be a good one,”
Colburn said. “I don’t think you can
go down the line and say a guy’s
going to be an Olympian or a gold
medalist because there are too many
intangible things that have to hap
pen.
“You can want a guy to be great,
but if he doesn’t want to be great, it
doesn’t happen. You can say a guy’s
got Olympic ability and want him to
be a gold medalist, but if it’s not im
portant to him (it won’t happen).
But it became important to Randy.
And when it becomes important to a
guy like Randy who’s got the tools,
you can get the job done.”
Barnes may return to A&M after
the Olympics, but because he would
the miss fall semester because of the
games, he may not be eligible to
compete for the Aggies. If he is eligi
ble or does seek to return to colle
giate competition, Colburn believes
Barnes will be tossing iron for A&M.
“I think if Randy can get eligible
or is eligible, I don’t think he would
go anywhere or compete for anyone
but Texas A&M,” Colburn said. “I
think we have a good working
relationship with Randy. It’s a two-
way street. We appreciate everything
he’s done for us and the program at
A&M.
“Anytime you have a great person
like Randy, it’s always a plus. I think
Texas A&M is considered one of the
better throwing teams in the United
States and partly because of Randy.”
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Texas
A&M’s Floyd Heard and Stanley
Kerr finished third and fourth re
spectively in the 200-meter dash,
while Carl Lewis breezed to victories
in the first two rounds of 200-meter
heats at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Floyd and Heard advanced to the
semifinals, which will be held
Wednesday.
Lewis, who already has won the
100-meter dash during the Trials, in
a wind-aided 9.78 seconds, the fast-
est-ever run, also was to compete in
the longjump Monday night.
Other finals scheduled Monday
night were the hammer throw, the
men’s and women’s 800 meters, the
women’s javelin and 400 meters, and
the men’s 10,000 meters.
The final of the men’s 200 also
will be held Wednesday. After that,
it will be determined whether Lewis
again will make the U.S. team in
HOUSTON (AP) — Popular
Houston Rockets guard-forward
Robert Reid, a fixture on the Rock
ets roster the past 10 years, was
traded to the expansion Charlotte
Hornets Monday for guard Bernard
Thompson.
Reid, 32, has played his entire ca
reer with the Rockets. He averaged
6.3 points in 62 games last season.
Thompson, 6-6, 210, was ob
tained by the Hornets in the recent
expansion draft, after playing the
last three seasons for the Phoenix
Suns.
“This is an excellent deal for us,”
Hornets vice president and general
manager Carl Scheer said in a pre
pared statement. “It not only pro
vides us with a veteran player who
could help us considerably in the
early years, but it also assures of a fu
ture young player.”
Reid was a key part of the Rockets’
three individual events, as he did
four years ago.
He also qualified for a possible
spot on the 400-meter relay team by
winning the 100.
Although he is not yet assured a
lace on the relay team — that will
e determined by the coaches — Le
wis most likely will anchor the 400
relay.
He anchored U.S. teams to world
records in the relay at the 1983
World Championships and 1984
Olympic Games, and ran the final
leg on last year’s winning team at the
World Championships.
Lewis eased to victory in the first
round of the 200 in 20.32 at the In
diana University Track and Field
Stadium, then ran a sparkling 20.03
in the second round.
“I felt confident in both races,”
Lewis said. “Physically, both felt very
easy. They weren’t real fast.”
drive to the 1986 NBA finals against
the Boston Celtics.
The Rockets also scheduled a
news conference Tuesday, with the
announcement likely concerning
Los Angeles Clippers third-year
guard Michael Woodson.
Woodson and Patterson had ear
lier confirmed their contract talks.
Reid missed the start of the 1987-
88 season after undergoing knee
surgery and dieting to lose weight.
He returned to the lineup, but his
playing time was limited as the sea
son progressed.
Reid ranks fifth on the Rockets’
all-time scoring list with 8,823 points
and is third on the all-time list of
games played with 762.
The Rockets selected Reid, from
St. Mary’s University, in the second
round of the 1977 draft, the 40th
player chosen overall.
Rockets trade Reid
to expansion Hornets
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