U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL : ROUNDUP : Running Second Gets Joyner-Kersee Relay Gold

Finishing second in the U.S. Olympic Festival was as good as gold for Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

Joyner-Kersee ran the second leg for a 400-meter relay team that finished second Saturday to the foursome that will represent the United States in the upcoming Goodwill Games. Joyner-Kersee’s team won the gold medal, however, because the winning team was running only as an exhibition.

Joyner-Kersee’s team finished in 43.52; the winning time was 42.34 seconds.

Also Saturday, Bill Roth of Temple won four gold medals in gymnastics and set a festival record on the horizontal bar, and the North team won the hockey gold medal with a 2-1 victory over the East.

Joyner-Kersee, the world-record holder in the heptathlon, also cleared 6 feet 2 inches in a high jump exhibition. That would have won the competition, but the medal went to Latrese Johnson of Riverside, who cleared 6 feet.

The 6-2 was Kersee’s best since clearing 6-4 in the 1988 Olympic Trials heptathlon. She made all four of her jumps, clearing 5-8, 5-10 and 6 feet on earlier attempts.

Roth, who finished third in the all-around Thursday, won gold medals in the parallel bars, floor exercise, vault and the high bar. His team gold medal from Thursday gave him five golds, tying a festival record set by Scott Johnson in 1983.

Roth’s 9.90 on the horizontal broke the festival record of 9.85 set last year by Lance Ringnald.

Other golds Saturday went to Mark Warburton of Nebraska in the pommel horse and UCLA’s Chainey Umphrey in the rings.

In diving, Wendy Lucero did well on her “make it or break it” dives and easily won her third consecutive festival 3-meter springboard title.

Lucero, a 1988 Olympian from Aurora, Colo., missed one of her tough dives during Thursday’s preliminaries and finished second to Krista Wilson of Laguna Hills.

In the finals, she received scores in the 6- and 6 1/2-point range on the back 2 1/2-somersault from the tuck position and reverse 2 1/2 tuck.

Lucero scored 500.34 points. The silver medalist with 475.44 points was Julie Farrell of Holt, Mich., the 12th and final qualifier in prelims. Cokey Smith of Ann Arbor, Mich., won the bronze with 471.18.

Wilson, who won the preliminaries, was never a factor after the seventh round and finished fourth with 467.55 points.

In the men’s 3-meter, Mark Bradshaw of Columbus, Ohio, picked up his first festival gold medal in six tries.

His total of 684.90 beat defending champion Kent Ferguson of Boca Raton, Fla., who had 668.49. The bronze went to Pat Jeffery of Madison, N.J., with 611.19.

In hockey, Brian Sullivan of South Windsor, Conn., scored his first two goals of the festival during the second period Saturday, carrying the North to victory.

Matt DelGuidice of New Haven, Conn., made 31 saves in goal for the North, which went 4-0 in the festival. Earlier Saturday, Bill Guerin of Wilbraham, Mass., scored three times as the South rolled to a 9-1 bronze medal victory over the West (0-4).

In the men’s soccer final, the West got a goal from Joey Leonetti of Gladstone, Ore., in the 59th minute to beat the North, 1-0

The North won the women’s soccer gold medal by scoring seven second-half goals in beating the South, 10-0. The North outshot the South, 21-2, and scored three goals in the final 10 minutes.

In weightlifting, Melanie Getz of Brentwood, Mo., competing in the 56-kilogram class, set an American record of 73.5 kilograms in the snatch. She set a festival record of 70 kilograms on her first snatch try, then missed her next two before trying for the American record of 73.0 kilograms set May 4 by Lynn Stoessel of Marietta, Ga.

Diana Fuhrman of Simi Valley, competing at 67.5 kilograms, set American records for the snatch (88.5 kg), the clean and jerk (110) and total weight (197.5).

Robin Byrd of Newman, Ga., in the 52-kilogram class, set U.S. and festival records in the snatch (72.5), clean and jerk (85) and combined total lift (157.5).