TAC Olympic Development Meet : It Was Vault in Wrong Direction : Tully Gets Jump on Official Start; 19-1 1/2 Leap Discounted

After jumping 19-feet 1 1/2-inches for a personal record Sunday at The Athletics Congress Olympic development track and field meet at UC Irvine, Mike Tully bounded off the mat and headed down the runway for more.

Though his first two attempts at 19-4 were lost by slow takeoffs and poor plants, his third appeared ideal from the moment he took the first, quick step at the top of the runway.

What ended the competition was his chest, just barely scraping the bar on his decent. An unfortunate instance, indeed, but a less fortunate incident was yet to come.

Because of a scheduling mix-up, Tully was one of six vaulters whose complete performances were not viewed by the attending TAC official, who arrived a hour after the six began competing.

Thus, the 19-1 1/2 jump can go down in his personal training diary, but will not be counted among official performance lists.

“If the officials were not at the inception of the contest, (their performances) are not official,” said Skip Stolley, meet director. “Tully’s vault will be recognized as an exhibition only.”

Tully, who left before the meet ended, could not be reached for comment.

Jeff Ward, who started the meet when the official was present, won the event with a leap of 17-0.

Rita Graves of Manhattan, Kan. had no problem with the officials, nor her performance, also a personal record.

Graves, the 1987 TAC indoor high jump champion and 1986 NCAA outdoor champion, won the meet in 6-3 3/4, just meeting the qualifying standard for the World Championships in Rome this August.

“I feel pretty good about it,” said Graves, 23. “Now I want to come out to California to train. I must have good luck here.”

Maybe for Graves, but not for Andre Phillips, who last September ran 47.51 seconds in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in Brussels, ranking him second on the all-time list behind world-record holder Edwin Moses.

Moses was in the stands Sunday, watching Phillips and readying his stopwatch as his rival took his mark.

Running in lane five, Phillips started strong, gaining a five-yard lead in the first 100 yards. But just as he reached the fourth hurdle, Phillips seemed to lose his step, crashed into the fifth hurdle, and hobbled off the track. Phillips said he decided not to finish the race because his right leg had tightened up and he did not want to risk aggravating a stress fracture.

Ed Riley of the South Bay Track Club went on to win the race in 52.3.

Other exceptional marks Sunday included: Mike Barnett of Athletes in Action throwing the javelin 263-10; Ruth Wysocki of Brooks with a 4:13.04 1,500-meter; Jackie Joyner running the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in 57.12, and Cathy Sulinski of the Puma Track Club throwing the javelin 197-5.