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A worldwide roundup of the sports information of the week
RECORD BREAKERS—TRACK RECORDS fell like so many spent sputniks in outdoor season's greatest splurge. Alex Henderson, gangling 25-year-old Aussie who somehow landed at Arizona State at Tempo, was late entry but early finisher in 8:51.3 (sec below) in two-mile race at Drake Relays at Des Moines to break U.S. college mark set week earlier by USC's Max Truex (April 25); Brooklyn's St. Francis Prep turned loose fleet-footed sprint quartet of Frank Hegarty, Joe Armstead, Doug Tynan and Les Pinder, who scooted through mile relay in 3:17.5 for national interscholastic standard in Penn Relays at Philadelphia (April 26); USC's Charley Dumas, long-legged world high jump record-holder, jack-rabbited over bar at 6 feet 11½ inches for new college mark as team beat Occidental 77[1/6]-53[5/6] at Los Angeles (April 26); Dyrol Burleson of Cottage Grove (Ore.) H.S. (see right) ran astonishing 4:13.3 mile, fastest ever by schoolboy, at Corvallis, Ore. (April 25).
Chris Von Saltza, 14-year-old Santa Clara cutie, churned up and down 25-yard hometown pool, made off with two American records in Pacific AAU championships: 5:00.9 for 400-yard individual medley; 2:41 for 250-yard freestyle (April 26).
HORSE RACING—DERBY mounts were sent out for airing but spotlight belonged to Silky Sullivan, poor man's Needles, who did his usual lagging bit in seven-furlong race at Louisville, let field get 32 lengths ahead before he took off in hot pursuit of leaders. Silky never ran out of foot but ran out of track to place fourth behind Belleau Chief, Gone Fishin' and Lincoln Road. At Keeneland, Plion, unplaced as 3-year-old, earned chance at roses by winning $33,650 Blue Grass Stakes, first of Derby trials.
Kingmaker, Happy Hill Farm's sturdy 5-year-old. moved up early, held off charging Third Brother in stretch duel to win $29,100 Excelsior Handicap at Jamaica.
BASEBALL—SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS, finding new strength and vigor on West Coast, climbed over Chicago into rarefied atmosphere of first place in National League, half game ahead of Cubs and Milwaukee. Braves' Lew Burdette, with no Yankees to tame, was knocked out twice, but Bob Buhl, Warren Spahn and Bob Rush kept champions on move upward. Los Angeles Dodgers were so busy watching homers sail over left-field screen (see page 11) they were able to get no better than even split with Cards and Cubs, languished in sixth place.
New York Yankees ran winning streak to six before dropping pair to Washington and Baltimore, came back to beat Orioles 2-0 on Bob Turley's one-hitter, hold lead in American League. Kansas City and Washington, oddly enough, were fighting for second while preseason contenders Boston and Chicago played footsie with cellar.
BASKETBALL—U.S., despite unfamiliarity with lighter ball, new rules, came from behind to beat Russia 74-68 before screaming 17,000 who jammed Moscow's sprawling Lenin Stadium, made superiority even more noticeable by winning second game 81-68 as 15,000 partisans watched. But U.S. women were not so fortunate, bowed twice to Soviet amazons 61-46, 48-41 (see page 24).
TRACK & FIELD—VILLANOVA'S WILDCATS, with hotfoot from ambling Irishman Ron Delany and Sprinter Ed Collymore, went on prowl in Penn Relays at Philadelphia, ran off with triple for third straight year. Delany's 4:06.5 mile anchor leg gave Villanova victory over Michigan State in 9:55.3 distance medley, while Collymore tore off 46-second quarter in 3:11.9 mile relay after his 47.6 lead-off quarter ahead of Delany's 1:52.4 half-mile helped to win 3:22.5 sprint medley. Abilene Christian, even without ailing Bobby Morrow, still had enough sprint speed to win 440- and 880-yard relays. In top individual performances, Duke's Dave Sime, robbed of shot at Morrow, lunged home ahead of Bill Woodhouse in special 9.7 hundred (see below); LaSalle's Ira Davis won invitation hundred in 9.5, hop, step and jump with 50 feet 4¼ inches, took fourth in broad jump, was named meet's outstanding athlete; Ohio State's Glenn Davis skimmed over timbers in 51.6 in 400-meter hurdles; Indiana's Greg Bell leaped 25 feet 8¼ inches in broad jump.
Drake relays at Des Moines had own set of heroes in Arizona State's Henderson (see below); Oregon's Jim Grelle, who stepped mile in 4:07.9; Kansas' Cliff Cushman, winner of 440-yard hurdles in brisk 52.3; Western Michigan's Ira Murchison, 100-yard-dash winner in 9.5; Kansas' Al Oerter, who whirled discus 185 feet 7½ inches.
NCAA—NCAA opened up its expansive doghouse, tossed in Auburn until Sept. 1, 1961 and SMU for one year for illegal financial aid to prospective football players, also placed Seattle on probation until Sept. 1, 1960 for similar basketball violation (see page 23). One quick result: Seattle's fidgety John Castellani, throat-clutching, floor-pacing coach who led Chieftains to NCAA final this year, 48-10 record in two seasons, resigned, asked plaintively: "How could I stay on? How could I walk around and face those kids knowing I'd gotten them two years' probation?" Cracked one realistic Seattle alumnus: "John just violated the coaches' 11th commandment—thou shalt not get caught."
BOATING—PENN sweepswingers, hardly fazed by floating beer cans, over-exuberant swimmers and touted Princeton, put their backs to it on Philadelphia's becalmed Schuylkill, outstroked Tigers and Columbia to win Childs Cup by boat length. In New York, Cornell lightweights added to Princeton's discomfort, picking up beat neatly when challenged to upset Tigers, put end to 21-race winning streak, which included two national sprint titles and two Henley Cup races.
BOXING—HEAVYWEIGHTS went into action on both sides of Atlantic but did little to furrow brow of Champion Floyd Patterson. At Syracuse, N.Y. Nino Valdes, lumbering Cuban, weathered early storm, came back to slice up weary Mike DeJohn on way to split 10-round decision; at Leicester, England nimble Willie Pastrano gave British another glimpse of his boxing skill, flicked and ran for 10 fast rounds to outclass Joe Bygraves.
Truman K. Gibson Jr. wriggled around in Jim Norris' old IBC seat, quickly (and before he was asked) denied association with Frankie Carbo (see page 21), made his first order of business completion of arrangements for Virgil Akins-Vince Martinez welterweight title fight at St. Louis June 6.
BOWLING—DON CARTER, world's best bowler and four-time All-Star champion, was at his unorthodox best as he teamed up with stocky 32-year-old TOM HENNESSY to rattle pins for 31 points, easily outrolling Ed Lubanski and Lee Jouglard for first national doubles title at Mountainside, N.J.
MOTOR SPORTS—GASTON ANDREY of Framingham, Mass. jockeyed his two-liter Ferrari Testa Rossa ahead of John Fitch's Maserati, averaged 77.8 mph to win modified SCCA race at Lime Rock, Conn.
MILEPOSTS—DIED—FRANK (BUCKY) O'CONNOR, 44, respected, able Iowa basketball coach who led Hawkeyes to two Big Ten titles in eight years; when car skidded into truck, near Waterloo, Iowa.
DIED—HERMAN HICKMAN, 46, former All-America guard, onetime Yale football coach, wrestler, poet, author, sportscaster, raconteur, gourmet; since 1954 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED football expert; following operation for gastric ulcer, at Washington, D.C. (see page 22). Serious about college football, Herman once defined his philosophy: "When I work, I work hard; when I relax, I rest loose. And when I begin to worry, I fall fast asleep."
