A roundup of the sports information of the week
BASKETBALL—NBA: BOSTON lost three in a row, two to second-place Philadelphia but held on to a 5½-game Eastern Division lead. With the team now a smooth blend of old and new players, the Warriors set a hopeful .875 winning pace for the last 16 games. Wilt Chamberlain broke his NBA scoring record with a remarkable 23 out of 27 field-goal attempts against New York. Syracuse, 7½ games ahead of the Knicks with only 18 games left to play, planned on the playoffs.
In the West, LOS ANGELES had a safe 10½-game lead. Cincinnati, beset by injuries, slipped to within four games of third-place Detroit, while St. Louis and Chicago were all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.
BOATING—ED SHERMAN JR., 19-year-old St. Petersburg Junior College student, won the national winter Thistle class championship after apparent winner Jim Miller was disqualified. Miller, who held a large point margin over the field, lost his standing when his centerboard was judged to be of an illegal type. Sherman clinched the title with a first-place finish in the fifth heat.
BOBSLEDDING—LARRY McKILLIP drove teammates Mike Baumgartner, Neil Rogers and brakeman Jim Lamy to a half-second victory over runner-up Bill Hockey's sled in the National AAU four-man championship at Lake Placid, N.Y. The winning team's total time for four heats down the one-mile Mt. Van Hoevenberg run was 4:41.46.
BOWLING—DICK HOOVER, two-time Masters champion, outrolled Dick Vigars, 198 to 173, in the final of the Chesapeake Bay Open in Towson, Md. The open was Hoover's first major victory in three years and brought him $5,000.
BOXING—INGEMAR JOHANSSON, in his first fight in nearly a year, looked trim at 200 pounds, won by a 7th-round TKO over Joe Bygraves at Goteborg, Sweden. Ingo's right dropped Bygraves in the second round, had him frequently in trouble and finally opened a deep cut over the Jamaican's left eye that forced the referee to stop the fight.
Cassius Clay, undefeated heavyweight and 1960 Olympic champion, won a fourth-round TKO over Sonny Banks in New York. Recovering quickly from a first-round knockdown. Clay battered Banks, flooring him in the second and following up with combinations that left Banks defenseless. Clay has now won 11 straight bouts, eight by knockouts or TKOs.
CURLING—WAUWATOSA (Wis.) RINK, captained by Mrs. Stuart Tray, required an extra-end match to beat the Skokie, Ill. rink 19-17 for the U.S. Women's Curling Championship in St. Paul. Captain Tray scored the two points in the extra session to give her rink the title.
DOG SHOW—CH. CRACKWYN COCKSPUR, a wirehaired fox terrier, won the best-in-show award at Cruft's, largest and most famous of the world's dog shows, in London. A black cocker spaniel finished second and a Maltese finished third.
GOLF—ARNOLD PALMER finished 12 strokes in front of Jack Nicklaus and three others to win the $35,000 Phoenix Open with a 72-hole total of 269.
Sam Snead settled a year-old score with the leading lady professional golfers, came from behind to win the $4,500 Royal Poinciana Invitational by five strokes over Mickey Wright (see page 35) at Palm Beach, Fla. Last year Snead was third, behind Louise Suggs and Dub Pagan. His winning score for the 72-hole tournament, played on a par-3 course, was 211. Miss Wright was second.
HARNESS RACING—MASINA, outstanding French trotter, finished some three lengths ahead of Mon Cher to win the $50,000 Prix de Paris at Vincennes racetrack, Paris. The winner trotted the 2[1/16]-mile course in 4:33.
HOCKEY—NHL: MONTREAL, pressing for a fifth straight championship, built its league lead to nine points over Toronto. With three losses and a tie in their last four games, the Maple Leafs slipped to a seven-point edge over Chicago. New York picked up a point to move two ahead of Detroit. The Rangers' Andy Bathgate led the league in scoring with 68 points. Detroit's Gordie Howe, five times NHL scoring champion, was second with 61 points. Boston, without hopes of making the playoffs, was last.
HORSE RACING—SIR GAYLORD ($11.40), with Ismael Valenzuela up, finished 1¾ lengths in front of Ridan to win the $30,350 Bahamas Stakes at Hialeah, Fla. (see page 51). Sir Gaylord, owned by Christopher T. Chenery, equaled the track record of 1:22 for seven furlongs.
RACQUETS—The U.S. team won two of three doubles matches and three of four singles matches to defeat the United Kingdom 5-2 in an international match at the New York Racquet and Tennis Club.
RODEO—MORRIS WALKER and ERNEST BRAMWELL, two newcomers to the professional rodeo circuit, left the old cowhands with empty pockets, won the big money at the $66,114 Fort Worth Rodeo at Fort Worth. Walker, a 20-year-old Texan, shut out four-time roping champion Dean Oliver, took over first place in the year-long calf-roping competition with $3,973 prize money. Bramwell, a 24-year-old Oklahoma A&M veterinary student, moved into second place in the steer-wrestling championship standings, won $2,739.
SKIING—JIM PAGE, 20-year-old Dartmouth captain, skied off with a seldom-seen triple, won the giant slalom in 1:17.4, the nine-mile cross-country race in 53:34 and the jump with 200.6 points at Dartmouth Winter Carnival. Hanover, N.H. Page's three victories led Dartmouth to first place in the team standings.
Marianne Jahn, 19-year-old Austrian, wove through the elongated 50-gate track on Mont Blanc in 1:41.53, to win the women's giant slalom at the FIS's world games in Chamonix, France. Erika Netzer of Austria was second. The American contingent skied well, Joan Hannah placing third, Barbara Ferries fifth and Jean Saubert sixth.
SPEED SKATING—ANDRE KOUPRIANOFF of France won both the 1,500-and 5,000-meter races to place first in the overall standing of the international speed skating meet at Hamar, Norway. Russia's Musatitt Habibolin, second in the 5,000 meters, was runner-up in the overall scoring. Paul Inok of Canada, who skated to a world record of 4:37.2 in the 3,000 meters, was third. U.S. Outdoor Champion Eddie Rudolph won the 500-meter event and placed fourth in the composite standings.
SQUASH RACQUETS—MRS. JOHN BOTTGER of Cynwyd, Pa. upset defending champion Betty Shellenberger 15-13, 12-15, 15-7, 15-9, won the U.S. senior women's squash racquets championship at the Germantown Cricket Club, Germantown, Pa. Mrs. Bottger teamed with former U.S. and Wimbledon tennis champion Mrs. William du Pont Jr. to defeat Miss Shellenberger and Mrs. Francis A.C. Vosters 11-15, 16-14, 15-10, 15-10 in the doubles finals.
TENNIS—CHUCK McKINLEY, behind through most of the five-set final, broke Whitney Reed's service in the 17th game of the last set, went on to win the National Indoor singles championship 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 9-7, 10-8 in New York. In his semifinal match with Rod Laver, McKinley never dropped his service as he won 6-0, 6-4, 6-4.
TRACK & FIELD—Tom Sullivan, 19-year-old Villanova freshman, beat a strong international field to win the mile in 4:08.7 at the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER INDOOR GAMES. Frank Budd won his 14th straight dash event, ran the 50 yards in 5.3 to beat Brooks Johnson by two feet. Hayes Jones, unbeaten in 24 straight hurdle events, won the 50-yard high hurdles in 6.1. Jack Yerman came from behind to win the 600 in 1:12.1, and Cary Weisiger edged Ed Moran by an inch in the 1,000-yard run. The only meet record was set by Villanova's mile-relay team—Paul Drayton, Allan Jackman, Carl Wagner and Bob Raemore—who ran that distance in 3:19.8, cutting a half-second off the old mark. With John Uelses out sick, the pole-vault competition stopped at 15 feet and was won by Villanova sophomore Rolando Cruz.
Jim Beatty ran the mile in 3:58.9 at LOS ANGELES TIMES INDOOR GAMES (see page 14) to become the world's first indoor sub-four-minute miler. Peter Snell, in his first U.S. race, set a national indoor mark of 2:06 for the 1,000-yard run. New Zealand teammate Murray Halberg left the field far behind as he won the two-mile in 8:42.5. Steve Haas beat Rex Cawley and Ulis Williams in the 500 with a 56.8. Jack Yerman won the 600 with a 1:10.2, beating George Kerr by a step. Hayes Jones took the 60-yard high hurdles in 7.3. Herb Carper won the 60-yard dash in 6.2. Gary Gubner of NYU put the shot 63 feet 8 inches to beat Parry O'Brien and Dallas Long. Ron Morris cleared 15 feet 3½ inches, took first place in the pole vault over George Davies and John Rose, who also cleared that height but were placed second and third respectively on the basis of more misses. University of Oregon won the two-mile relay in 7:33.1. Arizona State U. ran the mile relay in 3:21.3, beat Oregon State by a tick.
