The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 69

D12 THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR SUNDAY, MAY 30, 1993 AUTO RACING Briefly Sports Compiled by Kevin Harmon Drivers feel a little anxious with Coca-Cola 600 at night FOOTBALL Green dies of heart attack Bobby Joe Green, one of the NFL's leading punters during his 14-year career with Pittsburgh and Chica- tSn HipH nf a fipart arfarlr at hie hnmp uac The Texas native played two seasons with the i Pittsburgh Steelers before joining the Chicago Bears "-iitiii-w gj I 4 IU1 11 1C I1CAI li. I In 1961, he averaged 47 yards on 73 punts, an average that remains as one of the 10 best In NFL history. Green was a member of George Hates' NFL cham-- pion Bears in 1963. His 46.5-yard average that year has held up as a Bears' season record. He was selected for the Pro Bowl in 1971 Green retired with what was then an NFL record career total of 970 punts.

The figure now stands as the seventh-highest in league history. BOXING former cnampion Lonn aies Former light heavyweight champion Billy Conn, who dared to challenge Joe Louis for the heavyweight title In 1941 and almost got away with it. died Saturday in Pittsburgh at the age of 75. Kiraly, a two-time Olympic gold medalist for the United States, and Steffes broke a 5-5 tie with nine straight points on the way to the $100,000 first prize in the second leg of the Cuervo Gold Crown series. SWIMMING Mazuolis breezees to victory Despite swimming with a broken nose, Ralmundas Mazuolis of Lithuania cemented his status as the world's fastest sprinter Saturday with an easy victory in the 100-meter freestyle race at the Alamo Challenge in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Mazuolis, ranked No. 1 In the world in the 50 and 100 freestyle, touched at 52.01 seconds to overtake Fort Lauderdale Swim teammates Todd Pace (52.41) and David Fox (52.43) for his second victory of the three-day competition, Fox is the current NCAA record-holder in the 50. Mazuolis, 21, who placed 10th in the 50 and 100 events at the Barcelona Olympics, broke his nose twice this week once while lifting weights and again after catching an elbow during practice. Martin Zubero, 24, Spain's 1992 Olympic gold medalist and world record-holder in the 200 backstroke, has won all four of his events in the three-day International meet. He won the 200 individual medley and 200 backstroke Saturday.

Jenny Thompson, a double gold medalist at Barcelona, won the 100 freestyle in 56.99 to defeat Me-lanie Valerio (58.08) and Nicole Haislett (58.79) for her third victory of the meet. TRACK Anderson pair in Top 10 Anderson University's Michael Walker, from Marion, and Rod Coleman, a graduate of Indianapolis Washington High School, placed second, sixth and 10th respectively in their events at the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, Saturday. Walker was second In the 110-meter high hurdles (14.44) and Coleman was 10th in the triple triple with a jump of 46 feet, 11 Inches. Franklin's Bryan Epperson took sixth in the shot put with a career-best put of 53 feet, 2lh inches. The top eight finishers achieved All-America status.

LACROSSE Syracuse, NC to meet in final Syracuse advanced to the NCAA Division I lacrosse championship game for the fifth time in six years Saturday, using a five-goal surge at the end of the third quarter to beat defending champion Princeton 15-9 at College Park, Md. Syracuse (11-2) will face top-seeded North Carolina (14-1), Monday. North Carolina used a third-quarter blitz of its own to beat Johns Hopkins 16-10 in the other semifinals. BOXING Locals in Olympic Festival The Indiana Golden Gloves has been recognized for the first time by the U.S. Olympic Festival, held July 26-Aug.

1 in San Antonio, Texas. Darnell Wilson of Lafayette's Twin City Boxing Club and Tom Lyday, president of Indiana Golden Gloves were named participants by the U.S. Olympic Committee. Wilson, 26, is the 1993 national Golden Gloves light middleweight champion, the first from Indiana since Ron Essett and Vic Levine won in 1984. Lyday, in his seventh year as president of the local amateur association, was named manager of the North team.

Three years ago he served as manager of a U.S. team that featured unbeaten pro Oscar de la Hoya. 1 The cause of death was pneumonia, said David Cowglll, spokesman for the Veterans Affairs hospital in which Conn had been confined for three or four years. On June 18, 1941, weighing 174 pounds, he entered the ring with Louis, who weighed 199'i pounds. For 12 rounds, Conn kept ahead of the champ at the end of 12, he was leading the champ eight rounds to four.

That's as far as it went. "I was beating him for 12 hi Associated Press Concord, N.C. While NASCAR's history includes nighttime racing, the latest chapter in the story has a lot of people perplexed as they prepare for today's Coca-Cola 600. "All the running has changed the track," said Tony Glover, crew chief for Ernie Irvan's Chevrolet team, "and it's changed a lot of our strategy. "We hope we can adjust and the car will respond, but after practicing the other night, we saw a lot of people scratching their heads," Glover said.

Changes will be the biggest part of the race, scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. EST start. For the first time in stock car racing history, a superspeedway event will be conducted under the lights. Most of the modern Winston Cup night races are held at the tracks in Bristol, and Richmond, Va. Polesitter Ken Schrader says he's done scratching his head.

"Starting at 3:30 will make it a different race as far as adjusting the car, but we think we've got it figured out," he said. "Any kind of weather change here really changes the setup, so we'll have to keep our fingers crossed on the weather." The latest forecasts call for a chance of showers and slightly cooler temperatures today. Rusty Wallace will give his injured left wrist its first major test since his spectacular accident at Talladega earlier this month. He says whatever the track conditions are, the best drivers will handle it, "The normal cream is going to rise to the top In this type of deal," says Wallace, trying to get back ahead of Dale Earnhardt and back to the top of the championship point standings. "The smartest teams are going to do the best job because they're going to understand how the weather Is changing." The weather is always a concern.

There are other problems that will be new to the drivers. As they make their way down the tri-oval at Charlotte Motor Speedway and heading into Turn 1, the driver -will get a different perspective of the setting sun. With temperatures dropping, race teams aren't sure how their cars will react to the cooler asphalt on the 1.5-mile track. "The track loses 30 degrees of temperature between 4:30 and 8:30. As the temperature goes down, the car gets tight and makes the car run like it's running on a railroad track," Charlotte Motor Speedway president H.A.

"Humpy" Wheeler says. "It favors a driver who runs a loose race car better." Drivers who were a part of NASCAR's nighttime history have an edge, Wheeler says. That would even include Jeff Gordon of Pittsboro, Ind a rookie on the Winston Cup circuit. Waltrip wins Champion Spark Plug 300 Michael Waltrip slipped past Ernie Irvan with eight laps to go and held on to win the Champion Spark Plug 300 NASCAR Grand National race Saturday. Waltrip, starting 12th in a Pontlac, stayed in the 1.1 v.

I Billy Conn rounds," Conn told New York Daily News sports writer Phil Pepe in 1985. "I Just made a mistake. I went to knock him out in the 13th. 1 tried to Associated Press Michael Waltrip celebrates Grand National victory by standing on his head. top 10 most of the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

He made his way through the crowd after a late caution flag and earned his second victory on the Busch circuit this the seventh of his career. The nine-lap sprint to the checkered flag began with Irvan racing to the front with Waltrip right behind. Irvan's car wiggled through Turn 4, however, and Waltrip passed him, followed by Pressley. Waltrip maintained the advantage until the end, taking the victory by .25 seconds. Following Irvan came Dale Jarrett, who started 14th.

Ken Schrader, the polesitter for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600, was fourth and Pressley fifth. Irvan earned $5,000 for leading after 100 laps. Defending Busch champion Joe Nemechek, who started his Chevrolet at the back of the pack, dropped out with a blown gasket. Polesitter Tracy Leslie, who earned the No. 1 spot for the first time in 71 tries, lost a valve in his Chevrolet and went out of the race.

In the points race, David Green overtook Steve Grissom for first place, 1,445 to 1,430. Pressley Is third at 1,305 and Burton fourth at 1,300. outpunch him and I got knocked on my butt." "I couldn't knock out anybody," Conn recalled in 1987. "And 1 tried to knock out Joe Louis." GOLF Hoosiers eighth at NCAAs Arizona State emerged from a tight, three-way match and claimed a two-shot team victory at the NCAA women's golf championships Saturday in Athens, Ga. The Sun Devils, who trailed Texas and San Jose State after the second round, caught both teams on the final nine holes.

They led by two shots after 16 holes and sealed the win when their No. 1 player, Wendy Ward, blrdied the par-5 17th hole. Indiana finished In an eighth place tie with North Carolina. Angela Buzminski Justed missed claiming individual honors. She shot a tourney-low 70 Saturday and 289 overall.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL Kiraly, Steflus win big i Karen Kiraly and Kent Steffus won the largest prize in pro beach volleyball history Saturday with a 15-7 victory over Mike Dodd and Mike Whitmarsh in Boulder, Colo. Determined Bliss holds of challengers ond and third, respectively, with Andy Michner fourth and Kenny Irwin fifth. The midget feature followed a frightening ride in the 40-lap Formula Ford 2000 race, won by 18-year-old Clay Collier of Sachse, Texas. Defending champ Greg Tracy of Tustin, was running fifth when his engine let go entering Turn 1. Oil reached both his tires and the track, igniting a multi-car melee.

Several cars spun into the wall while several others dodged Tracy, who was sitting backward in the middle of the turn. As pole-sitter Jeret Schroeder reached the scene, his view of Tracy was blocked. The two collided head-on with tremendous velocity. The race was stopped at Lap 23 while the two were extricated from the cars. Schroeder suffered foot and leg injuries while Tracy, whose car exploded on Impact, took physical blows to the face and to a leg.

Both were taken to Methodist Hospital for and further few circuits later he saw that his mirrors were full of Jimmy Sills, charging from behind. It was time to pass or be passed. "Sills was nosin' in and I decided that if I was going to get it done (with Bliss), I was going to have to do it before Sills got. me," said Nichols, an Indfanapolls resident. "I tried a touch too hard." Bliss, who bobbled but didn't break, said he refused to back off the gas and off the pole.

He corrected the wheel and kept driving, maintaining the top spot around to the startfinish line where the yellow flag was waving. "I had made up my mind that I was going to keep driving until I stopped sliding," said Bliss. "I was going drive until the wheels fell off." Though he had the top spot, Bliss still had to keep it. Officially, two laps remained and Sills and the charging Jim Hettinger were on his tail. It didn't matter.

Bliss had enough and, eventually, the trophy and $3,000 before a crowd estimated at 12,000. Sills and Hettinger came in sec By Curt Cavin STAR STAFF WRITER Clermont, Ind. Kenneth Nichols chased down Mike Bliss for the better part of 50 laps Saturday night at Indianapolis Raceway Park, and afterward, Nichols was still chasing. The U.S. Auto Club midget racer ran to the victory stand to congratulate Bliss, who survived a Turn 3 incident with Nichols on Lap 49 to take the 48th Budweiser Night Before the 500.

Nichols, In second place when he pulled alongside the front-running Bliss entering the turn, couldn't save his car the way the eventual winner could. Nichols finished 13th. "I kept pushing and pushing," said Nichols, who was determined to pass Bliss on the inside of each drive through Turn 3. "I guess I pushed a little too hard. We were on the ragged edge and we were tippy-toeing around." Nichols realized he was running out of time when he looked at the scoreboard with 10 laps to go.

A 1 rg wiwwa I lh V.vv If i ft fa Br A lAft mw Tighter security makes Open safe Associated Press Paris The effects of Monica Seles' stabbing are unmistakable at the French Open players flanked by bodyguards, spectators searched by metal detectors and Increased vigilance throughout the grounds. Halfway through the tournament, however, there have been no serious incidents and players and fans generally accept the ln-. creased security as a necessary inconvenience. "We have always been concerned with the security of players and spectators," said Herve Du-treil, deputy tournament director. incident with Monica only us increase our vigilance.

We have carried out more system-. atic searches with metal detectors and especially increased protec-ftlbn of the players on the court. "We try to make it so these measures are not too heavy for either the players or the public because the tournament must re-r main a party. Roland Garros is a village with 30,000 people moving around. We have to be vigilant Jc without being repressive.

"The key to success Is prevention. The proof is that after one week, we haven't had a single serious problem." Security guards in dark suits are positioned in courtside seats behind the players' chairs. During the changeovers, they stand up and survey the crowd, mindful that Seles was stabbed April 30 i during a tournament at Hamburg, I Germany, by a spectator who leaned over a barrier. In one minor Incident symbolizing the increased vigilance, a Swedish coach, Tim Klein, was stopped by agents guarding the players' lounge when they found he was carrying a pair of scissors. Klein said he was about to be i hauled away until he explained that he only wanted to cut the sleeves off his players' T-shirts.

The No. 1 seeds in the men's "and women's divisions, Jim er and Steffi Graf, said they are not overly concerned by the security threats. "I think everybody here is a bit more wary but you have to pro-. and do your Job," said Courier. "You can't crawl in a shell." ft: ft TO Associated Press CELEBRATION: Stefan Edberg reacts to taking a point against Jonathan Stark in French Open action.

l4iuTMIA IS JUST A French Continued from Page 11 he Indianapolis Star and The Indianapolis News are now a part of the DataTimes I network of information, joining publications from across the country and around the world. With just a phone call, you can gain instant on-line access to The Star and The tries to emulate. "There was a little, awe for me," he said. "I caught myself In the third set looking down and seeing the red clay and thinking, 'Here I It was a special feeling." Edberg praised Stark. "He plays similar to me," he said.

"He's got a great serve. He needs to Improve his movement. He doesn't move that well forward. He looks a bit awkward sometimes. But he's a great talent." Another rising talent is Goellner, who pulled out a 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3, 6-7 (8-10), 7-5 victory over Mark Woodforde In a match that lasted 3:49.

The 6-5 German, who wears his baseball hat backward, pounded 31 aces, including nine in the final set. His next opponent will be Medvedev, the 18-year-old Ukrainian who beat Gabriel Mar-kus 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. In the final match of the day, Washington defeated fellow American Derrick Rostagno 1-6 (7-5), 3-6, News, Indiana Business, Indianapolis Business Journal, Business People Magazine, Business Digest Fort Wayne and more. Only DataTimes offers you two Chicago dailies, eight California dailies, six Texas newspapers, The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY plus coverage of Europe, Canada, Asia, Australia and the Pacific Rim. Get online with DataTimes today! For more information, please call 800642-2525.

The Indianapolis Star the indianapolis news Available online via Grand Slam title that has eluded him. The closest he came was in 1989, when he lost to Michael Chang in the final. "I feel solid on the clay," Edberg said. "I am probably playing as well this year as I have for quite some time. It's hard to compare to 1989, but it's not far off." In beating Stark, Edberg served and volleyed as if he were on his favorite grass at Wimbledon.

The match was fairly even, but Edberg dominated his service games and capitalized on his chances to break Stark. "I couldn't handle his kick serve," Stark said. "I went five games without returning a ball. I was shanking everything." Still, it was a thrilling experience for the 22-year-old Stark, who was playing on center court in his first tournament on red clay against a man whose game he DataTimes A World of information 1. 14000 Quail Springs Parkway Oklahoma dry, OK 73134 405751-6400.