National Sports Festival : Lakes Has to Settle for a Silver in Gymnastics

Right in the middle of his vault, Charles Lakes, suspended about seven feet above the apparatus, realized that his body felt as if it was about to split in half.

“I really messed it up,” said the former Monroe High School star, who took second in the all-around gymnastics competition Thursday at Sports Festival VI. “Halfway through, I knew that half my body was performing one trick and the other half was doing something else.”

The result was a rough landing and a score of 9.1. In a competition that was decided by two-tenths of a point--Brian Babcock of Garden City, Kan., won with 56.9--the gaffe turned out to be critical.

It also didn’t help when Lakes inadvertently went off the mat twice in the floor exercise and still scored a 9.55.

“I was tired and I tried to compensate and just went off the mat because I got running so fast,” said Lakes, who is a senior psychology major at the University of Illinois. “I had set a goal to beat Brian tonight and I didn’t get it.”

In the team competition, the West, led by Wes Suter of Lincoln, Neb., who finished fourth, won with 268.150 points.

A year ago in Los Angeles, swimmer Jill Sterkel was collecting an Olympic gold medal on the U.S. 400-meter freestyle relay team.

On Thursday, the venue and the event were different, but Sterkel, of Hacienda Heights, was on the victory stand again, collecting a gold as a member of the South water polo team.

The South scored a 12-8 victory over the East, and Sterkel chipped in with two goals. She is enjoying the transition and hopes to be named to the U.S. team for the 1986 world championship in Spain.

Swimmers like Sterkel and Amy Caulkins, sister of Tracy Caulkins, have added a new dimension to the game: A lightning fast break that they like to think of as water polo’s equivalent of the Laker break.

“If Mo (Maureen O’Toole, the team’s best player) is Kareem, I guess I’m Michael Cooper,” Sterkel said. “I think the other girls know that if I’m out ahead, they can just throw the ball out there and I’ll beat the defender to it.”

Indeed, the South broke open a close game in the fourth period, outscoring the East, 3-0.

“We try to counterattack all the time because we think it will eventually wear the other team down,” said Robin Dressel, formerly of Anaheim and now living in Mesa, Ariz. “If we counterattack even when we don’t have a break and swim as fast as we can every time down, they just get tired.”

Sitting at ringside on the first night of boxing was Evander Holyfield, who settled for a bronze medal in Los Angeles after being disqualified in his bout with Kevin Barry of New Zealand. Barry couldn’t fight the next round, and Anton Josipovic of Yugoslavia won in a walkover.

“I don’t really know how much it cost me,” said Holyfield, of Atlanta, who will try to extend his unbeaten record in the pros to 6-0 on Aug. 29. “I came in unknown, and everyone else won a gold. But people remember me as the guy who didn’t because of a controversy. I guess that’s good.

But if I’m not disqualified, I could have been the boxer of the tournament because I had four knockouts. That could have been worth something.

“It’s nice to be remembered, but all in all I would have liked to have had the gold.”

The first night of boxing semifinals produced some good bouts, one of the most furious being between Elvis Yero of Miami and Derrick Rolon of Elizabeth, N.J., in the 139-pound division.

Yero, who became an American citizen last year, won a decision, 4-1. Born in Cuba, his parents named him after Elvis Presley.

“My dad was an English teacher in Cuba,” he said. “And he had all the albums. That’s why he named me Elvis. He’s OK I guess, I like the music. I guess he was the King.”

Coach Alla Svirsky of the L.A. Lights in Culver City had a big day in rhythmic gymnastics as the Lights’ Marina Kunyavsky, Stacy Oversier and Lisa Aaronson all qualified for the U.S. National team.

After Kunyavsky won the competition, Svirsky talked about the difference for swimmers between the United States and the Soviet Union, where she lived until several years ago.

“My son wanted to be a swimmer there,” she said. “One pool in a city of a million people. You have to either know someone or be a superstar to get on the team.

“Here, my son can be a swimmer and I don’t have to know anybody. If he wants to be a swimmer he can. Right now, he’s a surfer.”

Minutes after the rhythmic gymnastics competition, Teresa Bruce, of Hillsboro, Ore., who finished third here, was elated, thinking that she would qualify for the national team, which will represent the United States in Europe later this year.

Indeed, Svirsky had tabulated the points quickly for reporters and indicated that Bruce, who attends Pepperdine, had made the team as an alternate.

However, an official tally by meet officials, which included points from competition earlier this year, showed that Aaronson was the alternate.

“I feel bad,” said Svirsky later. “I must have added too quickly. I think I was disappointed in Lisa’s performance, because she blew two things and I thought not making the team would teach her a lesson about practicing harder. I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s a shame that everyone can’t go.”

Bill Scheer of Bloomington, Ind., and Pete Bush of Iowa City are sure to take home medals in the freestyle wrestling competition, which gets under way today. They are the only competitors in the 198-pound class.

Reports that Tiffany Chin, star figure skater from Toluca Lake, did not compete at the Sports Festival because of an injury are incorrect, according to her family. She did not compete because of a need to catch up with school work she missed while on an international skating tour this spring, the family said.