In Any Race, Plumer Refuses to Be a Runner-Up

Teeth-gritting tenacity. Frightening intensity. A near-demonic look. . . . When she’s at her best on the homestretch, PattiSue Plumer personifies the will to win.

While it might not always bring her to the finish line first, Plumer’s ability to handle race pain--that incomparable burn of arms, legs and mind--has brought her to the forefront of women’s distance running in the United States.

Saturday night at the USA/Mobil National Track and Field Championships, the former Newport Beach resident won the 5,000 meters by out-kicking longtime rival Sabrina Dornhoefer.

Plumer’s time (15 minutes 45.67 seconds) and place would not be that impressive until you consider that, less than an hour before the 5,000 meters, Plumer was finishing the 1,500-meter final.

“Oh, you know how PattiSue is,” her sister, Polly Plumer, said before the 1,500. “She’s just running this one as a warm-up.”

What a warm-up. In the last lap of the 1,500, Plumer found herself in an all-out, sprint-till-you-drop race with Suzy Favor, a nine-time NCAA champion from the University of Wisconsin.

Plumer’s speed is impressive but it was not enough to catch Favor, who won by a wisp of her ponytail, 4:13.47 to 4:13.68.

While Favor left the track to sign autographs and do interviews, Plumer did a quick change to her training shoes, jogged a few laps around the warm-up field, and started her mental preparation for her next race.

Twenty minutes later she was toeing the line with the rest of the 5,000-meter entrants, most of whom were fully aware that if there was ever a time to beat PattiSue Plumer, this was it. Especially Sabrina Dornhoefer, a longtime rival.

“Before the race, PattiSue said, ‘Oh, you know, I don’t care whether I win or not,’ ” Dornhoefer said. “She said, ‘I just want to get second (as the top two in each event advance to the Goodwill Games).’ She said, ‘I hope you make it too, Sabrina.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, give me a break PattiSue!’ I just wanted to slap her.”

Or beat her, which is what Dornhoefer nearly did. With 200 meters remaining, the two runners lurched into an all-out sprint. With about 30 meters to go, Dornhoefer tried to pass on the inside, but Plumer held her off, winning by a half step.

“She had moved to the outside, so I had to cut in,” Dornhoefer said Wednesday by telephone from her home in Minneapolis. “She left a pretty good gap but when I made my move she elbowed me and moved back in. I didn’t think it was very sportsmanlike, but I was really surprised that she did that more than anything. I would’ve protested had I not made the Goodwill (Games) team.”

Plumer, a Stanford School of Law graduate who was sworn in as a lawyer last Tuesday, is currently racing in Europe. Wednesday night, she won a 5,000 in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. According to her husband of six months, Steve Levere, Plumer’s plans are to race overseas for the next two weeks, trying to defend the Mobil Grand Prix 3,000 title she earned last year.

When she returns home, Plumer will run in the Goodwill Games in Seattle, July 20 through Aug. 5, where she will probably concentrate on the 5,000. That would mean another opportunity to race Dornhoefer, who has pushed Plumer as few Americans have.

At the 1988 U.S. Olympic trials at Indianapolis, Plumer and Dornhoefer staged a frantic duel despite high humidity and temperatures in the mid-90s.

Battling for the third and final spot on the Olympic team, the two sprinted toward the finish, but both staggered in the final 20 meters from heat exhaustion and dehydration. Dornhoefer collapsed 10 meters from the finish while Plumer collapsed at the finish line, earning her first Olympic team berth.

In 1989, Plumer and Dornhoefer met in another 3,000 battle--The Athletics Congress championships in Houston. The result was another gut-wrenching duel, Plumer winning by a half of a step.

Just wait till next time, Dornhoefer says. “I’m looking for that day,” she said with a laugh. “I’m just waiting for that moment when I can blow her doors off.”

Speedy Gonzales: Lisa Gonzales of Corona del Mar broke the women’s course record in winning the Garden Grove Main Street Anniversary 5K last Saturday in 17 minutes 25 seconds.

Gonzales, 32, formerly of UC Irvine and Orange Coast College, smashed the record of 18:42 set by Loi Curl in 1988. Torie Pleasant of Los Angeles was second (18:03), followed by Kellie Taylor of Anaheim (18:20).

Ralph Garabaldi, 27, of San Clemente won the men’s race in 14:44. Mike Farrell, also of San Clemente, was second (15:32) followed by Andrew Linton of Los Angeles (15:38).

The race, which celebrated the 34th anniversary of Garden Grove, featured 514 runners and raised more than $5,000 for prevention of drug abuse.

Onward and Antward: Saddleback High School distance standout Robby Price said he made an oral commitment last week to attend UCI in the fall.

Price, who led the county prep ranks with a 9:06.66 in the 3,200 meters and was named the CIF Scholar-Athlete of the Year, chose Irvine after visiting Stanford, Indiana and Texas.

While Price said there was no single reason why he liked Irvine better than the others, he admitted the weather at his final visit--Texas--helped make his decision for him.

“(Texas) was outrageous. I did a workout at the track and it was over 90 degrees, but the humidity was way, way up there and there was no breeze,” Price said. “I mean, it was so hot it melts your spikes.”

Running notes

Lynn Jennings, the women’s world cross-country champion, PattiSue Plumer, the American record-holder in the 5,000, and Butch Reynolds, the world record-holder at 400 meters, were at UCI Sunday filming a video for Nike. . . . “Making Strides,” a half-hour weekly show on track and field, will debut at 11 a.m. Saturday on KDOC, Channel 56. . . . Rancho Santiago College will hold seven weekly all-comers track and field meets this summer, starting July 13. For information, call 668-3300. . . . With about a mile remaining, former University High standout Teresa Barrios-Scott dropped out of the women’s 10,000-meter race at the USA/Mobil track championships last Thursday. “I think I was kind of out of shape,” Barrios said. . . . Former El Toro resident Ruth Wysocki, the No. 2 all-time U.S. performer behind Mary Slaney in the women’s 1,500 meters, is pregnant. Her first child is due Aug. 23. . . . Jim Nielsen was hired as the cross-country coach at Mater Dei, replacing Karen Frank, who will continue her duties as the Monarchs’ track and field coach.

Race Schedule

Saturday: Yorba Linda/Placentia Family YMCA 5K/10K. Starts at 7:30 a.m. at Travis Ranch Elementary School, 5200 Via de la Escuela, Yorba Linda. For information, call 777-9622.

Goodwill Games 10K and 5K, 5:30 p.m. UC San Diego training center. Call (619) 275-5440.

City of Rosemead 5K and 10K, 8 a.m. Rosemead Park. Call (818) 288-6671.

Leukemia Corporate Relay. 12-hour relay over 2.5-mile loop course, 7 a.m. UC San Diego track stadium. Call (619) 268-5882.

Flower Festival Parade Route 5K, Lompoc Shopping Center, Lompoc. 8:30 a.m. Call (805) 737-1510.

Sunday: Sea Breeze 10K and 20K. Mission Park, Ventura, 8 a.m. Call (805) 643-1104.

Legg Lake 5K Good Morning Run, South El Monte, 8 a.m. Call (213) 949-0394.