12A -The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Warhurst proud to sport the red, white and blue
I
0
4
By Mirgim Jusufi
For the Daily
Say you coached the last American to
win the Boston Marathon, or heck, were
just the coach of the last American male
to medal ina distance race at the Olym-
pics. Let's not even mention the Big Ten
titles, the All-Americans you coached,
or the four decades you've been around.
Doesn't it feel like some gratitude
should have come your way by now?
Recognition finally caught up with
Michigan men's cross country coach
Ron Warhurst this past January when he
received word that he would be on the
U.S. coaching staff for the Track and
Field World Cup in Athens, Greece on
Sept. 16 and 17.
Warhurst wasn't exactly sure why the
U.S. Track and Field Committee chose
him as one of the coaches, but he did
offer an amusing speculation.
"Maybe they just felt sorry for me
after those 33 years of coaching," War-
hurst said with a laugh.
Warhurst had never been involved
with the national team. But at the meet
last week, many familiar faces, includ-
ing some fellow Wolverines, made him
feel right at home.
"It was my first experience represent-
ing the United States and coaching the
U.S. track team," he said. "My respon-
sibility was to coach the distance run-
ners, men and women. And fortunately,
l knew most of the athletes."
Why it took so long for one of the
nation's most respected distance coach-
es to receive such an honor is a mystery
even to Warhurst, but he said he felt it
was a rewarding experience for him and
the athletes.
"I hope from (the athletes') per-
spectives it was nice to see a friendly
face who at least knew who they were
and had watched them run at college,"
Warhurst said. "(It) made them feel at
home."
Although Warhurst helped many ath-
letes feel at home, the three athletes that
probably benefited from his presence
weren't even on the U.S. team. They
were three Michigan alums running for
their home countries.
Recent graduates Nick Willis and
Nate Brannen finished third and sixth,
respectively, in the 1500-meter race.
Willis represented team Oceania, run-
ning for his home country of New Zea-
land, and Brannen ran for Canada on
the Americas team. One of Brannen's
fellow countryman, Kevin Sullivan,
placed fourth in the 3000-meter run.
Warhurst rooted for his former
pupils, even though they were now his
opponents.
And apparently, all his loyalties run
deep. His national pride kept him wear-
ing his red, white and blue in and out of
Athens Olympic Arena, despite World
Cup officials' warnings.
"They told us to be careful of wear-
ing your identification as an American
and U.S. gear because of terrorism,"
Warhurst said. "But I wore my U.S. hat
wherever I went and my U.S. shirt, and
I was proud to be there as an official
coach."
Grateful for the opportunity to coach
many of the world's best athletes and to
watch his former Wolverines race, War-
hurst had to make time for the World
Cup around an already busy schedule.
One week before he departed for his
international coaching debut, Warhurst
underwent surgery to have two stints
implanted in his heart. But even surgery
wasn't enough to keep the coach out of
usual his lighthearted mood.
"(Coaching) was a great experience,
especially after coming off of heart sur-
gery," Warhurst said. "It made it even
more exciting to see howI was going to
feel."
Warhurst said he felt great watch-
ing his former athletes competing on
an international level. But he didn't feel
great about having to leave his current
runners for a week. He missed out on
their dominant performance in East
Lansing the weekend of the World Cup.
But no worries for Michigan; every-
thing continued like business as usual.
"Well, a lot of the coaches were
amazed that I would leave my team,"
Warhurst said. "I was really proud of
the way they conducted themselves with
the workouts and winning the Spartan
Invitational."
Overall the United States, the only
country that is not part of a continental
team, fared well. The men's team came
in second, four points behind team
Europe, and the women placed fourth.
Only professional athletes are allowed
to compete in the two-day event.
Warhurst - done having his fun in
Greece - and his 18th-ranked Wolver-
ines are now gearing up for their first
tough competition of the season at the
Notre Dame Invitational on Friday.
"South Bend will be flat and fast,
with good competition?' Warhurst said.
"This will be the runners' first 'quiz' of
the semester."
i4
FILE PHOTOS
LEFT: Former Wolverine Nick Willis competed at the Track and Feid World Cup in Athens last week. RIGHT: Michigan coach Ron Warhurst brought his distance coaching skills to Athens for the U.S. team.
Golf great, record holder 'Lord Byron' dies at 94
0
0
I
IRVING, Texas (AP) - Byron Nelson's graceful
swing and gentle manner earned him the nickname
'"Lord Byron?' a tribute to the courtly Texan whose
lind, caring style with fans and competitors made him
one of the most well-liked figures in sports.
But what will forever set Nelson apart is a single
record, one that no golfer has ever approached: his 11
straight tournament victories in 1945, the greatest year
in the history of golf.
Nelson died Tuesday at 94, the end of a life span-
ning eras from hickory shafts and meager prize money
to titanium heads and multimillionaires. The Tarrant
Qounty Medical Examiner's Office said he died of
natural causes.
His wife, Peggy Nelson, told family friend Angela
Enright that her husband appeared fine as she left their
Roanoke home for Bible study Tuesday morning.
"I'm so proud of you," he told her, something he
often said about her church involvement, Enright said.
When she returned, Peggy Nelson found her husband
On the back porch, which faces the woodworking shop
where he spent much of his free time.
Arnold Palmer called Nelson "one of the greatest
players who ever lived."
"I don't think that anyone will ever exceed the things
that Byron did by winning 11 tournaments in a row in
one year" Palmer said in a statement.
The closest any player has come to Nelson's streak
is six, first by Ben Hogan in 1948. When Tiger Woods
reached that number in 1999-2000, Nelson was typi-
cally gracious when putting his own mark into perspec-
tive.
"Anytime you make a record stand for 55 years,
why, you've done pretty good?' he told The Associated
Press.
Last month, when Woods' current streak of PGA
tour wins reached five and counting, he didn't sound
confident that Nelson's feat would fall anytime soon,
comparing it to Joe DiMaggio's elusive 56-game hit-
ting streak.
"In this day and age, with this competition, to win
11 in a row would be almost unheard of," Woods said.
"What Byron accomplished, that goes down as one of
the great years in the history of our sport.... DiMaggio's
record, I see that being broken more than winning 11
in a row"
Nelson won 18 tournaments in 1945, also a record
for a calendar year. He captured 31 of 54 tournaments
in 1944-45, and won a total of 52 events, including five
majors: the Masters in 1937 and '42, the U.S. Open in
1939 and the PGA Championship in 1940 and '45.
Then, at age 34, he retired after the 1946 season to
spend more time on his Texas ranch.
"When I was playing regularly, I had a goal," Nelson
recalled years later. "I could see the prize money going
into the ranch, buying a tractor, or a cow. It gave me
incentive."
Nelson's long, fluid swing is considered the model of
the modern way to strike a golf ball. In 1968, he was the
first player to have a PGA Tour event named for him,
an honor that remained his alone until the former Bay
Hill Invitational, scheduled for March, was renamed
the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
"We have lost a giant in the game ... someone who
elevated the game in every way: as a player, an ambas-
sador and a gentleman," said Ben Crenshaw, a two-time
Masters champion and winner of Nelson's tournament
in 1983. "Whoever came up with'Lord Byron,' they got
it exactly right."
Nelson was an active host for his event, recruiting
players through genuine friendships with them and
their admiration for him. That connection helped make
his event a popular stop and the No. 1 fundraiser for
charity on the PGA Tour._ more than $94 million since
the tournament's inception, including $6.3 million this
year. The U.S. House recently voted to award Nelson a
Congressional Gold Medal for philanthropy; the legis-
lation, Congress' highest award, is pending in the Sen-
ate.
"Our players, young and old, looked to Byron as the
consummate role model of our sport" PGA Tour com-
missioner Tim Finchem said. "His legacy spans across
his historic performances, the gentle and dignified way
he carried himself and his tremendous contributions to
golf and society"
Nelson held the PGA Tour records for most consecu-
tive made cuts (113) and for single-season scoring aver-
age (68.33) until both were broken by Woods.
Nelson's mark on the Masters was honored in 1958
when the path that takes golfers over Rae's Creek to the
13th tee was named Nelson Bridge,commemorating his
final-day charge over the 12th and 13th holes that sent
him to victory in 1937. He later was the annual honor-
ary starter, along with Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead.
Nelson made his final ceremonial shot in 2001.
"Today we have lost a truly wonderful gentleman?'
said Billy Payne, chairman of Augusta National Golf
Club and the Masters. "Byron has meant so much to
so many people, and has been an integral and impor-
tant part of this tournament since he first played here
in 1935."
John Byron Nelson was born Feb. 4, 1912, on the
family farm in Waxahachie, Texas, and started in golf
in 1922 as a caddie at Glen Garden Country Club in
Fort Worth. One year, he won the caddies' champion-
ship, defeating Hogan in a playoff.
It was the beginning of a rivalry that never really
materialized. Though they were born six months apart,
Nelson won all five of his major championships before
he was 34 and Hogan won all nine of his after he was
34.
After graduating from high school, Nelson got a
job as a file clerk in the accounting office of the Forth
Worth and Denver Railroad andplayed golf in his spare
time. He lost his job during the Great Depression but
found work in 1931 with a bankers' magazine.
6
Ann Arbor, M L"VVA I J ' "@the'et"
en9al.734.9945835
NeC:TO Open @9pm
UBiS JAM
1st edf every month
SPORTSGRILL & PUB $2.504PINTS
$4.75 BURGER & BEER
310 Maynard, Ann Arbor Any Pint!
0
0
I