University of Virginia Library

Disputed Call Drops
Track Team To Fifth

By Randy Wert
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Usually subdued Track Coach
Lou Onesty exploded in
indignation last weekend at a
judge's decision which robbed the
Cavalier cinder men of an
impressively high finish in the
Atlantic Coast Conference meet at
Chapel Hill, N.C.

Onesty's justifiable outrage
occurred after the mile relay race in
which the record breaking team of
Dickie Morris, Brew Barron, Julian
Solotorovsky, and Johnny Morris
blazed to a 3:23.5, one-tenth of a
second behind winning Duke. The
discrepancy came when the
Cavaliers, holders of identical times
as Clemson and South Carolina,
were given a third while the other
two schools were awarded ties for
second. Says Onesty, "It was a
close race, and I felt, and Johnny
(Morris, the anchor man) felt like
we'd won it. When they announced
the judge's decision, that's when I
just blew my cool. I went over the
the table and told them that I'd
been coming down here for 18
years and I'd never gone up to the
judges to complain before. I don't
mind getting beat if it's a fair
thing."

Immediately preceding this
relay, long jumper Jim Shannon,
inspired by the beginning of a
Cavalier comeback in the basketball
game to which he was listening on
the radio, jumped 22 feet, 8 inches,
on his final jump to take a lead
which held until the very last leap
of the day which saw a Maryland
jumper better Shannon by a quarter
of an inch. With this high finish in
the long jump, including a
surprising fifth by first yearman
Fred Gaines (who had the longest
leap of the day — 23-5 — nullified
on a foul) the Cavaliers saw a
possible third or fourth place finish
in the meet. However, as Coach
Onesty pointed out, "People down
here just don't figure Virginia to
win anything. They're surprised
when we're in the front instead of
in the back." The poor decision by
the meet officials dropped Virginia
to a tie for sixth in a closely
contested meet which saw perennial
winner Maryland challenged for the
first time in many years by Duke
and UNC.

Other fine performances for the
Cavaliers included a fifth for the 2
mile relay of Mike DeCamps, Greg
Lane, Jim Wood, and Brew Barron
who set a school record, a second
for Johnny Morris in the 600, and
qualification for the semi-finals for
Harrison Davis in both the 60 and
the high hurdles. Davis was nosed
out by North Carolina's quick soph
halfback Ike Oglesby in his
semi-final heat.

Kent Merritt was leading in his
60 yard dash heat when he
suddenly pulled up lame. Mike
Gamble also was a surprise,
finishing well in his event.

The final meet standing looked
like this: Maryland, 45; Duke, 32;
UNC, 30; Clemson, 17; Virginia,
12; N.C. State, 12; and Wake
Forest, 5.