The Morning News from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 2

1st EDITION 7th Indy may be most competitive in history Racing Team) still build our own cars, and Sunday's 33-car lineup who are far more than longshots. The long list of bona fide contenders includes record-smashing pole-winner Teo Fabi, Indy hard-luck driver Mike Mosley, 21-year-old Al Unser Sneva, Bobby Rahal, Kevin Cogan and Don Whittington. There are at least another half-dozen who qualify as darkhorse possibilities. Each, despite a lack of experience here or a background of frustration at Indianapolis, has been among the fastest at the Speedway this month. "We're going through a changing of the guard," said Rahal, who was a rookie at Indy in 1982 after seven years of road racing experience.

"There are young guys in good cars who are going to outrun the veterans who have been here for so long. The new establishment is on the way." The reason for all that new competition isn't so much a sudden explosion of driving talent as the availability of more good race cars than ever. The still active drivers among them Foyt, Al Unser, Johncock, Andretti and Mears Rutherford is sidelined by injuries suffered in a crash during practice all are among the favorites Sunday, with Mears rated the most likely winner. The domination of these men for so long has been a combination of driving skill and the opportunity to use equipment provided by the richest and most farsighted teams in Indy car racing. "You can't win this race without the proper combination of car preparation, driver preparation and a bit of racing luck," said Mears, who won in 1979 after getting a ride with Roger Penske, operator of one of the sport's premier teams.

"You can be the best driver in the world, but you're not going to win if the car isn't right. And, if you don't have the ability, it won't matter one bit that you have the best prepared car in the race." Despite the history lessons of the past two decades, though, there are others in a couple of the other top teams uo, w. Roger Penske puts a lot of money into the design and engineering of his cars, to try to get an edge. But, now, March does that for some of these other teams that couldn't afford to do it themselves." However, not everyone agrees that the new cars and newcomers will play a major role Sunday. Defending champion and two-time winner Johncock, who drives for the prestigious Patrick Racing Team, says, "I really feel I'll have the same guys to beat I had to beat last year.

If I had to say who, I'd say it'll be Rick Mears and Al Unser." "Just because a guy runs 200 or 205 (in practice or qualifying), there's more to winning it than that. Pit stops are very important. You can lose an awful lot of time in the pits. And knowing what to expect and how 500 miles will affect you and the car is important, too," said "What's happened is that March (Cars Ltd.) in England has come up with a race car that anybody can buy, if they have $200,000, that will go 200 miles an hour and, with good preparation, can finish 500 miles," said Andretti, who has had a lot of bad luck here since winning in 1969. "That's helped a lot of people, including people like Foyt, who used to build his own cars but now has Marches." Andretti noted that the traditionally strong teams still design and build their own cars, and teams like the one he's driving for this year owned by Paul Newman and Carl Haas and holding a big-dollar sponsorship from Budweiser can afford to develop an untested but potentially great car like the Lola T-700.

"If they can come up with the money, a lot of guys who used to have to buy cars that were 1, 2, 3 years old from the top teams, now buy a new March," Andretti explained. "That can make them competitive immediately." Mears agreed, saying, "We (the Penske By MIKE HARRIS Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS The days of Victory Lane being the private domain of a small group of Indy car superstars may be over at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Some of the participants in Sunday's Indianapolis 500 believe the 67th running of the world's richest and most prestigious auto race could be the most competitive in history. "There are more guys here with the potential to win this race than ever before in my 10 years here," said Tom Sneva, who has finished second three times but has not won. "This is the most competitive field I can remember." A.J.

Foyt, Al and Bobby Unser, Johnny Rutherford and Gordon Johncock have accounted for 13 victories in the past 16 years, with Mario Andretti, Rick Mears and the late Mark Donohue scoring one triumph apiece in that span. kii in UIH1L4. Su ssex brings erience into exp aseba 11 tourney Staff photo by Pat Crowe John R. Kilbourne is the Sixers' conditioner, a position he's held since September. Former dance instructor keeps 76ers on their toes champion Concord out of the tour-, nament picture.

Brandywine made it past the opening round for the first time in last season's tournament, eventually winding up in the title game with neighborhood rival Concord. Concord took the state title 2-0 on the shutout pitching of Jeff Bon-sall. The Bulldogs lost three straight games before defeating Christiana. The win allowed Brandywine to tie William Penn for the Flight A Blue Hen Conference championship. A successful pick on a coin toss gave Brandywine the Flight A No.

1 tourney spot and a meeting with Sussex Central. The Bulldogs will throw ace right-hander Jeff Ciszkowski, 5-3 with a 1.60 ERA at the heavy hitting Golden Knights in the opening round game. Sussex will start with ace right-hander Guy Wilkins. Wilkins is 7-2 with a 1.30 ERA, with 80 strikeouts in 62 innings. If needed, the Knights have righthander Pete Rowley, 5-1, who has replaced John Young as the No.

2 pitcher. Young is used as a relief pitcher. But Sussex is known as a hitting team. Sophomore second baseman Jeff Shockley, a 6-2 son of Costen Shock-ley, a former major league first baseman with the Phillies, has a .475 batting average. The leadoff hitter has 28 hits in 63 at bats with four doubles, three home runs, 11 RBI and 22 runs scored this season.

Center fielder Donald Duperron has 21 hits in 67 at bats, including three triples, three doubles and 12 RBI. Streak-hitting junior shortstop Bill Savage has been on fire at the plate and has used his defensive skills to tighten up the infield this season. Savage is 19-for-56, with two home runs, a triple, two doubles and 12 RBI. Young has 17 hits, three triples and 16 RBI. Wilkins has 21 hits, including five home runs and 16 RBI.

Savage, Young and Wilkins led Georgetown in the 1981 World Series. Rowley, Sussex's first baseman, has 16 hits and has scored 15 runs, while catcher Mike Hearn is hitting .250 with 14 RBI. By ED MURPHY Staff reporter GEORGETOWN When Sussex Central High faces Brandywine in an opening-round game of the Delaware State High School baseball tournament at Wilson Field, near New Castle, at 2 p.m. today, the Knights will bring plenty of experience playing in pressure situations. Since it's the tournament, both squads are under pressure.

But Sussex, one of the most highly-touted teams in the state the past two seasons, has fallen short of the lofty expectations of its fans and peers. Sussex Central, 12-5, overcame a 2-3 start to clinch the Henlopen Conference at-large, winning six of its last seven conference games. With its 9-1 win over Woodbridge on May 19th, Sussex won the Henlopen Conference No. 3 spot in the tourney. Last season, Sussex did not make the tournament despite its 16-3 record, the best in the state.

Eight players on the squad played on the 13-15 Senior Little League World championship team of 1981. Coach Jimmy Hudson, who has a 41-10 record in three seasons, has the Golden Knights playing their best ball of the season. "We just decided as a team if we lost another game things would look pretty bad for us," said Hudson. "It was really a mental thing for us. We had to get in the game more and stop making so many errors." Sussex Central committed 22 errors the the first seven games of the season.

But the Golden Knights have found the right combination of defense, hitting and pitching to recover from the early season slump. "It was a combination of being overconfident and lackadaisical," said Hudson. "We just did not work hard enough. But when it was do or. die the kids got down to business.

The attitude of every kid on the team has improved." Brandywine, 10-4 in the Blue Hen Flight A conference and 11-5 overall, is coming off a 10-2 ing win over Christiana Thursday, which knocked two-time state 'AE HAS NEVER scored a it point, snared a rebound, or made an assist for the flatt Zabif ka Katz nixes charter for Sixers By TOM COBOURN Staff reporter When Harold Katz laid out $2.2 million per year for Moses Malone to play basketball, it seemed that the Philadelphia 76er owner was willing to go to almost any expense to bring a National Basketball Association championship to this city this year. It seems Katz, who was a devoted fan before he purchased the team less than two years ago, wants the title as much as the coach, the players and the fans. But, perhaps, not at any expense. Game Three of the NBA championships is at the Forum in Ing-lewood, Sunday at 3:30 p.m., with Game Four Tuesday night at 9 at the same location. The Sixers were to practice in Philadelphia Friday, then take a chartered flight out to the coast at night, practice today and be ready for Sunday.

But the real purpose of a charter was not the arriving flight to L.A., but rather the timing of the return to Philadelphia. Should a fifth game be needed in the best-of-seven series the Sixers lead the Lakers 2-0 Coach Billy Cunningham wanted to fly back to Philadelphia Tuesday night, shortly after Game Four. That way, the players could sleep during the flight and get in a practice Wednesday before Game Five at the Spectrum Thursday night. However, there are no commercial flights leaving Los Angeles after Game Four until Wednesday morning. Which is why Cunningham wanted to charter an earlier flight back.

Last Saturday, it was announced to the press and media covering the playoffs that the 76ers were chartering a flight for the West Coast trip and anyone interested could fly round trip with the team for $600. However, with "super saver" deals by the commercial airlines, a round-trip ticket from Philadelphia to L.A. can cost as little as $318. The Sixers had a difficult time selling seats to the press The result was the charter be canceled. Cunningham, however, wanted the charter flight home so badly that he reportedly telephoned at least two reporters at home and asked if their respective contingents would be willing to fly back with the team if the Sixers held up the flight until they finished writing their stories Tuesday night.

Instead, the Sixers flew out Friday morning, with a stop in Chicago, and will fly back Wednesday, arriving in Philadelphia at 5:15 p.m. No practice is scheduled. John Nash, the 76ers' business manager and assistant general manager, explained the company decision before Game Two Thursday night. He said a round-trip charter would have cost approximately $50,000. At that rate, it would take 83 passengers at $600 a seat to pay for the flight.

(Jj. "The bottom line is: you're not guaranteed that, by chartering, the flight's going to be any better," said Nash. "You're uncertain of the service on a charter. "The Lakers' situation, I think, was more crucial than this. They could have chartered out of San Antonio (last Friday night for Game One Sunday in Philadelphia), but flew commercially." Of course, the Lakers lost that game 113-107, pointing to lack of preparation as one reason for defeat.

Nash said, yes, the 76ers could bite the financial bullet a bit, charter a flight and get that extra day of practice for a possible Game Five especially considering the team has already invested more than $4 million in player salaries this year alone. "If we win in four, it'll probably go unnoticed," said Nash of the situation. "If we have to come back here to play, I guess it will be a new can of worms to open, and I'm sure the press will write about it." 76ers. His name has never appeared in a Sixer boxscore. But John R.

Kilbourne, a transplanted Californian who now lives in a Londonderry town house across from Brandywine Raceway, has made a giant contribution to the success of Coach Billy Cunningham's team. The one-time teacher at Pepperdine University in Malibu, and at the College of the Canyons in Valencia, is the Sixers' conditioner, a position he has held since September. And judging by the way the Sixers blazed through their NBA schedule, they must be one of the best conditioned teams in pro basketball. Kilbourne, who refers to himself as a modern ballet dancer, conducts pre-practice and pre-game flexibility and warm-up exercises, as well as post-practice warm-downs, employing a program he developed while at UCLA. TTOTIC your body needs a long time to stretch out.

"The reason I took martial arts (at the University of California) was for coordination and flexibility, not as a defense or anything. The things they taught me there are very similar to the things John does. Martial arts people are some of the most flexible in the world. "Our team this year had very few pulled muscles. No major ones that I can think of except for Clemon Johnson (mild hamstring but didn't miss a game).

No question, you have to attribute that to John." "This is the first time I have gone through a full year without a sprained ankle in practice." Kilbourne, who was cut from his high school basketball team matured is no NBA neophyte. At UCLA he was a graduate assistant trainer, working for Coach Larry Brown. And when Brown went to the New Jersey Nets, he took Kilbourne along. "Word about my work (as a conditioner) got around the league," said Kilbourne. "I became a consultant for four NBA teams Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns and Seattle SuperSonics.

I got a call from the Sixers last fall and stayed with them a week in Phoenix. They liked my work and offered me a full-time job. I let go of the other consulting jobs." His wife, Susan, who holds a masters in dance from UCLA, is a two-time gold medalist in figure roller skating and has studied ballet under Mia Slavenska, renowned ballerina with Ballet Russe, whom she later assisted as a teacher. She has also danced (as did her husband) with the Margalit Dance Theatre and toured two years with the company as principal dancer. She studied under noted Hollywood choregrapher Jaimie Rogers, has appeared in many TV commercials as dancer, and was in two motion pictures "Pennies from Heaven," starring Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters, and "Hysterical," featuring the Hudson Brothers, a film in which her husband also appeared.

Starting June 12, she'll be joining the staff of the Skating Club of Wilmington, working with youngsters as a choregraphic adviser. Staff reporter Tom Cobourn contributed to this story. Matt Zabitka is a News Journal sports columnist. tied 6-6 after seven Trout's two-run homer in the third pacing the Hen offense. But The Citadel had 12 hits in 17 official appearances over the last three innings to fashion the rout.

"Yeah, I was surprised at the way they hit the ball," conceded Stanek. "In fact, even their third base coach said that he was surprised." The Hens had eight hits off Cherry and only struck out eight times against the right-hander who leads the nation in strikeouts. hammered out 19 hits against four Delaware pitchers including Bob Vantrease, who gave up 11 hits in 6V3 innings. Vantrease, who has pitched seven complete games this season, was spared what would have been the first tournament loss of his career. That dubious distinction went to the first Hen reliever, Mark Johnston, who gave up four hits and four runs in 1 innings.

The Hens led 3-0 through four innings, 4-2 through five and were "It utilizes work in areas of flexibility, rhythm, coordination, and balance," Kilbourne said. "Twenty-five percent of practice is conditioning," he added. "I think my program has helped the team a lot. I know Billy (Cunningham) feels that way too. I don't think I'd be there if I wasn't of any help." And how do Sixer players feel about Kilbourne's program? "I've always been an exponent of stretching and flexibility," said Julius Erving.

"I think it's more important than how strength is usually perceived. People think of strength in terms of bulk and I see strength as being more coordination and flexibility. Having bulk doesn't make a big difference in professional basketball. A guy 210 can move a guy 250 out of the lane if he knows how to align himself and has the flexibility to put himself in that type of position. "John brings the music in, which I think helps everyone's concentration to get right into it at the same time, start and finish at the same time.

And he has taken some of the things we were already doing as a team a step further, defined it into what has been his life's work and then shared it with us. "The exercising as a group puts us on the same wavelength simultaneously. That's very helpful to the coaching staff. We usually go from stretching right into a warm-up exercise we call our sideline break. Rather than doing individual stretches without the music and without John, which would probably have guys going into into that sideline break at different paces, this takes us into it all at the same time." Mark McNamara, 7-foot-l, 235-pound center, also gives Kilbourne a glowing testimonial.

"I can remember meeting him at the Quality Inn, his first day here. I could tell from the second I met him that he knew his stuff and knew how to apply it to basketball. "At the beginning of the season, all the guys were doing his exercises jn practice, but befpre a game not many were doing them in the locker room except for (rookie) Marc Iavaroni. "Now, you come into the locker-room, you see Moses (Malone) doing them and Moses wasn't doing much stretching at all at the beginning of the year. Now, he, does them religiously.

Obviously, Marc's still doing them. And you see Doc go through the whole routine during Billy's (pre-game) speech. "I think everyone respected that it was good stuff from the start, but Continued from Bl "The guy is a great said Hannah of Curtis. "Actually, we had expected a little more out of Chris this season until now, but because of all the weather problems, he didn't get as much work as we would have liked." As for the comebacks, Delaware collected three in the third and two more in the fourth with five Hen batters each collecting a run-bat-ted-in. South Carolina gradually moved back out to an 11-6 advantage through' the sixth off Piascik and it appeared to be curtains for the Hens.

But in the seventh, the Hens scored five runs on three hits a rally highlighted by left-fielder Dave Just's three-run shot to right. "We never gave up," said second baseman Jeff Trout, Delaware's .500 plus hitter who was only 1-for-4. "We know we can hit the ball against anyone. We did just that and Chris just pitched a great game." Delaware's elation was surpassed only by South Carolina Coach June Raines's shock. "It's the most amazing comeback I've seen in my 28 years of base-; ball," he said.

"And I hope I never I see one like it again." Meanwhile, Hannah would prefer 1 to think he'll never be confronted with a setback like the one his Hens State track and field championships at Dover DOVER The Delaware High School Boys and Girls Individual Track and Field Championships will be held today at Dover High. Field events will begain at 4 p.m., while the running events will startat 4:30. All events will be finals and no team awards will be issued. Featured athletes include DelCastle's Reggie Bright in the 100 and 200-meter runs and the long jump and Bruce Harris of Dover in the 800 and run. One of the most exciting events of the night will come in the 1,600 with Harris, Eric Hamilton of Dickinson and Henlopen Conference champion Danny Harmon of Cape Henlopen expected to battle for the state title.

In the girls competition key performers to watch are Padua's Kim Webster in the 100 and 300-meter hurdles and sister Beth Webster in the 200 and 400-meter events. Concord has two strong performers with Terri Dendy in the 100, 200 and 400-meter runs and teammate Melissa Grubb in the 1,600 and runs. Caritha Clarke of Lake Forest is outstanding in the triple jump and Crystal Moore of Dover in the shot put and discus. Ferris squeeze nips Temple Ron Danner scored on David Zeb-ley's squeeze bunt with two outs in the top of the seventh inning as Ferris School edged Temple Christian 8-7 in a nonconference game. 1 endured in the opener against I tie Citadel.

While the Hens managed ade-'- quately against Bulldog stopper Mike Cherry, 12-0, The Citadel.