Oxy Thinclads Strive for Their Glory Days : Track Power in ‘50s, Tigers May Be Racing Again for a National Title

For four years, Occidental track star Vance Mueller avoided looking at the dozens of drawings and photos of celebrated athletes and record-holders covering the walls of the hallway outside the athletic office.

But now Mueller can look at the likenesses of Bob Gutowski, a 1956 Melbourne Olympics silver medalist and former pole-vault world record-holder, and feel that he belongs.

Mueller, an All-American long jumper and member of the defending NCAA Division III national champion 400-meter relay team, and the rest of the Occidental men’s and women’s track and field teams are ready to make their mark in Occidental sports history this season.

The Tigers, who have 12 All-Americans and 21 athletes with NCAA meet experience, are off to a promising start and look to capture their first NCAA Division III national title since 1978.

They Dominate SCIAC

Last year the men finished fourth nationally, the women sixth.

After a layoff of nearly a month for final exams and spring break, Occidental will resume competition with a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference meet against Pomona Pitzer College on April 5 at Pomona. The women are going for their seventh consecutive SCIAC title, while the men have won five in six years under Bill Harvey, who coaches both teams.

“Sitting where we are now, things are looking good,” said Harvey, now in his seventh year. “It will require some luck, but you can’t be lucky if you’re not prepared to be lucky. We’re prepared to be lucky.”

But Occidental will not be depending solely on luck.

Harvey has built these teams around a foundation of All-American seniors, the products of his first year of solid recruiting, and talented underclassmen.

The Stars Abound

Mueller, sprinter Malcolm Hardy, hurdler Dave Lewis and distance runner Mark Ziblatt head Oxy’s list of All-American seniors.

Senior heptathlete/long jumper/triple jumper Shawn Lawson and 1,600-meter relay team members Kim Donaldson and Mary Kempler are the women’s All-American seniors.

“I’m not going to miss a moment of this spring . . . nothing is going to stop me from enjoying their senior year,” said Harvey. “Win, lose or draw, this is what Occidental track is all about.”

Winning has long been a track and field tradition at Occidental since the glory days of the 1950s and early ‘60s when the college made a habit of producing world-class athletes.

“In those early days of track and field in Southern California, it got to a point where it was USC, Occidental and then the rest,” Harvey said. “UCLA didn’t even compete with us for 20 years because they (didn’t have the talent),” added Harvey, who has been following and participating in the Oxy program since his parents, Occidental alumni, took him to his first college track meet when he was 4 in 1950.

Although Harvey admits that Occidental, with only 1,500 undergraduate students, can no longer consistently match the Division I schools like USC and UCLA, he still believes in its program.

“We may not be able to compare with USC and UCLA the way we used to, but we’re still in the top half of the Division I teams,” he said. “We’ve got some big names that can compete with anybody.”

Hardy is one.

Last year the 6-5 Hardy put on quite a show at the Division III national championships at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. Though nursing a sore right leg after pulling a hamstring a month earlier, Hardy, 22, won the 100-meter championship and anchored the 400-meter relay team victory.

Although he has yet to run at 100% this season after contracting a flu virus, Hardy, who is also an All-American 200-meter runner, is expected to be at full strength against Pomona.

“We don’t know what he’s going to do, but he’s healthy,” Harvey said. “He’s in great shape and he’s multiples better than he was in the years before.”

Blazing Relay Team

Joining Hardy on the All-American 400-meter relay team are Mueller, senior Bob Brown and sophomore Todd Stoney.

Mueller, who won the national long jump as a sophomore, proved to be in championship condition in the Bud Light Invitational at San Diego State in February. Against some of the best jumpers in Southern California, Mueller took first with a jump of 24-2, which qualified him for a chance at another national championship.

“I don’t coach Mueller any more, I’m just his fan,” said Hardy. “He’s one of my top athletes. He could coach my horizontal jumpers right now.”

Although Mueller has been concentrating on track lately, his future may ride on the National Football League draft April 29.

Mueller, a starting Tiger tailback for four years, has had tryouts with a number of NFL clubs recently, including the Los Angeles Raiders. Mueller, 6-0, 215 pounds, rushed for 2,981 yards and 59 career touchdowns and was SCIAC player of the year twice.

Harvey hopes that senior triple jumper Tom Sperling, who has qualified for the national championships the last three years but was unable to compete because of a chronic ankle injury, has found a remedy.

“This year he’s as strong as he was last year even though he’s dropped his body weight from 172 to 158 pounds. That reduces the stress on his ankle and gives him a lighter body with the same amount of pop he had before,” Harvey said.

In the first meet this year, Sperling qualified for the nationals again with a jump of 48-2.

Senior decathlete Troy Trimble and sophomore hammer thrower Chris Beard also have qualified for the nationals at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse from May 21 through 24.

Trimble qualified at the Cal State Los Angeles decathlon in January and raised his best score of the season to 6,426 at the Oxy Heptathlon/Decathlon last weekend. Beard qualified against the University of Redlands on March 8 with a throw of 180-10.

“That’s a great mark for a sophomore,” Harvey said. “When he came to Occidental he weighed 195 pounds. Now he’s at 198, so his improvement came from hard work.”

Heptathletes Lawson, who has also qualified in the triple and long jumps, and junior Molly Moore lead the women qualifiers. Other qualifiers are junior All-American long jumper and triple jumper Cheryl Burditt and senior Lissa Paula in the 100-meter hurdles.

Harvey has especially high hopes for freshman distance sensation Michele Trimble, who joined brother Tony on the list of national qualifiers in her first meet with a 4:35.93 mark in the 1,500 meters.

“You’re looking at a rare talent there. Michele is going to do things people won’t believe,” Harvey said. “She’s going to be one of the top 1,500-meter runners in all divisions as a freshman, if she stays healthy. In subsequent years, she’ll become one of the best in America.”

For both teams, the upcoming weeks of competition will be the most competitive as more Tigers try to qualify for the nationals. Harvey predicts the number could reach 32.