NCAA Track & Field Championships : Joyner, Entered in 6 Events, Fails in Long Jump

UCLA’s Jackie Joyner, the collegiate record-holder in the women’s long jump, failed to reach the final in the event Wednesday in the NCAA track and field championships.

Joyner, entered in six events--the long jump, triple jump, 100-meter hurdles, 400-meter hurdles and two relays--cleared only 20 feet 5 inches in the long jump, compared with her collegiate record of 22-11.

It was her second event of a long day. Earlier, she won her 400-meter hurdles heat in 56.91 seconds.

Meanwhile, Michael Conley, the defending champion, led the qualifying in the men’s long jump, but some of his Arkansas teammates faltered, hurting the chances of the favored Razorbacks to win the team title.

Conley, seeking his second consecutive NCAA double in the long jump and the triple jump, overcame strong crosswinds and leaped 26-6 1/2 inches in the long jump.

But two of the other three Arkansas competitors in the long jump qualifying--Joey Wells and Mike Davis--failed to advance into Friday’s final, as did pole vaulter Mark Klee and discus thrower Marty Kobza.

Those failures, combined with the absence of standout sprinter Wallace Spearmon, forced out of the meet with an injured right hamstring, put a serious crimp into Arkansas’ bid to win the title for the first time in the meet’s 64-year history.

Klee, who has cleared 18 feet in the pole vault this season, was the first Arkansas competitor to be eliminated, failing to clear 16-10.

“I hope this is not an omen of things to come in this meet,” said Arkansas Coach John McDonnell.

Unfortunately, for McDonnell and Arkansas, it was.

Davis, the runner-up behind Conley in the 1985 Southwest Conference championships and the third-place finisher in last year’s NCAA meet, and Wells, the sixth-place finisher in the Olympics and fifth in this year’s SWC meet, could not get through the 31-man long jump qualifying field and into Friday’s 12-man final.

Then, Kobza, who had thrown 196-10 this year in the discus, could do no better than 185-8 in the qualifying and just missed advancing into Friday’s final. Mike Buncic of Kentucky, the third-place finisher in the 1984 meet, led the discus qualifying at 201-3. The 12th and last qualifier made it at 186-7.

Wells’ best jump in the qualifying was 24-10, while Davis, who will replace Spearmon as the anchor man on the 400-meter relay, could do no better than 24-7 3/4 in the long jump.

It took a jump of 24-11 to reach the final.

In the pole vault qualifying, 16 competitors cleared 17-6 and advanced to Friday’s final. The group included the first four finishers in last year’s NCAA meet--Oklahoma State’s Joe Dial, the American record-holder; Kory Tarpenning of Oregon; Eric Forney of Oklahoma State, and David Hodge of Baylor.

In a major surprise, Olympic champion Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco and Iowa State failed to advance through the qualifying in the women’s 400-meter intermediate hurdles.

El Moutawakel, a sophomore from Casablanca who had set an Olympic record with a time of 54.61, finished second in her heat in 58.29.

The fastest time in the heats was the 55.39 by Latanya Sheffield of San Diego State.