NCAA Track and Field Championships : UCLA Men Will Battle 4 Southwest Teams for Title

BATON ROUGE, La. —  Southwest Conference teams will be ganging up on UCLA in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. track and field meet starting here today at Louisiana State.

Texas A&M;, Texas, SMU, Arkansas and the Bruins are regarded as the top five teams challenging for the men’s championship.

“A&M; is the team to beat now,” UCLA Coach Bob Larsen said. “I think we can score in the low 50s, but that may not be good enough to win. A&M; could get as many as 60 points.”

The Aggies have a potential double winner in shotputter/discus thrower Randy Barnes, who has apparently recovered from a lingering hand injury.

They also have Floyd Heard, the collegiate record-holder in the 200 meters at 19.95 seconds. Floyd was ranked No. 1 in the world in the 200 last year.

UCLA has a balanced team, with strength in the sprints, hurdles, relays and weight events.

“Unfortunately, other teams are strong where we are strong,” Larsen said.

For example, Henry Thomas has the second-best time in the world in the 200 this year at 20.24. But he must deal with Heard, the defending champion.

UCLA’s Danny Everett was fifth in the NCAA 400 last year as a freshman and has the third-fastest time in the world this year at 44.88. But he just happens to be in the hottest event of the meet. Ohio State’s Butch Reynolds has already recorded a time of 44.09, best ever at low altitude.

Even so, Reynolds may not win. Arkansas’ Roddie Haley is a proven competitor who was runner-up to Washington State’s Gabriel Tiacoh in the 1986 NCAA meet. Haley has a career-best time of 44.48.

Kevin Young, UCLA’s 400-meter intermediate hurdler, will also be in fast company. Young surprised everyone with his second place behind Iowa State’s Danny Harris in the 1986 NCAA meet with a time of 48.77, but he may be squeezed out by Winthrop Graham, a Jamaican who represents Texas and has the best collegiate time in the country this year at 48.81, and/or Chris Calk of Texas A&M;, who has a 49.07. Young has a best time of 49.33 this year. Other Bruins who figure to score are high hurdler Steve Kerho, weightman Jim Banich, javelin thrower Jim Connolly and, perhaps, steeplechaser Mark Junkermann.

Connolly will also compete in the decathlon, his specialty. He was held out of that event in the Pacific 10 meet to be rested for the NCAA.

Women’s teams from UCLA and USC are also in the title chase. The Bruins will be led by Gail Devers, who won four individual events and ran on the winning relay teams in the Pac-10 meet.

Devers will be considerably less active in the NCAA meet but will compete in the 100 and both relays. Her primary competition in the 100 is expected from Georgia’s Owen Torrance, who has run an 11.11, and Alabama’s Pauline Davis, who has an 11.19. Devers’ best time this season is 11.15. Fred LaPlante, USC’s coach, said the Trojans, Bruins, LSU, Alabama and Texas Southern are the top women’s teams. “I think it will take about 50 points to win, and we have the power to do it with some big scorers,” he said.

He was refering to the B&B; entry in the triple and long jumps, Wendy Brown and Yvette Bates; shotputter Diana Clements; quarter-miler Gervaise McCraw; intermediate hurdler Leslie Maxie, and the relay teams.

Track Notes Qualifying will be held in all events today with the exception of the men’s decathlon and women’s 10,000 meters. . . . Temperatures are in the high 80s with matching humidity, which could affect distance runners and multi-event performers. . . . UCLA has 18 male athletes competing in 16 events. UCLA has the best collegiate time of 3:01.09 in the 1,600-meter relay. But the Bruins will get plenty of competition from SMU, Baylor, Ohio State and Illinois. . . . The USC men have won a record 26 NCAA meets, but the Trojans don’t figure to be among the leaders this year, since Coach Ernie Bullard has only six athletes available. . . . TCU has been the class of the college sprint relay teams the last two seasons, with a best time of 39.02 this year. Texas, SMU, Texas A&M;, Baylor and UCLA will be challenging. . . . Fred LaPlante, USC’s women’s coach, said triple jumper/long jumper Yvette Bates is still bothered by a sciatic nerve condition stemming from a recent automobile accident. “It affects her more in the triple jump than (in) the long jump,” he said. Wendy Brown and Bates were favored in the Pac-10 triple jump but finished third and fourth, respectively. . . . Brown had the world outdoor best mark of 44-11 3/4 until Alabama’s Flora Hyacinth leaped 45-0 1/2 in the recent Southeastern Conference meet. . . . Brown, who won the Pac-10 heptathlon, will compete in that event in the NCAA meet.