OCR Text |
Show SPORTS BOB SEAGREN- g Our Hope for an Olympic Rout High-Flyin- a world of monastic athletes, this handsome vaulter swings from a catapult-lik- e pole and d life through a In I W I l; v' V fun-pile- l ' ' ? By JACK RYAN i - Yv ' . U : Bob Handsome the Seagren, world's greatest pole vaulter, has a page full of records, but one he remembers clearly was a vault last year in San Diego. "I was going with a girl then, and was her birthday. Just as a joke, I told her, 'I'm going to set a record for you today.' I didn't really expect to, but it went right, and I did." Was the girl properly grateful? Seagren hems and haws and finally says, "I guess you could say so. At least I still remember that record first of all." This week Bob Seagren is scheduled to try out for something more important to him than a record and even more important than a pretty g hopeful from girl The the University of Southern California will be vaulting at Los Angeles for a place on the U.S. Olympic team which will represent us in Mexico City in October. U.S. Olympic fortunes are notoriously poor in winter Olympics, but with superb athletes in track and field Seagren, miler Jim Ryun, Randy Matson and even greater swimmers Debby Meyers and Don Schollander the summer e Olympics should bring enough medals to reverse America's gold flow. All the athletes, of course, are dedicated, but Seagren 's dedication stops short of the monastic regimen of, say, a Jim Ryun. "I like vaulting, but if I couldn't have fun, I'd quit. "I get a lot of razzing at school about the way you magazine guys it high-flyin- shot-putt- first-plac- 4 Family Weekly, June 13, 1968 er write me up as a playboy, always making sure my hair is just right even after a vault. I don't care too much maybe it helps me in my social life." son of a Seagren, the executive for Pepsi-Collives in a trophy-lade- n bachelor's apartment four blocks off campus. He is a little hazy about his educational goals it took considerable prepping to get him into USC and in talking about his future, he may fantasize a budding career in public relations, representing a U.S. sporting-good- s manufacturer in Europe, or becoming a movie star. ("I haven't tested yet, but some people are interested.") Seagren has been pointing his performances toward a June peak all year, although the way he paces himself makes physical- education experts shake their heads. Mornings are for class, afternoons for working runout with USC ners and developing further the amazing deltoideus and trapezius muscles in his upper arms and shoulders. Bob takes to the pole only a few times weekly in practice, then strictly for form. "My nights are my own," he adds cryptically. On Fridays Bob usually is off by plane ("The hardest thing about being a pole vaulter," he laments, "is finding a cab driver who'll carry you and your pole") to AlbuNew York, querque, Philadelphia, or wherever there's a track meet. He may participate in a Friday night meet in Boston, take in the town from 11 to 2 or 3 a.m., then catch a morning plane to Los Angeles for another meet Saturday night. "I'm young," he says matter-of- market-developme- x nt a, - middle-distan- 16-fo- ot ce 1 h in iir fcriirr vn rff fmrfinni'i! iffriari factly. "I can take it. When you are enjoying yourself, you can't burn yourself out." His older brother Art started Bob pole vaulting. "Art would get the poles they use to wrap rugs around and vault from roof to roof. I followed. Once I missed a roof and caught a clothesline on the Adam's apple. Boy, I've had poles crack under me, and I've hit down hard, but I remember that jolt best." Memories of the Seagren boys flyalmost convulses the ing amiable, uncomplicated youth in laughter. "Our neighbor had a pond in his yard, and I vaulted it one day. Art called out, 'Here I come, too.' I looked around just in time to see him sail right into the water. It was like a slapstick movie he came up spitting mud, water, and goldfish. It's always been fun for us, not work, though there's plenty of that in getting in shape." Every time Seagren breaks a record, another USC vaulter, Paul Wilson, tops it until Seagren tops Wilson's mark. The same situation used to exist between Seagren and John Pennell, who was his mentor and roommate until last year. Pole vaulters traditionally are the roof-to-ro- of give-and-ta- ri wnniii'.witi iiminid"g..i eccentrics of the crowd, yet they seemingly are devoid of envy or jealousy. Seagren, Wilson, Pennell and others are almost rooting sections for one another's achievements. "It's no fun without competition," Bob explains. "That's why I prefer the outdoor to the indoor season there's more fellows competing. Paul and I run together weekdays and watch films of our jumps and point out each other's mistakes. Without the others, there wouldn't be much track-and-fie- ld kick to pole vaulting." The outstanding competition this week at Los Angeles should be enough "fun" even for Bob Seagren. A sometimes erratic vaulter, Bob is by no means a cinch to run away with qualifying honors. But beneath that easygoing exterior is a highly motivated young man. "Vaulting has allowed me to see this country and 12 others. And every time I come home to this country, I love it more. I sure want to be in Mexico City with our team and do a good job for America." The second motivation is that Bob is going with a new girl one without a single record to her credit. pole-vaulti- ng |