The State from Columbia, South Carolina • 19

Sports BASEBALL2C CLASSIFIEDS6C Tuesday August 4 1992 JTbe State Columbia South Carolina Simpkins Conley share Olympic joy Watts steals show with record run Olympic glance Charles Johnson and the baseball team hope for a happier ending against Cuba tonight 4C Olympic notes 4C Today's TV 4C Olympic scoreboard 4C Unified team remembers generations of success 5C Medals table 5C BARCELONA Spain They have shared much the past half-dozen years Mike Conley and Charlie Simpkins Victory and defeat Joy and sorrow Success and failure And pain especially pain In track meets around the world they battled one another fed off one another encouraged and psyched and boosted one another Only one thing had they not done together: win Olympic medals Until now Monday night the two athletes so alike and so different stood alongside each other on the medal stand Simpkins from Aiken SC raised both arms in triumph as he accepted his silver medal in the triple jump Seconds before Conley a Chicago native pumped his fists as the gold was slipped over his head Brothers in glory Simpkins the former Baptist College (now Charleston Southern) star leaped 1760 meters (57 feet 9 inches) on his final triple jump his longest since 1985 But Conley the ex-Arkansas standout was better than anyone this night His leap of 1817 meters (59-7 Vb) on his last jump shattered the Olympic mark he had set earlier in the evening and would have been a world record but for a 21 meters-per-second wind one-tenth of a meter per second too strong to erase Willie 1985 record of 1797 (58-llV2) Banks working for a Japanese TV network as commentator laughed like a man who had dodged a bullet of a meter like someone walking by he said that going sooner or Conley or Simpkins are the likeliest candidates Knight-Ridder Newspapers BARCELONA Spain On a amazing day in track and field Monday at Estadi Olimpic: Quincy Watts of Los Angeles broke a 24-year-old Olympic record in the 400-meter run despite easing up at the finish Mike Conley of Fayetteville Ark became the second man ever to travel 18 meters in the triple jump and Khalid Skah was disqualified after winning the 10000 meters In a sensational display of strength and speed Watts ran the second 400 heat in 4371 seconds He broke the Olympic record of 4386 set by Lee Evans in the altitude of Mexico City in 1968 Watts who will be joined by fellow American Steve Lewis in the 400 final on Wednesday night might have shattered Butch world record of 4329 if he eased up came out to run the curve Watts said down the straight I told myself just to relax I had more left When you come to a meet like the Olympic Games you look to see how fast you can run but if the Olympic record comes take Lewis the gold medalist at the Olympics in Seoul won his semifinal heat in 4450 seconds The third American in a 400 semifinal Danny Everett was bothered by an Achilles tendon injury and failed to qualify One of the most human and touching moments of the Games also came in the 400 when Great Derek Redmond pulled up lame with a ham- string injury Redmond however was determined to cross the finish line and did so with the aid of his father who came out of the stands to help him In the backstretch Redmond felt a pop and a tug in his right hamstring muscle and crumpled to the track The British runner dropped to one knee fell to his side clutched his leg and in great pain rolled onto his back Finally after agonizing moments he rose to one knee and then back to his feet and began a long slow agonizing limp to the finish line Meantime Conley traveled 1817 meters (59 feet IVz inches) in the hop skip and jump event Conley pounded his fist on the ground excitedly when he saw his distance posted and the crowd cheered him wildly But the jump was not recognized as a world or Olympic record because it was wind-aided The wind was measured at 21 meters per second when he jumped the legal limit is 20 Willie Banks the world record holder once had a leap of 182 meters but that was heavily wind-aided (52) On an earlier jump leap of 1763 meters (57-10V4) broke the previous Olympic record set by Khristo Markov of Bulgaria at the 1988 Games in Seoul Korea In the 10000-meter race Skah was disqualified for receiving assis- See Olympics 5C Triple jumping friends help each other Could either have done what he did without the other? After the jump that vaulted him from fourth to second Simpkins spread his arms and bowed to the crowd Then he high-fived Conley and told him to top it beat him (Conley had earlier leaped an See Gillespie 5C The Associated Press Stretching for the silver: Charles Simpkins soars in triple jump Scenes like this one Dutch Fork High quarterbacks working under the watchful eye of an assistant coach became common around South Carolina on Monday as high school football practice started in earnest Tim Dominick The State Downpours fail to dampen ardor of high school football workouts opponents this season Gone from the Eagles region are Greenwood and Irmo which were replaced by Aiken and South Aiken probably good to play some different Evans said and South Aiken have real good football teams It lessen the Not only are Aiken and South Aiken in a new region but they were among several schools that moved up a classification from See Preps 3C Several teams waited until Monday Volleyball cross country and tennis teams were allowed to begin practice Monday as well first morning for us is usually physical condition tests and indoctrination practice for the younger guys coming up to Evans said had a real good effort with good enthusiasm Nothing negative Like many high schools in South Carolina Airport will be facing some new region practices were held on dry hot fields Also schools began practice last Thursday the first day allowed by the South Carolina High School League coach Bobby Ivey wasted no time bringing the defending Class AAAA Division 2 state champions back to the field The Raiders practiced Thursday Friday and Saturday try to get in as many workouts as a unit as Ivey said we know what storms failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the players and coaches always have that said Airport coach Les Evans embarking on his 27th season was over here by 6 am ready to go A lot of the players were here by 7 (rain) was probably good for the players They probably prefer the rain over a hot In other parts of the state first football By LEZLIE PATTERSON Sports Writer Hundreds of teen-age boys throughout the state were playing in the rain Monday morning They were sloshing on freshly cut football fields splashing as they broke in cleats during 40-yard dashes For many high schools Monday was the first day of football practice Airport first practice was scheduled for 7:30 am and morning thunder Perozo lifts Mets into tie North Taylor to lead Newberry football And he finished what his teammates couldn in the ninth when the Mets also loaded the bases with no outs after tying it on a two-run single by Curtis But Mark Parnell struck out Patrizi got Greg Beals to pop up in the infield and Craig Bullock to bounce back to the mound to end the threat game could have ended but we had to go back said Curtis who also had a two-run double in the first and an RBI single in the seventh sign of a good team is one that keeps on playing We came back and won when we had to on the second Curtis who was in the middle of every Columbia rally had four hits and five RBI on the day he was awarded July Player of the Month by the Mets booster club really been trying to concentrate every Curtis said more I concentrate and the harder I work everything seems to be coming together at the -A See Mets 2C By NEIL WHITE Sports Writer Ed Perozo waited eight weeks for an at-bat He made the wait worthwhile In his first plate appearance since breaking his foot on June 10 Perozo lined a base-loaded single in the 11th inning to give the Columbia Mets a 7-6 victory over the Charleston Va Wheelers Monday night at Capital City Stadium The Mets improved to 23-16 and moved into a tie with Spartanburg for first place in the SAL Northern Division Perozo a Venezuelan native who also played last season in Columbia entered the game in the 10th inning as a replacement for first baseman Omar Garcia who was hit by a pitch on his hand in the ninth The Mets loaded the bases in the 11th on Jerome double Randy single and an intentional pass to Danilo Mompres Richard Zastoupil 5-3 struck out Mike PHnzi before Perozo stepped to the jjlate want to lose this Perozo said wanted this chance I got it and I did the A search cu ittee recommended Taylor to school president Hubert Setzler on Sunday Taylor replaces Brad Senter who resigned a week ago the day before an article questioning his past was scheduled to run in The State Newberry entering its first season in the Division II had a 1-10 record last year only season Taylor was hired in 1988 to revive a North Greenville program that had been dormant for 35 years He arrived with no schedule stadium uniforms or players His first team with 21 freshman starters had a 9-1 record The Mounties went 8-0 last season By DAVID NEWTON and BOB COLE Sports Writers North Greenville Mike Taylor will be named today head football coach at Newberry College Taylor a 1976 Newberry graduate was introduced as the new coach to an alumni gatherering Monday night in Columbia Athletics director Jack Williams said Taylor was chosen because of his head coaching experience and his link to Newberry Taylor has led North Greenville to a 33-3 record the past five years He was picked over University of South Carolina recruiting coordinator Don Kirkpatrick 1 Ed Perozo returns to lineup in style.