Burrell 30th After a Low in High Jump

A knee injury sustained in the high jump left Shelia Burrell, a former resident of Reseda, in 30th place in the heptathlon after the first day of competition Saturday at Sydney.

Burrell, an assistant track coach at Cal State Northridge last year, was in third place with 1,080 points after running the 100-meter high hurdles in 13.30 to open the competition. But she injured her knee on her first--and only attempt--in the high jump when she caught a spike on the high jump apron.

Her inability to clear a height meant that Burrell scored no points in the high jump.

She earned 749 points for a 43-8 1/2 effort in the shotput and 980 for a 24.01 clocking in the 200, but her first-day total of 2,809 left her nearly well behind first-place Natalya Sazanovich of Belarus, who had 3,903.

It was the second time in three seasons that Burrell failed to clear a height in the high jump in a heptathlon.

The first occurred in the 1998 Goodwill Games in which the UCLA graduate finished seventh with 5,098 points.

Burrell, who totaled a career best of 6,422 points earlier this year, was picked to finish eighth in the Games by Track & Field News magazine.

A top-25 finish appears remote.

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Former All-Americans Ryan Millar of Highland and George Roumain of Pepperdine have one last chance to win a match in the men’s volleyball competition, but they likely will experience an Olympics without a victory.

The U.S. men’s team, which won gold medals in 1984 and 1988, lost to South Korea in pool play and is 0-4 with a match left against top-ranked Italy.

If the Americans lose to the Italians, it would be the first time in Olympic history the U.S. has failed to win a match.

“Everybody’s depressed, everybody’s upset, everybody’s sad, and nobody is more so than I am,” said U.S. Coach Doug Beal.

“I hate pointing fingers. I’ve got to do a better job of getting the team at their best at the right moment, and we sure didn’t do it--I didn’t do it--at this tournament.”

Saturday’s defeat was hard enough for the team’s young players such as Millar and Roumain. It was particularly bitter for the five men who endured the humiliation of finishing ninth at the 1996 Atlanta Games and worked hard to redeem themselves.

“Young people are terribly resilient,” Beal said of Millar and Roumain. “The guys that are the most disappointed are going to be guys like Dan Landry, or Jeff Nygaard or Lloy Ball, who are probably in their last Olympics. Because they’ve had a couple shots, and both of them have been pretty disappointing performances.”

Beal guided the U.S. team to the 1984 gold medal and turned the job over to Coach Marv Dunphy of Pepperdine, whose team won the 1988 gold. Both returned to try to help turn the program around.

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John Dantzscher, father of former Antelope Valley gymnast Jamie Dantzscher, underwent neurosurgery Friday for injuries sustained in an auto accident.

John and Jamie’s older sister, Jennifer, 21, were riding in a taxi when it collided with a bus. Jennifer sustained minor injuries, but John Dantzscher needed surgery to relieve pressure on the brain.

While Jennifer was to be released from the hospital on Saturday, her father is expected to remain hospitalized for at least two weeks.

Several members of the Dantzscher family attended the Olympics. Jamie concluded competition earlier in the week when the women’s team finished fourth overall.