Notebook / Ray Ripton : Marina del Rey Veteran Has Another Big Day in Wheelchair Track Games

Jim Devlin of Marina del Rey, who won a gold medal at the seventh Veterans Wheelchair Games last year, won another gold this year--plus two silvers and two bronzes.

Last year Devlin, a 52-year-old Korean War veteran, took first in the 400-meter race, the only event in which he placed. At this year’s games in San Antonio, Tex., he was first in the slalom, second in the 100 and 400 meters and third in the 200 meters and shot put. His sponsor was the Long Beach Veterans Administration.

His disability, not combat-related, is known as Friedrick’s Ataxia, according to the news release about his performance at the games. He is an officer of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Ataxia Foundation.

The Marina del Rey and Venice outrigger canoe clubs should be among the favorites in the Kalifornia Outrigger Assn. state championships on Saturday at Santa Barbara.

The Marina club was the overall winner and Venice finished second in last week’s Seal Beach Regatta. Venice was also declared the overall winner of the earlier Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Regatta at Santa Monica after beating San Diego in the senior men’s race at Seal Beach.

The Venice senior men’s victory over San Diego at Seal Beach was a double win that earned the club a belated overall victory at Santa Monica, according to the club. The senior men’s race at Santa Monica had been postponed because of rough water, and race organizers agreed that the Seal Beach senior winner would be given credit for victories in both regattas.

Kurt Schuette, 26, captain of Pepperdine’s men’s golf team in 1984 and 1985, has been named the team’s coach. He replaces Bob Yokoi, who resigned after four seasons.

A 1986 graduate of Pepperdine, Schuette served as Yokoi’s assistant in 1986 and 1988. He was an All-Western State Conference golfer at Santa Barbara City College and graduated from San Marcos High in Santa Barbara. He has worked at Santa Barbara Municipal Golf Course and at the North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village.