Wind Makes It Compact Disc Competition

The winds were blowing in the Antelope Valley on Thursday, but not from the ideal direction if you were a discus thrower in the Antelope Valley College Throws Festival.

Virigilius Alekna of Lithuania, Aleksander Tammert of Estonia and Adam Setliff of the U.S. echoed those thoughts after finishing first, second and third in the men’s invitational division.

Alekna, the top-ranked thrower in the world in 1998, placed first with a toss of 217-8 with Tammert second in 216-8 and Valencia resident Setliff third in 216-2.

“The day was good,” Alekna said through interpreter Tammert. “But ideally the wind would have been coming from a little different direction.”

Said Tammert: “I threw pretty good under the conditions. But the wind was a little too strong and it was blowing right into your face when you were in the back of the [discus ring]. . . . It would have been better if it were coming from the right side.”

The direction and strength of the wind can be crucial in a discus competition because the discus will stay in the air longer--and subsequently travel farther--if the conditions are right.

The Throws Festival was revived in 1996--after a 25-year hiatus--with that thought in mind. But the meet has yet to produce a monster throw like the 230- 11 world record Jay Silvester of the U.S. unleashed in the inaugural meet in 1971.

Alekna, who has a career best of 228-6, and Setliff, who has the best throw in the world this year at 224-9, were regarded as the top throwers in a talented field.

One of them led at the end of each of the six rounds.

The 6-6, 265-pound Alekna threw 215-7 on his first throw and that remained the leader until the 6-3, 275-pound Setliff uncorked a 215-9 effort to end the third round.

Alekna improved to 217-8 in the fifth round and Tammert unleashed his 216-8 toss in the sixth round to bump Setliff back to third.

Setliff, who missed last season due to a hernia after ranking fourth in the world in 1998, improved to 216-2 on the final throw of the competition, but couldn’t move up in the standings.

“The hardest part about a meet like this is the winds,” Setliff said. “First of all, do you get a good throw? And secondly, is the flight right for the wind? It’s just a big game.

“Like on my last throw, I really felt like I smacked the . . . out of it and then I looked out there and [the discus is going upward and turning perpendicular to the ground].

“A discus isn’t supposed to fly like that.”

Jason Tunks of Canada placed fourth in the men’s competition in 207-6 and Doug Reynolds of the U.S. finished fifth in 206-7.

Dawn Ellerbe of the New York Athletic Club won the women’s invitational discus with a throw of 192-1, followed by Anna Soderberg of Sweden in 191-3 and Shelly Drew of Great Britain in 186-8.