NCAA Division II Track Championships : Oporski Should Feel at Home With Athletes in International Field

On a sunny spring afternoon in Milan, Italy, three years ago, Stanislaw Oporski walked out of an airport, hailed a taxi, and left behind life as he knew it.

Oporski, then a triple jumper on the Polish national team, chose to leave friends, family and country for what he believed would be a life of high-level training and top-notch competition in the United States.

What he got right after he defected was a shabby apartment in Brooklyn and a job cleaning office buildings in Manhattan.

But Oporski persevered, moved to California, and after spending a year at Moorpark College, accepted a scholarship to Cal State Los Angeles.

This week, he is the favorite in the triple jump at the NCAA Division II track and field championships at Cal State Los Angeles. The meet starts today and runs through Saturday.

Oporski, whose career best in the triple jump is 55-0, also qualified to compete in the long jump, but sore knees have forced him to scratch from that event to concentrate on his specialty.

“He hasn’t been jumping as well as he can and we’re trying to get him settled down,” said John Tansley, Cal State Los Angeles coach. “He’s lost the touch a little. There is no doubt he has all the tools to produce a great jump. When he’s right, he’s almost a foot better than anyone in the field.”

Oporski should feel right at home in a field that includes several world-class athletes.

Ron Lee, a high jumper from Cal State Bakersfield, ought to provide some suspense as he chases Jim Howard’s American record. The junior from Jeffersonville, Ind., set a Division II record with a 7-6 jump at the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. meet earlier this month. After his record jump, he narrowly missed at 7-8 3/4 in an attempt to beat Howard’s record of 7-8 1/2.

“I think he can make it,” Craig said. “He was not used to looking at that height and changed his approach. Now we’ve changed his last step a little and fine-tuned things.”

Four members of the Kenyan national team are among the other top individuals who will compete.

Charles Cheruiyot of Mount St. Mary’s College finished sixth in the 5,000 at the Los Angeles Olympics. His twin brother, Kip, who also runs for Mount St. Mary’s, is the world junior record-holder in the 1,500.

East Texas State has two Kenyans, Agapius Amo and Samson Obowocha, who will run in the 5,000, 10,000 and the steeplechase.

In the race for the men’s team championship, Abilene Christian, with two dozen qualifiers, is favored to win its fifth consecutive men’s title. Among the team’s top athletes are Cameron Miller and Steve Phaxton, two 18-foot pole vaulters; Freddie Williams, the Division I indoors champion at 1,000 meters, and Ahmed Shatad, the Division II record-holder in the shot put and a member of the Egyptian national team.

Cal State Northridge has finished in the top 10 for seven straight years but has little chance of doing so this season.

The Matadors have only two individuals--Gary Jackson in the long jump and Keith Copeland in the 400--and the 1,600-meter relay team competing.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Abilene Christian are expected to wage a close battle for the women’s team championship.

Cal Poly SLO had won three consecutive titles before Abilene Christian broke the string by a three-point margin last year. Ann Foster, who won the triple jump with a Division II record of 41-9 1/2 to provide the margin of victory, is among the top individual performers competing.

Deena Bernstein of Cal Poly SLO, a senior from Newbury Park High and Moorpark College, is the favorite in the javelin. She was second in the event last season and has the top qualifying mark, 169-3.

Other top women athletes are Dannette Young of Alabama A&M;, the Division II record-holder in the 100 and 200 meters, and Patricia Davis of St. Augustine’s, the Division II record-holder in the 100-meter hurdles.

Lori Costello of Cal State Northridge is among the top contenders in the triple jump and long jump. She was third in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump last year.

Sue Patterson, who holds the Cal State L.A. stadium record in the high jump at 6-1, tied for second last year.

Other CSUN individuals competing are Nina Manriquez and Alexandra Aguirre in the 5,000 and 10,000, Nancy Bowman in the 3,000, Jennie Stachura in the 800, Terri Davidson in the triple jump and Pennie Franklin in the long jump.