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' ' ' : SAT.. JUNE 27, 1831 Micheje Bush: A Rare Combination' Of Running Talent Michele Bush, a 19-year ' old sophomore who is a rnn half-miler for the- UCLA women's track ; team, is now emerging as a runner with a rare com-, bination a talents. Con- trihntina t( the raritv. nt Bush's talent is the fact; that she is an emerging 1 black distance runner, and ' ' also the fact that she never runs on Saturday thei usual day for track. 1 Scott Chisholm, Bush'sl UCLA track coach for the past two years, says, "A rare thing about Michele is j ; that she can run good fast! snort races ana sne can - durance. That's a rare , - combination." Bush, an attractive 5-2,; 110-pound ; pre-nursing student, is already among) Z the top people in running.! & In the 1980 Olympic Trials last summer at the Univer- sity of Oregon in Eugene,' she competed as a track runner, and was a finalist.; , While more recently, March 15 in Pasadena, California, she was a. finalist in the longest race, she has ever run, the Avon Half-Marathon (13.1 miles) in wnicn sne won 1 1 : . distance runner, points giving her second1 pauses reflectively, jalso distances, be up to the That's something she is1 capable of doing." Chisholm substantiates ; his statement by pointing : out that. "She's been a finalist in the 800 meters nnH a finalist in thf 10,000. She's the only girl j I can say that about. Many who have the 800, don't have the 10,000 en- nlarp ctafiK ' the first . . .could place being 22 points, marathon. This race was a part of I the Avon International! Running Circuit, a unique: series of women's distancej competitions involving! athletes from 35 countries, I and ranging in distance! from three kilometers to; the full marathon, which, is the Avon International Marathon Championship to be held this year on: August 23 injOttawa, Canada. As winner of 21 running circuit points in the Avon Half-Marathon, Bush will be sent ex penses paid to Ottawa, fulfilling one of her goals "to run that marathon" .of 26.2 miles. "In Ottawa, I hope to go under three hours," she says sending her words racing cheerful ly through the air. "I'm glad I did well in the Half-Marathon," she continues, "because I have potential as a She and then adds with a chuckle, "It makes me feel very good. It's been kind of a myth in the- past that blacks can't do distance running." Bush believes if the. talent is there, color,; ethnic group or religion' won't stand in the way. , She says, "It's just a mat-; ter of work and training." Because of religious preference, Bush is not , mrz i Bronze Medalist Joe Russel of Charlotte practices his weightlifting. He won a bronze medal June 19 for third place in weightlifting competition at the National Weelchair Games in Seat tle, Washington. , Tarheel Takes Bronze In Nationals Weightlifting Joe Russel of Charlotte won a bronze medal last Friday for third place in weightlifting competition in the National Wheelchair Games at the University of Washington in Seattle. Russel has only been lifting weights com petitively since last year. "Since 1 had placed first in two regional contests in wcightli fling, I was used to the gold medals," Russel said. "Bui placing third in my first national competition against the fifteen best wheelchair featherweight lifters jn the country, and this being the fourth meet in my entire life I have competed in, you could say I'm over joyed." Russel lifted 245 pounds, 15 less than the first-place winner. The na tional record set in 1976 is 275 pounds. "Some days are better than others, but I know if I practice all year, I will be a top : contender for the gold next year," the 24-year-old Russel said. v RusselV' participation was sponsored by Wachovia Bank and Trust Company, where he works in Charlotte. In preparation for the games, Russel worked out about four hours a day for several weeks before he left for Seattle June 16. "I've been lifting weights for live years, and that was the hardest I have ever worked out on a continual basis. I wanted to get to the point where I could press 260 pounds or better most anytime I wanted to." During May, , Russel competed in two regional contests for wheelchair athletes. At the Dixie regional games in Mariet ta, Cia., he fNUshedi'irst in weightlifting in the fatherweight division. He also placed first in table tennis, and placed third in the shot put, javelin and discus contests. y ' At the Mid-Atlantic games in Fishersville, Va.i Russel again placed first in weightlifting. "In order to. go to the nationals' I had to lift over 185 pounds at a regional contest, and I lifted 255 in Virginia, so 1 guess hliai qualified .me well enough," Russel said with a smile. A car acCident in 197 left Russel's legs paralyz ed. "I began using weights after, the wreck to rehabilitate by body," Russel said. Russel has approached weight lilting scientifically, "l earning anatomy has helped me understand how to tone up any muscle in my body," Russel said. Me follows a special diet, consisting mostly of fresh fruit-and vegetables, with meat only once or twice a week. "In this diet, you can eat all you want a remain fit and trim and nutritionally very healthy, "'Russel said. He eats no sweets, except for foods which have natural 'sweetness, such as raisins and dates. Total conditioning has kept him in shape for many activities. He plays on the Charlotte wheelchair basketball team the Carolina Tar ,able to run many of the . important races. She is a Seventh. Day Adventist. ; That requires that she -.refrain from running from " sundwon Friday to sun down Saturday. With run- ' ning being mainly, a Satur day sport, she takes what . she can get in terms of races, according to her coach. Chisholm and Bush take a positive attitude about what would seem a formidable problem. Chisholm speaks with un wavering confidence and optimism when he says, "We are not worrying about what we're missing. We think of it this way, her glass is half-full, not . half-empty. We don't con cern ourselves with what she is missing out on." : However, hesitantly, : Chisholm does admit that ' "It can be frustrating hav-, ing such a fine athlete and not being about to use her." The activities at Bush's : church are very important to her. "I do a lot with my church," she says 'with devoted attachment. "It's where I spend a lot of my time when I'm not study ing, training or running." , It is here that girls who . want to, run often come to her for advice, and she tells them to first set a goal dnd then to strive for it. . . .and not to let anything , get in the way of that goal. . . .to temper all things, in cluding eating in order to maintain physical condi tion and running weight (her best running weight is 110 pounds, if she goes over 1 1 1 pounds, she finds that she gets winded ; faster). . . .to listen to their cdach and to com - jnunicate .wkfchficach. ;;'' To make a point about Vbne'sv inner resources. Bush tells them of her most memorable ex-' perience in running. "It was the Perrier Race," she :says, ?I had just seen a movie on TV about runn ing. I started running the. race as usual. And at one point, I felt myself becom- Wheels and is working toward his .associate's degree in accounting at , Central -Piedmont Com munity College (CPCC) in Charlotte. He is a check proof operator at , Wachovia's operations center and his supervisor, Lon Williford, said that Russel is dedicated to work, school and sports. "Joe has a lot of deter- . mination to be holding down a full-time job here, taking several courses at CPCC, and doing so much in sports," Williford said. "All of us at Wachovia really admire Joe." Russel says his goal is to press over 350 pounds by 1984, and maintain his weight of 124 pounds to stay in the featherweight division. He eventually, wants to compete in inter- . national Olympic games for the handicapped. "Weightlifting gives me self-fulfillment," ' Russel said. "Working out makes me feel good because it gives me the strength to push my chair easier and it helps me move around more on my own, without help. And weightlifting is one thing I can do to keep my good health: something that is very im portant to me." News Service Dial 682-2913 Extra strength relieves problem itching. It's called BlCOZENE and It has 20 mora anesthetic than Lanacane BiCOZENE'i extra strength antithetic safely cooli all kinds of problem itching virtually on contact. And BiCOZENE'i antibacterial action speeds healing of itchy genital or anal areas. ;- '' ' : Look for BlCOZENE Creme in the purple box at your pharmacy. Oraskfor"By-Co-Zeenr, Extra strength. Use only at directed. BlCOZENE ing winded, and I wasn't sure I could go on. And . then I remembered that movie and the perseverance I had seen, and it inspired me to go on. Although I ran with a lot of pain, I did a lot bet ter than 1 thought I could." Bush is a very intense athlete and also a very in tense student. She works very hard at her studies, a , necessity if she is to main tain her four-year scholar ship at UCLA. According to Chisholm, when they are recruiting runners, they look for academics first, because unless the person is capable of doing the work here, the individual can't make it. He asserts "we are concerned first about the kind of record one has in high school. Then our next concern is coachabili ty and potential. That is, we try to predict success. We look for someone who is good, but is going to get better." "Michele is still very young as a distance run ner," Chisholm says, "she needs three or four years under her belt. She is not going to reach her max imum until then." On the national scale, all top distance runners are in their late 20's. Most peak when they are 24 or 25 years old, if they can sur vive financially. "Thanks to my fami ly," Bush says, "they are loving and supportive in every way, including financially." Her father, a medical doctor, her mother a nurse, and her two older brothers, former track runners, have backed her efforts BusfV started running when she was 12 or 13 years old in her home town !of Palos Verdes, California. She says, "I started for the fun of it. My friend's father was a coach, and I would go and run just because I liked it. He felt that I had potential and he was the first to encourage me. It was during my freshman year in high school that I began to take running seriously. That's when I started competing as a sprinter. I was always sports oriented. Before ihigh school, I played soc cer. Then one year I went out for basketball, but the. practice began to get in the way of my running and I gave it up." Running has been a guiding force in Bush's life, and she is pleased that she got into it while she was very young. She says, "I'm glad I did it in my youth, I didn't get into some of the negative things many young people get into. I was too busy running and my life was focused another way." The National Collegiate Championship race which . is 6.2 miles is next in focus for Bush. She wants to do well in the 5,000 meters, and she says she can if she trains for it. She is now training twice daily, five days a week. In the morning, she runs thirty minutes to one hour and a half. In the evening, she does track running, hill running, steady pace running for four to six miles and trains with weights. As women distance run ners continue to surge for ward, dispelling old myths and creating positive im age models, Bush, a new talent, is hard at work, training and setting goals t that are now realistic, but would have seemed im possible five years ago.- As Bush trains for the fourth annual Avon Inter national Marathon Cham pionship, she is aware that she will be among the top runners of the worjd. Avon is sending " tne world's top seven women marathoners to that com petition, as well as the top distance runner from each of the over fhirty countries where it has a facility and -. jHt!fwiwii mtrnmnmim i immmm i uTji i urn mmm waajpr ! a)4-sS'-' 1 i'"" "t ' r m7 m 1 sV Q 9 t ', i I ' ' :; -: 'v "C ' w J 4v MICHELE BUSH Distance Runner May Destroy Myth also the top three finishers of the 1980 Avon Marathon. Avon reports that a field of 1,000 women is expected to compete. Not only will there be world class athletes, but there will also be women of all ages and satyHtiesywho run -for., fitrtexs, health and fun. This marathon will be ,the first international championship since the Executive Board of the In ternational Olympic Com mittee voted to include the women's marathon in the Olympic Games, beginn ing in Los Angeles in 1984. Until recently, ihe IOC contended that there was not enough widespread interest to warrant its inclusion in the games, since, according to the Olympic rules, any new event in track or field must be regularly con tested in 25 countires and on two continents. However, this became a difficult contention after' the 1980 Avon Interna tional Marathon in Lon don, because this race more than met the re quirements as nationally ranked women runners from 27 countries and five continents participated. With all of this in the background, Bush sets her long term goal to make the Olympic Games. "If I don't make it in 1984, I'll try in '88. . . .if I don't make it then, I'll try in '92. . . .if I don't make it then. . . .well. . . ." and her voice trails off into a small wistful laugh. When asked to describe herself, Bush takes a little longer than usual to res- ;pond. As she thinks, she continues to laugh, now somewhat self-consciously as she remarks, "It's kind of hard to answer." However, after some thought and reflection, she finally responds as she comes out of her deep concentration with a refreshing and wholesome sigh. Then she says, "1 think 'persevering' describes me." Is There A Double Standard In NCAA Punishment Elson Armstrong, Jr. Remember that earth quake that shook the West Coast last year this time when five members of the powerful Pac-Ten Con ference were placed on probation for various acts of cheating? Two of the league's "glamour" schools Southern California and UCLA were among those caught with their hands in the cookie jar. But did you notice that they hardly seemed to suf fer from their punish ment? Both schools appeared on national television at least once (USC twice) and they both were ranked by the national polls. What gives? Aren't teams that are on probation supposed to be banished from TV and sacked by the NCAA so hard that they won't cheat again? For one thing, the punishment doled, out to both Los Angeles schools was by their league and not by the NCAA. The NCAA has the option to add to the probations if it sees fit, but from here, it appears that the NCAA has a hands off policy when certain universities are involved. The scandals at UCLA and USC seemed to be far worse than an earlier one at Oklahoma. Yet, the Sooners were banished from TV one poll, and bowl games for two years' while USC and UCLA were only slapped on the( wrist. Why? One rumor (hopefully untrue) has it that thev NCAA bowed to pressure from the ABC-Television network not to turtner. punish two of their biggest drawing cards (USC vs. UCLA, USC vs. Notre Dame, and UCLA vs. Ohio State were all big in the ratings). If this rumor is even close to true, then the NCAA rules committee should go out of business. Why punish Oklahoma, Minnesota, or Long Beach State and let the "biggies" go scott free? Aiioiner rumor says that if the NCAA really investigated the two LA powers, then a whole load of national titles won by both schools would be forfeited! Is the NCAA too embarrassed to admit that these schools were pulling the wool over their eyes for all these years. When the sanctions were announced against both universities last sum-, mer, fans of both said with confidence, "So. we can't go to the Rose Bowl this year, will make after that, the NCAA knows who to sack and who not to sack". As I said, if any of this is remotely true, then the NCAA should bow it's: , head in shame!!! Albany St. Announces '81 Football Slate ALBANY, GA. A ten-game football 'schedule for the 1981 season has been announc ed by Albany State Col lege's athletic director. Wilburn A. Campbell released a slate with four home dates and six games on the road. Bill William son, about to begin his se cond season at the Rams' helm, sends his Rams against Morehouse in the season opener in Atlanta on September 12. The first home game, a night contest, will be on September 26 against perennial SI AC power, , Alabama A&M. After successive trips on ' the ' road October 3 and 10, against Tuskegee and Bethune-Cookman in Orlando," Florida, the ' Rams return to the friend ly environs of Mills Memorial Stadium for an October 17 date with Alabama St'c . Troy (AL.) State is the only new opponent on the Rams' '81 card. The two teams will meet on September 19 in Dothan, ... Alabama in a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. Homecoming . this year , has been set for November 7 with the archrival Morris Brown Wolverines pro viding the opposition. As w, t r.. . na ustti V.UMUUI iui years its season with successive, Saturday's competition with traditional .intrastate rivals Savannah State:' . (November 14) at Savan- ' nah and Fort Valley State (November 21) here atf Mills Stadium. f 1 Williamson's charges t closed the season with two wins to end up with a 4 and 7 mark in m With 48 t . lettermen returning and'.- the outlook for the season ' is one oi optimism. ,
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 27, 1981, edition 1
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