NCAA Track and Field Championships : UCLA’s Connolly Third at Halfway Point in Decathlon

UCLA’s Jim Connolly is within striking distance of the leaders at the halfway point of the NCAA decathlon competition.

The son of Olympic gold medalists Harold and Olga Connolly, Jim was third with 4,158 points after five events Wednesday night at Bernie Moore Stadium.

Ahead of him are LSU’s Sheldon Blockburger (4,266 points) and George Mason’s Rob Muzzio (4,173), a two-time winner.

His Bruin teammates are also coming along on schedule in qualifying for later finals with no major mishaps.

“My coach, Allan Hanckel, and I plotted what I’d do tonight with a high and low range,” Connolly said.

He started off on a high with a personal record of 10.69 seconds in the 100 meters. Then, according to Connolly, he was in a low range with marks of 22 feet 5 inches and 45-3 in the long jump and shotput, respectively.

Connolly then ascended again with a leap of 6-10 in the high jump, just one-half inch below his personal best. He had one good try at 6-11 1/2.

The final event, the 400, was, in Connolly’s estimation, in the middle range. He had a time of 49.26.

The decathlon will be wrapped up with five more events today--110-meter high hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500.

“The javelin is my secret weapon,” said Connolly, who has a best open mark of 243-9. He was expected to compete in the javelin here, but it was decided that he should concentrate on the decathlon.

“It (javelin)) is an exciting event for me,” Connolly said. “It can give me a good boost to give me some points if I’m behind, or to put me way ahead.”

His projections for today: 14.6 or 14.7 in the hurdles, 145 feet in the discus, 15-6 in the pole vault, 230 feet in the javelin and 4:20 in the 1,500, if he has to run that fast.

On a mildly humid night in Louisiana, UCLA Coach Bob Larsen was more concerned about one race.

UCLA’s Henry Thomas wound up in the fastest heat of the men’s 200. He finished only fourth as Texas A&M;’s Floyd Heard, the collegiate record-holder, won in 20.27 seconds. Nonetheless, Thomas qualified for the final.

“At the last moment, the heat was changed because somebody had mis-entered, and Henry went from Lane 3 to Lane 7,” Larsen said. “A&M;’s Stanley Kerr, who wasn’t originally in the heat, was placed in it to make it even faster.”

Four heat winners and the next five fastest sprinters qualified for the Friday final. Thomas’ time of 20.51 was faster than any nonwinners of other heats.

Thomas returned later in the evening to give the Bruins a boost in the 400-meter relay trials. He got the baton on the anchor leg in fifth place but moved his team into second with a blazing finish. UCLA’s team of Mike Marsh, Danny Everett, Raymond Young and Thomas was timed in 39.39 behind TCU’s 39.16.

NCAA Track Notes In the only women’s final, Patricia Murray of Western Illinois was an easy winner in the 10,000 meters. Her time was 33:28.27, not threatening the collegiate record of 32:32.75. . . . USC’s Pancho Morales failed to qualify for the 200 meter final. He was third with a time of 20.81 in his heat behind Pitt’s Lee McRae and East Carolina’s Lee McNeill. . . . UCLA’s Kevin Young easily won his 400-meter intermediate hurdles heat in 49.14. He was second in last year’s NCAA meet. . . . USC’s George Porter failed to qualify, though. He was sixth in his heat in the time of 51.26. . . . Texas A & M, which has been generally favored to win the men’s championship, had its problems when discus thrower Randy Barnes failed to qualify, intermediate hurdler Craig Calk was disqualified and half miler Matt Dunn didn’t advance. . . . USC’s Leslie Maxie was an easy qualifier in the women’s 400-meter hurdles. She finished second in her heat in 56.96, just ahead of UCLA’s Gayle Kellon, who also qualified.