Saturday, May 31, 1975
I Ht M I U-i I UAN-VA I L T I 6 %4w% l - T M. '. .
SPORTS OF THE DAILY:
Prefontaine killed in crash
By The Associated Press
EUGENE, Ore. - Steve Pre-
fontaine, for almost a decade
one of this country's best and
most controversial athletes and
the owner of every American
running record over 2,000 met-
ers, is dead at 24, the victim
of a pre-dawn automobile ac-
cident here yesterday.
The 5-foot-9, 155-pound dis-
tance runner, whose dedication
to running and training was
matched by his bitterness over
the treatment of amateur ath-
letes in America, had come
within 1% seconds of his 5,000-
meter record at a meet in Eu-
gene Thursday night.
BARELY FOUR hours later,
after leaving a party in honor
of six Finnish athletes he had
brought to America to com-
pete, Prefontaine had taken his
girl-friend home and was driv-
ing along a Eugene residential
street. Police said his small
foreign car crossed the center
line, skidded about 40 feet,
struck a rock embankment and
flipped over, pinning him be-
neath it.
The time of death was placed
at about 12:30 a.m. PDT. It
sent shock waves through the
track world and cost America
its strongest hope for a gold
medal in the distance events
at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Prefontaine, who owned six
American records and who
recently lambasted the Olympic
effort by saying, "To hell with
love of country, I compete for
myself," had just been round-
ing into shape for another as-
sault on his marks.
A HIGH SCHOOL sensation in
Coos Bay, Ore., Prefontaine
had a brilliant career at the
University of Oregon, turning
in some classic performances
soon after he burst into the
spotlight as a teenager in 1966.
He did not own any world
records, but his American
marks were close and they
were improving as he neared
the age at which distance run-
ners hit their peak.
Prefontaine's father, Ray-
mond, a carpenter, said funeral
ALL FOR FREE
M-Pin Bowling
at UNION LANES
OPEN 11 a m. Mon.-Sat.
I p.m. Sundays
services will be at the high
school athletic stadium in Coos
Bay on Monday because "that's
where it all began and that's
where it ends."
George jumps
NEW YORK - The New York
Knicks signed American Bas-
ketball Association superstar
George McGinnis yesterday,
setting up an almost certain
legal showndown with their
National Basketball Association
partners, the Philadelphia 76ers.
McGINNIS, the ABA's scoring
champion this past season,
agreed to a six-year, $2 million-
plus contract, one the Knicks
hope will return them to their
glory days. But there is the
strong possibility that when the
agreement is submitted for ap-
proval to the NBA commission-
er's office, it will be rejected.
McGinnis' NBA rights still
belong to the 76ers, who drafted
him two years ago when his
college class at Indiana was
graduated.
Chapman signs
BUFFALO - The Buffalo
Bills of the National Foot-
ball League announced Friday
the signing of two draft picks,
kick return specialist Gil Chap-
man and running back Roland
Hooks.
Chapman, who played at
Michigan, was the Bills' sev-
enth - round draft pick. They se-
lected Hooks of North Carolina
State in the 10th round.
Theatre Company of Ann Arbor, Inc.
PRESENTS
MADI
MADOM N NAS
an o r i g i n a I production celebrating the
forward and positive movement of women.
Fri., May 30 Schorling Aud.
(in the School of Ed.
Bldg. on East U.)
DONATION $2.00 Curtain at 8:00 p.m.
A.L. Leaders
By The Associated Press
Based on 90 at Bats
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Player Club G AB R H Pt.
Carew Min 35 124 17 46 .371
B. white NY 37 136 30 45 .331
Munson NY 41 157 24 55 .350
Lynn Bsn 34 112 18 37 .330
Yount Mil 31 111 18 36 .324
McRae KC 46 174 22 56 .322
Hargrove Tex 37 121 21 39 .322
Dent Chi 43 153 14 48 .314
Braun Min 35 118 13 37 .314
L. Roberts Det 28 96 20 30 313
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if-
r- UNION 0
m GALLERY c
MAY 17-
'JUNE 8, 1975
RECEPTION
MAY18 4-6PM.
Z MUSIC by ANN
ARBOR SC.M.
REHEARSAL BAND
ANN ARBOR, MICH.
$2.50 $:30
FRI.-SAT.-SUN.
NORMAN
BLAKE
singer-
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1421 Hill Street
761-1451