The Scarlet a black. March la, l978—page 7

 

Swim team falls second to Lake Forest

by Bill Raynolds

An historic event will take place March HHS at
the PEC :is Grinnell hosts the 1973 NCAA Division
lil NatiunaiChampiolIshi s The best small college
swimmers in the country will converge on Grinnell
for three days oi clectrilying action. Grinnell will be
entering the phenomenal lrcshnian Toni llclpen-
stell iii the diving and two relay teams. The medley
relay (Bruce Jones. Greg nomez, Jcll Noble, and
bi-ian Jones) and the too yd. lreestvle rclav tBrucc
Jones, Brian Jones, Jell Noble. and Bruce Pivarl
are preparing with high hopes. Everyone is invited
to come and witness the action which takes place
both mornings and ullernoolls for the three days.

The Grinnell Pioneers came away from the 1978
Midwest Conference Swimming and Diving
Championships With a big “what if” on their minds

What it the meet had not been held in meters at
Lake Forest College and what if the entire Grinnell
team had not fallen prey to a ruinous plague during
the two weeks prior to the meet? The Lake Forest
team Won the competition 417»385, as Grinnell
placed second. ,

The iirst day of competition held many strong
performances and surprises for the Pioneers. In the
first event of the competition Brian “WSMC”
Jones took 3rd place in the 400m individual medley.
Next, the 100m freestyle, which Grinnell dominated
last year, proved a disappointment as Jeii Noble
took 4th, Bruce Pivar (3th, Chris Corton 9th, and Bill
Raynolds 12th In the 100m ﬂy, Frank Halley and
Bob “Knees" Lewis, two of the famed “Kansas
Corps." placed 3rd and 5th.

Then came Grinnell's premier winner as Bruce
Jones cruised to lst placewith Dave “Carrot Cake”,
Kapp close behind in 7th place in me 200m.
backstroke. The mom breaststroke proved to be a
real Windfall for the Pioneers as Greg ”the Greek"
Gomez, Karl Koch, Greg Olson, and Bill Raynolds
placed lst, 3rd, 7th, and llth respectively.

The meet’s best race

In what Coach Obermiller called “the race that
made the conference meet worth coming to," Brian
Jones edged out All-American Pat Waters of Lake
Forest for first place in the 400m lreestyie. Dave
Kapp finished 7th and Charlie Wiberalske 13th in the
1mm, that interminable race for masochistic
types. Grinnell finished the day with Tom
Helpenstell taking 2nd in the required dives and the
800m freestyle relay (Jones, Kapp, Lewis, and
Halley) finishing in 2nd place.

Grinnell strong second day

As expected. the Lake Forest team had a slight
lead after the first day of competition yet everyone
was Confident that Grinnell, always strongest on the
second day, would emerge the Victor.

 

The second grueling day opened With the 200m
freestyle in which Brian Jones seized 3rd, Bob
Lewis 9th, and Bill Raynolds followed in 10th. Then
the perennially powerful freestyle sprinters
reasserted themselves in the 50m event with Bruce
“Mountain of Medals” Jones speeding to 2nd, Noble
3rd, Corton 4th, and Dan Weber 10th. Greg Olson
and Frank Halley captured 4th and 9th respectively
in the 200m individual medley, while Tom
Helpenstell and Norm Zimmerman notched 2nd and
4th in the optional diving competition

The zoom butterfly featured Jeff “True Grit"
Noble taking 4th, followed by Bob Lewis in 10th
place. Inspired performances by Bruce Jones and
Dave Kapp, lst and 6th places in the 100m.
backstroke,helped move Grinnell closer to leading
Lake Forest, Closing out the individual races, Greg
Gomez, Karl Koch, and Frank Halley placed 2nd,
5th, and 6th, in the 200m breaststroke with Dan
Sewell finishing close behind with hist best time of
the year.

Tie broken in last event

At this point one of the most spectacular con
ference championships ever was up for grabs, as
Lake Forest and Grinnell each had 335 apiece Only
the 400m freestyle relay remained to decide the
Winner The Grinneil'relay of Jeff Noble, Bruce
Pivar, Chris Corton, and Brian Jones put up a
fantastic race only to be disqualified for an “overly
fast start.”

Final score: Lake Forest 417‘Gl‘il’ll’lell 385. The
Grinnell Pioneers finished second in the eleven
team competition.

Coach Obermiller, frustrated by the team's lack
of health and the bad breaks at the championship
meet, feels that the meet was a disappointment in
view of Grinnell‘s potential. Still he is “proud that
everyone tried their best" in the face of adversity
and is “confident that Grinnell will come back
strong next year.”

The Pioneers will lose outstanding senior Greg
Olson to graduation and will miss his talents in the
breaststroke and individual medley events, Yet he
is the only member of this year's squad who will not
be available for next year’s team, So it Will be an
experienced Grinnell team seeking revenge in 1909.

Sour grapes

It is difficult not to sound as if I have a termi al
case of the sour grapes, but it is a shame that the
best team did not emerge victorious at the 1978
Midwest Conlerence Championships. This year’s
superior Grinnell team lost because of an un~
fortunate series of events beyond their control, not
because of lack of talent. The worst that Could be
said about the team was that it was not emotionally
prepared for the meet There was an air of com,
placency around the team which had won the title so
handily last year Next year Buddha will be ready!

Grinnell cagers finally

burn the nets

by Russ Winick

Tomorrow at 2 pm. in the middle
gym of the PEG, round ball Cons
noisseurs will witness the first
annual Mark Blanchard Memorial
Slam Dunk Extravaganza. Note
that the original date and time
have been changed.

The art oi slam dunking, an
athletic virtuosity brought to
unparalleled pinnacles of
popularity by the satellitic sorcery
of DoctorJ. and David T., Comes at
long last to Grinnell, Jamming,
formerly outlawed at the college
level in fear that it would make exs/
UCLA great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
unstoppable (he led his team to
three consecutive NCAA chams
pionships anyway), was legalized
two years ago in response to
overwhelming public clamoring
for basketball’s most exciting
maneuver.

Since the reinstatement of slam
dunking in the college ranks,
certain Grinnell opponents have
used it to Vlctimize us with ims
punity. You see, no Pioneer player
has been able to jam one during a
game. But the Grinnell community
boasts a number of individuals
capable of executing the spec»
tacular shot. Tomorrow afternoon,
thelr talents will be on display, and

, we shall linally learn who amongst
, the locals is tops in the field of
.Jlerialpageantry. .

The l“ strongman Gunnar Thors

' stands as the clear lavorite, though

this reporter likes the chances oi
Gale" track phenom Tony
Whitaker, Both of these gentlemen
routinely disdain the use of con»
ventional elevators.

Top challengers include 610%”
Bob Tyburski, 6’9” Scott “Doc"
Lewis, 6’7‘lz” Pete Nierman,
S’il‘i’l” Bill Knox, 6’81/2" Roy
Shepard, 6'10" Pat Walsh, and the
amazing 5'2" Scott Sobel. A potent
prize will be awarded to the Win-
ner. See you there!

Tennis begins

Sunday—PEG

Sunday in the rec

hosting Drake and 0 ol Nebraska

SINGLES
l. Joe Topper

2. Dave swee

3, Eric christiansen
a, Jlm stnckler

5 Tom Arenoera

o, scnnett Bartlett

oousLEs
l christiansen Swee'

2 Topper Bartlett

: Stricklerlom Kirlexbs

GrinnelliDrake v aJn,
Neb 'Drake l p m.
GrinnciliNeb. 4 p m
Grinnell hosts um and lows state on
Mannie.

Tum Helpenstell will represent
(irinlicll in the NCAA Division lll
diving ehnnipionship . Other
Gi-iniiellinns who qualified for.
NCAA competition are swimmers
iii-nee Jones. Greg Gomez, Jclt
Noble, Brian Jones ,anil'oiz‘uce
Riva (Photo by ken Duksteinl

“Sweet" Jon Chazen (on C Ilpus) lades away irom Scott “Doc"
Lewis lClevMain) in champ nsliip in game. Lewis' 43 points helped
surge CleV-Maln in the lead from the game‘s beginning.

(Photo by Karl Dukstein)

What’s new with NCAA swim

by Tim ncCoster

By now coach Ray Obermiller is
finishing preparations for the
biggest swim meetofthe year. The
meet is the biggest not just for the
Pioneers but for the 50-60 other
schools from Massachusetts to
California that will converge on
Grinnell this week for the NCAA
Division III National Cham-
pionships.

Obermlller placed a bid with the
NCAA two years ago to host the
National meet. Desiring to move
the meet around a bit and give
Midwest colleges a chance to
compete, the athletic organization
expects about 300 swimmers to
attend the meet. Most will stay in
hotels in Grinnell, Newton, Mar-
shalltowii, Des Moines, etc,

The fact that the NCAA chose
Grinnell to host the meet is quite a
compliment to the athletic
iacilities here, Itis noteworthy that

with the high degree of emphasis,

on academics that exists at the
“Harvard of the Midwest,” the
interest in athletic competition is
strong enough to generate both the
desire and facilities necessary for
such an exceptional meet. Obers
miller expects that several new
national records will be set, noting
the still qualifying times required
of competitors.

Two Pioneer relay teams and at
least one Grinnell diver will par-
ticipate in the meet. The medley
relay squad, consisting of Bruce
Jones, Greg Gomez, Brian Jones.
and Jeff Noble, will compete along
with the freestyle team (Jones,
Jones, Noble, and Bruce Pivarl.

Freshman Tom Helpenstell Will
be diving for Grinnell. At this point
Norm Zimmci-man, who placed
third in the low-board diving at last
year's nationals, is a possible
entrant for Grinnell.

*Swimmers will begin arriving
M nday to workout in the pool,
. 'Events will be run from
Thursday thru Saturday

err-eliminary events will begin
at 11 am. each morning, finals for
those events begln at 7 pm. the
same evening

iThc pool and all locker
facilities will be closed from
Monday (Mar, 13) to Sunday.

—All Grinnell athletic teams

,‘must. .vacate thelr lockers by
‘ Monday; ' ' i

—Admissi0n: Grinnell Other
Morning 31 32
Evening $2 $3

Track team
finishes 8th

by Tim DeCnster

A balanced Carleton team won
the conference indoor track meet
held last Saturday in Chicago.
Grinnell placed a disappointing
eighth in the meet, with just two
individual performers placing in
events.

Host Chicago followed Carleton
in upending derending champion
Coe College, which finished third in
the team standings. Coupled with
its cross country victory last ‘fali,
Carleton established itself as the
dominant running power of the
conference.

Tony Whitaker placed second in
the triple jump. He was leading
until the final round when his top
distance was edged by another
jumper. Whitaker’s efforts this
season included a PECsrecord
triple jump of 43’ 9”.

Kelly Hanick ran a season-best
1:16 to place fourth in the eoovarcl
dash. Hanick teamed with Rich
Fendler, A1 See, and Mark
Bowman to place fourth in the
milerelay.

Coach Pfitsch must new review
the season and try to get his team
back on track for the outdoor
season

Tomorrow afternoon, Kit Wall's
forces Will host the Grinnell
Women's Invitational meet in the
PEG. Among the teams competing
\ylll be Central, Luther, and
William Penn.

The meet. the most important
‘iind final meet of the season for the
{women begins at noon

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