Dasse’s Shot Goes a Long Way--61-10 : Costa Mesan Wins Event; Wysocki Triumphs in 1,500

Shotputter Bonnie Dasse, who last Sunday at the Mt. SAC Relays recorded a mark of 63-feet, second-best in the nation this season, was not disappointed Saturday after she threw the shot 61-10 to win the event at the Irvine Invitational at UC Irvine.

Dasse’s mark was a full 12 feet farther than Cal Poly Pomona’s Brandi Gail, the second-place finisher at 49-10.

Dasse, who lives in Costa Mesa and competes for Nike Coast, worked through the week, preparing her mind and body for the U.S. Olympic track and field trials July 15-23 at Indianapolis.

“Last week, I was absolutely peaked,” Dasse, 28, said. “This was just a way to see where I’m going to be. It’s really more of a training week for me.

“My goal’s the trials. I think everybody’s aware of that.”

Ruth Wysocki, a 1984 U.S. Olympian in the 1,500 meters, shared similar feelings Saturday. Wysocki, who expected a tougher field, had little trouble winning the invitational 1,500 meters, cruising in at 4 minutes 20.79 seconds.

Wysocki, who set the meet record two years ago at 4:13.25 and recorded a career best 4:00.18 in winning the Olympic trial in 1984, took the immediate lead ahead of Andrea Ward of the Santa Monica Track Club and Jill Harrington of Irvine.

Wysocki cruised through 400 meters in 67.6 seconds, and 800 meters in 2:19. Ward finished second in 4:30.58 and Denise Ball of the Los Angeles Track Club was third at 4:32.09. Harrington, just coming off a long layoff, was sixth at 4:35.28.

Wysocki, a resident of Canyon Lake just outside Lake Elsinore, trains twice weekly at the Irvine track.

“The track you train on isn’t always the easiest to get psyched up for,” Wysocki, 31, said. “It was also kind of disappointing that some of the people who said they’d run the 1,500 didn’t.”

Wysocki was referring to Kim Gallagher, a 1984 Olympian in the 800 meters, and Gladees Prieur of the Santa Monica Track Club.

Gallagher, of the LATC, chose instead to run the 3,000 meters later in the day.

In that race, Gallagher and Regina Jacobs, a former Stanford All-American, took a quick 10-meter lead on the pack, which included Irvine’s Buffy Rabbitt, Beth McGrann and Jennifer Thomas.

Jacobs, who last year recorded a career best of 9:01.2, ran very strongly, pulling away from Gallagher and the rest of the pack at each lap.

Jacobs won in 9:14.63, breaking the meet record of 9:22.68 set in 1984 by Ellen Lyons of the Santa Monica Track Club.

Through 2,500 meters, Gallagher appeared to have second place wrapped up. But with a lap remaining, Thomas and Sheila Carrozza, a former Abilene Christian standout, started a driving kick, and both caught Gallagher at the finish line.

Thomas, who was ill for the last two months with a viral infection, was second in 9:37.40. Carrozza was third (9:37.75) and Gallagher fourth (9:37.83).

Britain’s top heptathlete, Kim Hagger, recorded two personal records in her events. Hagger, a former standout at Kansas State, has been living in Newport Beach and training at Irvine with 10 British teammates.

Hagger, eighth in the heptathlon in the 1984 Olympics, won the open shotput at 42-5 and the 100-meter hurdles in 13.30, and she won the fourth heat of the 100 meters in 12.06.

“I’m extremely pleased today,” said Hagger, a native of Essex, England. “I’ve been competing for 15 years and to get two personal records . . . well, it’s way ahead of what I expected.”

In the triple jump, Gretchen Jiles of Nevada Las Vegas jumped 41-5, breaking the meet record of 41-3 set by Arizona’s Carole Jones in 1986.

Jiles’ previous best was 37-11 1/2. Billie Butler was second at 41-3 3/4.

Rita Graves, a former seven-time All-American at Kansas State, recorded a 6-2 in the high jump to break the meet and stadium record of 6- 1/2 set last year by Sue McNeal of the Stars and Stripes Track Club.

Graves, the 1986 NCAA indoor champion whose career best is 6-4, barely missed her second attempt at 6-3, brushing the bar with her leg as she fell.

In the javelin, Weber State’s Teri Okelberry and unattached Barbara Morro both surpassed the Olympic trial qualifying standard of 174-6. Okelberry won in 177-1 and Morro was second at 176-4.

In the 800 meters, Darcy Arreola of Cal State Northridge took a quick 10-meter lead on the pack, passing the first 400 in 1:03.2 before winning in 2:08.07.

The race for second was hotly contested between Cal State Long Beach’s Kerri Zaleski, a 2:05 800-meter runner, and Irvine’s Judy McLaughlin, who until Saturday had not broken 2:10.

Both runners kicked furiously down the final 100 meters, but McLaughlin (2:09.23) outleaned Zaleski (2:09.48) for second.