The Kokomo Tribune from Kokomo, Indiana • Page 11

Sunday! April 29, 1990 Saturday Sports Local State National International Kokomo (Ind.) Tribune 11 Team from Grace wins tournament A team from Grace Methodist Church claimed the championship of a city men's church volleyball league tournament Saturday. The league, which played its regular-season games throughout the winter, ended the season with a double-elimination tournament. Eight teams from six different churches participated in the league and the tournament, and the final match was played at Chapel Hill Christian Church. Kokomo Classic golf tourney set The Kokomo Classic Captain's Choice 18-Hole Golf Tournament is scheduled for June 23 at Chippendale Golf Course. The event is sponsored by the American Lung Association and the Kokomo Kiwanis Club.

The registration fee is $35 per person and includes green fees, golf carts, lunch, beverages and more. The tournament is limited to the first 45 teams. To register or for more information, telephone 573-3900 or (800) 933-LUNG. Softball tourney next weekend The 17th Annual Kokomo Foot Ankle Care Softball Classic is Saturday and next Sunday at Northwest Park on its five lit diamonds. The Kokomo Classic is a men's Class and round-robin event with teams guaranteed three games.

The winner and runner-up team on each diamond play in a double-elimination tourney next Sunday. Team awards go to the first-, second- and third-place teams with individual awards to the first- and second-place teams. The entry fee is $100, and entries are limited to the first 20 teams. American Softball Association rules apply. For more information, telephone Jim McClain at 963-2840 or Mark Cade at 453-3388 from 8a.m.

to 5 p.m., or Henry Halley at 4737437 after 5 p.m. Taylor drafts Babe Ruth players Here are the team assignments from the Taylor Babe Ruth baseball league's draft, which was conducted Friday: Sports Kevin Berg, Shane Biesecker, Chris O'Brian, Ryan Tragesser, Robert Wagus, Beau White. Cone Palace: Mark Craig, Matt Kearney, Todd McKay, Chris McKay, Aaron Ward. Kokomo Kiwanis Kevin Purvis, Shawn Rager, Randy Robinette, MattSenn, Adam Shotwell, Joe Stamm. Taylor Lions Eric Dill, Clayton Groves, Jason Hoffman, Matt Maple, Jason Mitchell, Jeremy Mouser, Tim Phares, Jake Reed.

The league's opening day is May 26 at the Taylor High School diamond. LaPorte triathlon set Aug. 18 LAPORTE, Ind. The LaPorte Family YMCA conducts the llth annual LaPorte County Triathlon Aug. 19.

The event consists of a 3.7-mile run, a 10.4-mile bicycle race, and a quarter-mile swim, in that order, and begins at Soldier's Memorial Park on Pine Lake Avenue here at9a.m. that day. All participants receive a triathlon T-shirt. Awards will be given for overall male-female, Masters male-female, top LaPorte County finisher and teams, and awards will be given within each individual age grouping. The individual entry fee is $10 with T-shirt until Aug.

then $15 up to race day and a T-shirt will be mailed to you; and $17 the day of the race and T-shirt will be mailed. For entry forms, write the LaPorte Family YMCA, 901 Michigan LaPorte, Ind. 46350, or telephone (210) 325-9622. You may also register race day. For more information, please contact Cheryl Reinhart at the LaPorte Family YMCA.

Beard ties 36-hote record FRISCO, Texas (AP) Early Frank Beard beat the winds Saturday and shot a 5- under-par 67 to tie the Murata Reunion Pro-Am tournament's 36-hole record and take a commanding lead after two rounds. Panthers snap Wildkats' string By Dave Kitchell Tribune sports editor It was probably at about the city limits Saturday evening that North Central's Panthers ranked second in the state breathed a collective sigh of relief. Related item: Class A results. Page 16. Winning the 65th annual Kokomo Relays wasn't supposed to be that tough.

Boy, was it though. The Panthers had to hold on for dear life in the final two events to nudge the seventh-ranked, three- time defending Class A champion Kokomo Wildkats, 99-97. Muncie Central was third with 69, followed by Elkhart Central (50), Marion (47), Warsaw (28), Fort Wayne Snider (27) and Anderson (17). Improvement was what Wildkats coach Larry Ruch sought, and that's exactly what his team offered. "We had run second to Muncie Central in the Marion and Muncie relays, so we were hoping to make some gains on them," Ruch said.

"We really didn't know how we'd stack up against North Central. But we got a great effort. We're disappointed we lost, but happy with the progress." Kokomo trailed North Central all day, and with two events remaining, was 10 points down. In the sprint medley relay, North Central took second (2 minutes, 26.1 seconds), nudging the Kats (2:27.3) to third. That pushed the lead to 12 points.

The Kats came back with a 1-2 finish in the long jump for 18 points, but the Panthers held on for third and fourth. The eight points were enough to give the Indianapolis school its first Kokomo Relays championship. As Ruch hoped, Kokomo did its damage by scoring in 13 of 14 events. The Kats missed only in the 110-meter hurdles. Pat Pierce, co-winner of the Patty Gaither Kokomo Relays queen Walter Cross Award, turned in a personal best in the long jump at 22 feet, inches to nose out teammate John Alsup, who has the state's best leap this season at 23-1.

Alsup was second at 22-6, but barely scratched on a monster jump on his final attempt. Both were busy elsewhere. Pierce, a junior, ran a :10.5 split on the 400 relay and was clocked in :51.2 for his first varsity 400 leg. Alsup was timed in :10.8 for his part of the 400 relay and a :22.4 on a 200 leg. Kokomo's other firsts came from freshman Donnie Bowling (6-3) in the high jump and Marcus Beard (: 11.3) in the 100 dash.

"You have to be amazed at how consistent Bowling has been," Ruch said. "And he's been against tough competition. Beard just ran great. His 100 was into the wind and against a very good field." Kokomo got seconds in the pole vault from Gary Banter (12-6) and from Richard Vandervort (2:23.8) in the run. Vandervort especially impressed Ruch.

Dan Ingle gets the baton from Stan Nicholson and sets off for a victory in the middle distance relay (Tribune photos by Brian Reynolds) Robinson, Spurs take 2-game lead SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) David Robinson had 31 points and 12 rebounds Saturday night, leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 129-120 victory over the Denver Nuggets and a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference playoff series. The Nuggets, who play host to San Antonio in Game 3 of the best-of-five series Tuesday, trailed only 120-117 with 1:13 left. But a basket by David Wingate and two by Terry Cummings in the final minute put the game out of reach. Lafayette Lever led Denver with 26 points and 16 rebounds after be- ing held to six points in the opener. Blair Rasmussen scored 18 points and Alex English 16 for the Nuggets.

Willie Anderson scored 25 points for San Antonio and Cummings had 21. Anderson had 10 in the fourth quarter, giving the Spurs an 11-0 record this season in games that he's scored 10 or more in the final period. Cummings scored 18 in the first half, including 10 in the second quarter. But after getting his third and fourth fouls in the first minute of the third quarter, his playing time was limited the rest of the period. Kats' Marcus Beard is No.

1 as he hits the 100-meter dash tape in :11.3 "He came to us with bad ankles, and he's just now getting to be the kind of runner he's capable of. We timed him at 1:58.8 (800 meters) in the medley relay, then he came back and ran a 2:23.6 in the 1,000 meters." Ray Collins accounted for 10 pints in field events, taking third in discus (133-10) and fourth in shot (50-6). Mondo Fowler added a nice 50-0 toss for fifth place points. The Kats, too, were consistent in five relay events, taking a three thirds and a fifth. "The bottom line is the seniors are contributing very well, and we're getting a lot from our younger athletes as well," Ruch said.

"We're working towards that North Central Conference meet that's just two weeks away." Braves, Devils share title By Dave Kitchell Tribune sports editor There are those who don't particularly care for the electronics age when it comes to second guessing official's calls. Related item: Class results. Page Certainly the National Football League's "instant replay" has its opposition. Here at Walter Cross Field Saturday, it was used to clear up a situation which decided the outcome of the Class standings in the 65th annual Kokomo Relays. As a result, Maconaquah and Tipton tied for the team title with 72 points.

Team standings were contested right down the line. Northwestern was third with 60, and Eastern and Western tied for fourth with 55. Taylor was sixth with 49, and Cass and Peru were deadlocked at seventh with 35. It appeared Tipton had won the championship outright for the third time in four years, edging Maconaquah by two points. However, an alert official noted that a Tipton runner was given sixth place in the run, when the athlete had actually been lapped.

Video tape confirmed it, costing Tipton a point. The runner who actually finished sixth was Maconaquah's Mike Chumbley, and that point given to the Braves left the teams tied. No one argued the situation and, in fact, Tipton coach Jerry Cords agreed with the decision even before the video tape was brought out. It ended a day in which Class was as competitive as ever. While the co-winners were from outside Howard County, Eastern, Western, Northwestern and Taylor performed well.

All told, the four combined for nine firsts, and Western tied a meet record. The Panthers' 400 relay team composed of Chuck Shepherd, Ron Riebe, David Yoder and Jerry Creason was clocked in 44.5 seconds, a season best according to coach Mark Hollingsworth. It tied a mark Maconaquah established last year. "We knew it would be a close race," said Maconaquah coach Greg DeBoy. "Western beat us by three points in a dual meet, and Western tied Tipton.

We knew Northwestern and Eastern would score a lot of points." DeBoy pointed to his big guy Bill Darnell as the difference. The 6-3, 235-pound senior won the discus in 129-7 and the shot at 51-1 accounting for nearly one-third of his team's points. Depth also played a big part for the Braves, who scored in 12 of 14 events. Randy Miller, a sophomore, managed the team's only other first, in the pole vault, and he took third in the 100 dash. Tipton also showed its depth, winning a share of the championship despite getting only one first Erik Pearce in the long jump at 21 feet, 8M; inches.

Overall, the Blue Devils scored in 11 of 14 events. Cords was thrilled to be in a position to win after the problems his team encountered. Distance runner Tom Powell didn't compete because of an injury, and pole vaulter Darrell Foerg was injured during competition. Another athlete missed the bus. "It was a remarkable performance blood and guts," said Cords.

"We had to juggle the lineup, but our freshmen really came through. I'm surprised we were able to win, considering the problems." Eastern coach Paul Nicholson was pleased with his team which won three relays. The Comets' medley, middle distance and sprint medley quartets were winners. Tracy Melton and Brian Swartzendruber were on all three teams and Stan Nicholson and Dan Ingle on two each. Nicholson was involved in another first, winning the high jump at 5-10.

Eastern also lost potential points when Kenny Swan turned an ankle in the pole vault pit. Coach Nicholson hopes he'll be back for the county meet Wednesday. Western used a solid performance from Shepherd, co-winner of the prestigious Walter Cross Award, to stay in the running. Shepherd won the high hurdles and turned in excellent legs on the victorious 400 and shuttle hurdle relay teams. Northwestern got a first from Jim Ray in the 3,200 run (10:24.1) and Taylor's Brett Carlile the run Ray also turned in times of 4:38 on a relay leg and 2:00 on an 800 leg.

Carlile showed similar times on relay events 4:34 and 2:03. Both were their teams' nominees for the Cross Award. Dual winners For the fourth time in the history of the 13th annual Walter Cross Award at the Kokomo Relays, dual winners were announced. Kokomo's Pat Pierce, left, and Western's Chuck Shepherd were named for their contributions to their teams' performances Saturday. Also nominated for the prestigious award were Eastern's Stan Nicholson, Northwestern's Jim Ray and Taylor's Brett Carlile.

The award is donated by the Kokomo Tribune and awarded each year to a Howard County athlete. (Tribune photo by Brian Reynolds).