The Battalion • Page 3
Wednesday • June 7, 1995
SPORTS
A.&JVI Track and Field
Stew Milne, The Battalion
Despite running with a severely sore ankle Saturday, A&M sophomore hurdler Larry Wade took second place in the men's
110-meter hurdles at the NCAA Track and Field Championships held in Knoxville, Tenn.
Sophomore Wades into record books
By David Winder
The Battalion
There he was, moments away from
the start of the 110-meter hurdles fi
nal in the NCAA Outdoor Champi
onships last week, preparing for the
race of his life.
The black Nike socks fit snug
around his feet and the golden hoop
earrings hung gently from his ears —
just like before every other race. The
pain in his right ankle, however, had
never been there before a race.
He had hurt the ankle while prac
ticing for the championships and had
been diagnosed with either a stress
fracture or ligament damage. But
All-American sophomore Larry Wade
put it all behind him when the start
ing gun sounded, and he ran the best
time of his life.
“The Lord has blessed me all sea
son and he blessed me for that race,”
Wade said. “I ran well, but there was
room for improvement. I always want
to improve on my performance.”
Texas A&M managers Ryan Rozy-
pal and Brandon Williams put treat
ment on Wade’s ankle up until
the time of the race. Even with the
injury, Wade set the Texas A&M
school record with a time of 13.41
seconds finishing behind Clemson’s
Duane Ross. Both Wade and Ross
broke the track record of 13.54, for
the event previously set by Willie
Gault in 1982.
Running with an injury was noth-'
ing new to Wade, who spent the first
half of the outdoor season dealing
with a back problem. Like the
ankle injury, Wade put the back
problem behind him by capturing five
straight outdoor meets, including
the prestigious Penn Relays, Texas
Relays and the Southwest Confer
ence Championships.
"I had a wonderful season.
The injuries set me back some
but the Lord blessed me and
helped me make it through."
— Larry Wade,
Sophomore hurdler for A drM
“I had a wonderful season,” Wade
said. “The injuries set me back some
but the Lord blessed me and helped
me make it through.”
Wade enjoyed just as much suc
cess inside this season as he did out
side. He qualified for the NCAA’s and
finished third in the 55-m hurdles af
ter finishing second in the 55 at the
SWC Indoor Tournament with a time
of 7.25 seconds.
When Wade first arrived at Texas
A&M from Elgin High where he
won district, regional and state
championships in the 110, he did not
think he would be having many won
derful seasons.
“When I first came here, (head)
coach (Ted) Nelson and coach (Abe)
Brown let me experiment with
my style,” Wade said. “After I set a
pattern of running, they told me
the different things that needed to
be changed.
“At first, I didn’t listen to them
and I failed. Then I started listening
to them, and by trial and error,
everything started falling into place.”
As a freshman, Wade won the 110
in the Border Olympics, the Rice In
vitational, the Arizona Shootout and
the A&M Invitational. He finished
third at the SWC outdoor with a time
of 14.06.
Wade is more concerned about the
Texas A&M team than he is about
any individual event.
“At the first of the year, the team
was separated,” Wade said. “As the
season went on, we became a lot clos
er as a team. We need to support our
teammates in all the events because
all the points count. Even if it’s just
worth a half of a point, we need to
support that half of a point.”
Wade will have his ankle X-rayed
today to see if he will be able to par
ticipate in the US Track & Field
Championships June 15-17 in Sacra
mento, Calif.
Past
Matson propels A&M track
By Nick Georgandis
The Battalion
The nameplate on Randy Matson’s of
fice door reads ‘Executive Director — As
sociation of Former Students.’ But the
man behind the door is anything but an
ordinary former student.
Standing 6 feet, 6 inches tall, and with
limbs more reminiscent of tree trunks than
arms and legs, it is easy to guess what
Matson might have been during his time
at A&M. He was definitely an athlete.
More specifically, he was the athlete
who shocked the world of track and field
30 years ago by becoming the first shot
putter ever to throw the 16-pound shot
more than 70 feet.
The historic occasion occurred on the
A&M campus at Kyle Field during the
1965 Southwest Conference Track and
Field Championships.
“I had set the world record a few
months before, and I kind of thought that
would be it for the year,” Matson said. “I
came back, and I was so excited because
we were having the Southwest Confer
ence meet at Kyle Field.”
The previous summer, Matson had won
a silver medal in the Summer
Olympics held in Tokyo, and had
already established a world
record with a throw of 67-11 1/2
feet. Matson said that attempt
ing to reach the 70-foot landmark
was a difficult path to travel.
“I had started to kind of
dream about 70 feet,” Matson
said. “If I would have been try
ing too hard though, I probably
would have messed it up.”
That day at Kyle Field, Mat-
son lofted a throw 70-7 1/4 feet,
shattering his own record by
nearly three feet.
Matson won the SWC Cham
pionship and the NCAA Cham
pionships in 1965, and repeated
both of those feats in each of the
next two years.
In 1968, he received the high
est track and field honor in the
world when he won the gold
medal in the Summer Olympic
Games in Mexico City.
Despite winning a large num
ber of championships over his
career, Matson said one goal al
ways kept him going.
“My goal was to be the
world-record holder,” Matson
said. “It was almost anticlimat-
ic when I got (the record) be
cause all of a sudden I wasn’t
chasing it anymore.”
Matson attributed his success
to having the same attitude
when whether he was practicing
in solitude or competing in front
of a crowd of thousands.
“I had the satisfaction of
competing and working out
every day,” Matson said. “I
enjoyed throwing by myself
out in practice as much as I did
in competition.”
While setting records left and
right in the shot put, Matson’s
excellence in another event was
nearly overlooked. In 1966 and 1967,
Matson also won the NCAA Champi
onship in the discus.
He kept the world’s shot put record for
eight years before it was broken.
The record itself however, was not to
stay away from College Station for long.
In 1990, Randy Barnes brought the
world record back to Texas A&M with a
throw of 75-10 1/4 feet in Westwood, Calif.
Matson said he was pleased when the
record entered the hands of a fellow Aggie.
“I had always hoped that another Aggie
would get the record back here,” Matson
said. “Hopefully, someone else from A&M
will come along and break this record.”
Matson has been employed at A&M
since 1972 and has been executive director
of the Former Students Association since
1980. He said the association now numbers
180,000 members and that member in
volvement makes his job relatively simple.
“What we’re mainly doing is raising
money and giving the former students a
chance to give something back,” Matson
said. “Of course, the spirit at A&M is the
greatest in the world, and the student
loyalty is always amazing.”
Much like one of Matson’s old throws.
Roger Hsieh, The Batialion
Executive Director of the Former Students' Association
Randy Matson was the shot putter to break 70 feet.
Superstitions rule sports fan’s existence
I ’ve always been the supersti
tious type. Lucky socks, special
shoelaces and unwashed T-
shirts have all helped me in my
athletic career. Baseball caps,
stuffed animals and an unshaven
chin have all helped my favorite
sports teams win.
But because of health reasons,
I think I'm going to have to stop
one of my most successful superstitions. I start
ed hitting fists with my friends when the Hous
ton Rockets’ playoff run first began in
April. Since then, numerous plays have been
worthy of fist-hits, and my hand is starting
to show it.
At first the hits were minor, but as the Rock
ets moved farther into the playoffs, the taps be
came full-blown punches. I didn’t mind though,
because it seemed the harder we hit, the better
the Rockets played.
Well now I mind because my knuckles are
starting to look like raw hamburger meat. I’m
having trouble gripping the steering wheel and
tying my shoelaces. I’m beginning to think that
the Rockets are going to have to play the NBA
Finals without me.
My superstitions have not always been vio
lent. When I was in high school, my basketball
teammates and I would gather to watch the
“NBA Superstars” video before games. If we
turned it off after the Dominique Wilkins section
of the video, we were guaranteed a victory.
On the day of the biggest game, we gathered
at my teammate’s girlfriend’s house to watch
the video. Somewhere between the Charles
Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon segments, she
discovered that my teammate
was being unfaithful.
We were quickly asked to
leave without seeing any of Do
minique’s dunks.
That night, we got our butts
kicked by 43 points. Call me
crazy, but I still believe in my
heart of hearts that if we had
seen Dominque’s video, we would
have won that game.
To this day, I still blame my teammate for
putting another blemish on our 11-19 record.
Tonight, I think I’m going to try positioning
for a Houston victory. If the Rockets are doing
well while I’m in a certain position, then I’m go
ing to stay that way until their hot streak is
over. If the Rockets are rolling while I’m stand
ing on one foot and gagging myself, then I’m do
ing it for the duration.
The superstition started back in 1986 when
the Houston Astros were trying to capture the
National League West title. The Astros were
behind by about seven runs when someone bet
my friend that he couldn’t put his fist in his
mouth. He did, and right after he had accom
plished the amazing feat. Astro first baseman
Glenn Davis hit a home run.
As the Astros continued to rally, my friend
started to turn blue, but we didn’t dare let him
remove his hand. The Astros scored three runs in
the bottom of the ninth for an important victory,
and we all celebrated in the ambulance that
picked up my friend.
I sure hope the Rockets can survive without
me hitting fists because I know I can’t put my
hand in my mouth.
Wilbert signs on for
French rendezous
Texas A&M senior basketball player
Joe Wilbert signed a contract Tuesday
to play professional basketball in
France, if he does not make an NBA
team's roster this year.
The contract calls for Wilbert to be
paid $40,000 as a base salary with the
opportunity to earn up to $60,000, in
cluding bonuses. He has to honor the
contract only if he is not drafted or
signed as a free agent by an NBA team.
Wilbert, a first-team All-$outhwest
Conference player this year, led the Ag
gies in scoring for the second consecu
tive season in 1994-95, averaging near
25 points per game.
If he is not signed by a NBA team,
Wilbert will leave for France on Aug. 1.
Rogers deals complete
game against Kansas City
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Kenny
Rogers matched the longest winning
streak of his career with his seventh con
secutive victory and Mike Pagliarulo
snapped a 1-1 tie with a sixth-inning sin
gle as the Texas Rangers cooled off the
Kansas City Royals 2-1 Tuesday night.
Rogers (7-2) allowed seven hits, had
one walk and struck out seven to shut
down the Royals, who'd won 10 of
their previous 11 games. Rogers, who
threw his second complete game of the
year, is tied with Kansas City's Kevin
Appier and Montreal's Jeff Fassero for
the major league lead in victories.
Texas took a 2-1 lead against Mark
Gubicza (3-5) in the sixth when Mickey
Tettleton singled with one out and
scored on Pagliarulo's two-out single.
Astros' win streak over
in extra-inning loss
HOUSTON (AP) — Charles John
son's llth-inning double, his third of
the game, scored Greg Colbrunn from
second base and gave Florida a 7-6
victory over Houston on Tuesday night.
Colbrunn led off the 1 1 th with a sin
gle off John Hudek (2-1), who took a
0.68 earned run average into the game.
Colbrunn was sacrificed to second by
Kurt Abbott and scored when Johnson
doubled to the center field fence past
Derek Bell.
The outcome snapped the Astros'
five-game winning streak and the Mar
lins' three-game losing streak.
Mark Gardner (1-4) pitched 1 1-3
innings, striking out two, for the victo
ry, running his career record to 6-1
against the Astros.
Simpson's trophies
returned to pawn shop
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Two tro
phies belonging to O.J. Simpson have
been returned to a pawn shop, which is
barred from selling them until the for
mer football star decides whether he
wants them.
State Supreme Court Justice Vincent
E. Doyle Jr. ordered Buffalo police to
return the trophies to Kary Enterprises.
The judge gave Simpson 60 days to de
cide whether he will sue the pawn
shop for the trophies.
The pawn shop bought the items for
S300 after Simpson was charged with
the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson
and Ronald Goldman last June. The
trophies were purchased from a
woman who knew Booker Edgerdson,
a teammate of Simpson's during the
1969 season with the Buffalo Bills.
Edgerson had been holding the tro
phies for Simpson for more than two
decades.
Red Wings stretch series
lead to 3 against Chicago
CHICAGO (AP) — The Detroit Red
Wings are within one victory of their
first Stanley Cup finals appearance in
29 years.
Vladimir Konstantinov beat goal-
tender Ed Belfour on a soft shot from just
inside the blue line 9:25 into the second
overtime as Detroit defeated the Chicago
Blackhawks 4-3 Tuesday night.
The Red Wings, who took a 3-0
lead for the third straight series, tied a
team season playoff record with their
eighth consecutive victory. Detroit,
which has won each game this round
by one goal, can wrap up the Western
Conference finals Thursday night
at Chicago.
Konstantinov's first career playoff
goal ended the longest game in this
year's NHL playoffs.
The play looked innocent enough,
with Konstantinov gaining control at
center ice, striding into Chicago's
zone and putting a soft wrist shot to
ward the net.