FACES IN THE CROWD

Mrs. S. L. Mercer, of West Palm Beach, who caught and released two sailfish totaling 75 pounds in the first hours of the West Palm Beach Sailfish Tournament, happily saw her early success turn out to be good enough to take the ladies' title in the three-day championship.

Mickey Allen, 14, of Lawrence, Kans., the grandson of famed Kansas basketball coach Phog Allen (771 wins, 233 losses), outscored the entire opposition all by himself when his 24 points led his West Junior High team to a victory over Atchison Junior High 41-22.

Lynn Yonekura, a lithe, statuesque 14-year-old from Berkeley, Calif., won the Pacific Coast Junior Ladies Figure Skating Championship, with the precise execution resulting from the same intense concentration and discipline that has made her a straight-A student.

Lynton (Dusty) Boggess, 59, who received the Bill Klem award as the National League's outstanding umpire, announced his retirement, then observed, "It's the greatest relief in the world. Now I can take my glasses and put them on and see what's going on in the world."

Larry Sears of San Francisco, ranked 14th nationally in squash, successfully defended the Pacific Coast Class A squash title that he won for the first time last year. Sears defeated Tom Owens in the 1963 finals, keeping his title without losing a single game.

Jim Lindsay, 18, goalie at St. Thomas (Minn.) College, braved one of his sport's most oppressive attacks in a 15-0 loss lo Minnesota's Duluth branch. Shot at 92 times, he made 77 saves. Later he commented, "I felt like I was standing in front of a Gatling gun."

SIX PHOTOS