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 -- m -4z 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- songwriter 1421 Hill Street 761-1451