U.S. Olympic Festival Roundup : Ritter’s Last-Minute Entry Bid Is Rejected

Olympic gold medalist Louise Ritter was rejected at the last minute Thursday in her bid to enter the U.S. Olympic Festival track and field competition at Norman, Okla.

Ritter, who won the high jump at the Seoul Games and holds the U.S. record at 6 feet 8 inches, asked permission Wednesday to compete, and a news release was issued late Wednesday night announcing that she would compete.

But the eight coaches of the festival’s men’s and women’s teams met Thursday and voted to reject her application, 7-1.

“I think the coaches felt we weren’t in a position to deviate from the normal selection process,” said Phil Henson, the festival’s track and field commissioner.

Under the festival’s track and field rules, competitors are chosen based on performances at The Athletics Congress national championships. Two men and two women in each event are invited to compete for the North, South, East and West.

Ritter’s rejection was announced shortly after festival organizers announced that Dawn Sowell, the Louisiana State sprint star, had withdrawn because of a hamstring injury suffered in last Saturday’s New York Games.

The 100-meter field was further diluted with the withdrawals of Esther Jones, another Louisiana State sprinter, because of a back injury, and Diane Dixon.

At Oklahoma City, Kathy Arendsen pitched the first perfect game in the women’s softball competition at the festival, then Peter Meredith threw one on the next field in a men’s game.

Arendsen, of Holland, Mich., struck out 11, including the first six batters, in beating the winless North, 5-0. She didn’t permit a ball out of the infield in winning her second game of the festival.

Meredith, of Elkhart, Ind., led the East past the North, 10-0. Meredith struck out 11 and has 39 strikeouts in four games. He has not given up a run in 23 innings.

Erika deLone of Lincoln, Mass., won two tennis gold medals. She teamed with Susan Sommerville of Dearborn, Mich., for the women’s doubles crown, then won the mixed doubles with Rick Witsken of Carmel, Ind.

Deirdre Herman of Lawrence, Kan., lost in both doubles matches.

The men’s doubles title went to Chuck Coleman, Lake Wylie, S.C., and Cary Lothringer, San Antonio.

Minnesota teammates Jason Miller and Peter Hankinson scored third-period goals to give the West a 5-3 victory over the North in hockey.

Favorite Wendy Lucero won the preliminaries in women’s three-meter diving. Lucero, of Aurora, Colo., scored 498.45 points, followed by Mary Ellen Clark of Columbus, Ohio, with 471.35. Jill Schlabach of Pittsburgh finished third with 456.25.

Festival Notes

Almost $2.2 million has been awarded to U.S. athletes in a new aid program designed by the U.S. Olympic Committee, president Robert Helmick said Thursday. About $16 million has been designated to the project, leading up to the 1992 Olympics. So far, $2,193,465 has been awarded to both elite athletes and rising competitors, including two Olympic wrestling champions, John Smith and Bruce Baumgartner, who won gold medals this week.

The program involves tuition assistance as well as direct assistance and grants. It also includes Operation Gold, begun in 1981, with athletes ranked in the top six in world championships (top eight for events involving quarterfinals) or designated tournaments of comparable quality receiving financial aid.

All of the funds for the Athlete Subsistence Program come from the sale of Olympic coins in 1988.