Track and Field : Kulak Comes Back in Time to Spear Berth in the Olympic Trials

Every time Paul Kulak thinks about the Olympic Trials, he chuckles.

After a 3 1/2-year hiatus from javelin throwing, the former Cal State Northridge standout has no doubt about how his fellow competitors will react when he competes in the U. S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis on Saturday.

“A lot of the young guys are going to wonder who the hell I am,” Kulak said. “They’ll think I’m a fossil who’s just resurfaced.”

Kulak, 28, does hail from a bygone era. An era when the world record in the javelin was 343 feet, 10 inches, the American record was 327-2 and 300-foot throws were commonplace.

Safety concerns led to a redesign of the javelin in 1986; now the world record with the modified javelin is 287-7, by Czechoslovakian Jan Zelezny.

When Kulak gave up the javelin in 1984, he had no desire to throw one again. Until February, he had not thrown in nearly four years.

“I just really felt like I needed to move on with my life,” Kulak said. “I was so intense for so long. I just needed a break.”

Kulak, who threw a personal best of 270-7 in 1984, turned his interests to documentary film making and founded Ashley Productions in 1985.

“I had to put my middle name to good use,” he joked. “I figured my parents gave me the name for some reason.”

The Sepulveda resident was engrossed in film making for 2 1/2 years and was virtually oblivious to what was happening in track and field. But in February, Kulak picked up a copy of Track and Field News and decided to throw again.

“They had a list of the Trials’ qualifying standards and the javelin was 235-11,” the 6-foot, 3-inch, 210-pound Kulak said. “That was 20 feet less than the 1984 standard, so I figured I’d give it a shot.”

The road back was full of detours. Though Kulak quickly regained his strength in the weight room, his throwing workouts were inconsistent.

“I thought about quitting many times,” he said. “I asked myself more than once why the hell I was doing this.”

Nevertheless, the most difficult part was returning to competition.

“It wouldn’t have been so bad if I had been throwing 250,” he explained. But Kulak was barely reaching 205 feet, which meant he was being thrashed by throwers he used to beat with regularity.

“That was very hard to swallow,” he says.

The road got easier when Kulak improved his best with the new javelin to 228-9 at an Olympic Trials qualifying meet at Cal State Northridge two weeks ago. Still short of the Trials’ standard, he rifled a 239-foot best at Northridge on Sunday, a day before the deadline, to qualify.

“I seem to be peaking at the right time,” he said. “I feel like I’m capable of throwing much farther at the Trials.”

Though Kulak has no illusions about making the Olympic team--”it would take a miracle,” he says--he hopes to qualify for the finals on Sunday and is looking forward to throwing next season.

“Before, the javelin was my life,” he said. “It was all I ever had. But now, I’ve got other interests. I’m a little bit older and, hopefully, a little wiser.

“I just want to get in there and see if I can do some damage.”

Trials prediction: In its Olympic Trials preview, Track and Field News has tabbed Darcy Arreola of Cal State Northridge to place 10th in the 1,500 meters.

Ironically, Arreola, 19, placed 10th in last year’s TAC championships in San Jose.

The Trials begin Friday. Heats of the women’s 1,500 are Wednesday.

Add Trials: Nancy Bowman, a five-time NCAA Division II All-American at Northridge, will run at the Trials in an exhibition 5,000-meter race. The race is an exhibition because the women’s 5,000 is not an Olympic event.

Bowman placed second in the 5,000 at the 1987 Division II championships.

Watts watch: Quincy Watts of the Win America Track and Athletics Club appears to be regaining the form he displayed during his junior season at Taft High when he was ranked as the nation’s top-ranked high school sprinter by Track and Field News.

Fully recovered from a hamstring injury he suffered in April, Watts ran 10.38 seconds in the 100 meters at Santa Monica City College on Friday.

The time was a season best and only .02 seconds shy of Watts’ best at sea level.

“My confidence level in my leg is improving every day,” Watts said. I was worried about injuring the leg again for a long time, but it felt good the other night.”

Though Watts has qualified for the Olympic Trials in both the 100 and 200, he will run in only the 200, his best event, according to Win America Coach Hilliard Sumner.