SsAWS®:S¥::f::ft¥::::;¥fSfa^?SBS® : S : S : Track trials move jj to Braver Stadium! By MARK SIMENSON Assistant Sports Editor Marty Liquori won’t be coming to Penn State to compete in the University Games track trials. Scratch Steve Prefontaine and Doug Brown off the list, too. Despite the absence of three top Penn State coach Harry Groves figures the competition will be keen when the trials are held Aug. 4 and 5 at Beaver Stadium. “Just about all the top people will be there,’’ he observed yesterday. Groves, Willie Williams of Arizona and Ross Black of New Mexico Junior College are assisting head coach Joe Vigil of Adams State. The Games are set for Aug. 15-25 and are open to both university and graduate students. Unexpected financial difficulties at the University of Massachusetts shifted the trials from Amherst to the Penn State!campus. Liquori, now doing graduate work in broadcasting at Florida, has been given a berth on the team. The same goes for Brown, a former NCAA steeplechase cham pion from Tennessee. Prefontaine rejected a trip to the Games because of a job commitment. At the trials there will be four competitors in each of the 18 events, with the top two earning a ticket to Moscow. The field for the trials. Groves said, was drawn up quickly because the entries were due in Moscow in early July. [‘They used the rankings in Track and Field News and then looked at who beat who to pick the people for the trials,” Groves said. “In order to get the best, we had to obligate places (on the team) to certain people,” he said, referring to Liquori and Brown. The Lion coach said he favored giving berths to athletes who are consistently at the top of their event. A bad day at the Olympic trials, such as shot putter Randy Matson had at Eugene, Ore. last summer, can be costly, j * “We’re constantly leaving good .people home,” Groves commented. The U.S. squad will be getting a preview of Russia’s entry for the 1976 Olympics at Montreal. The team, Groves said, has been picked already, and will train together for three years. Two Penn Staters have a chance to join their coach on tour of Red Square. Charlie Maguire, the NCAA six mile champ, and A 1 Jackson, a fifth placer in the NCAA hammer throw, return to the familiar surroundings of Beaver Stadium. Groves said there is no “home field advantage” in track. Maguire, 1 moving up to the 10,000 meters, will be challenged by Indiana’s Pat Madera, whom he beat at the Nationals. Sophomore Jackson is currently touring Europe with a U.S. track contingent. Lion sophomore Mitch Lukevics, who entertained pro scouts everytime he pitched in high school, has been living ;up to all the good notices he received. Drafted out! of Liberty High in Bethlehem by the Detroit Tigers, Lukevics opted for Penn State where he finished seventh in the country in strike outs per game. In 66 innings, the righthander fanned 86 batters for 11.2 strike outs per game. : Arizona State was one of the most honored teams, according to statistics released by the National Collegiate Sports Service. The Sun Devils finished with an amazing 808 base hits and a .333 team batting average. Oklahoma was second, hitting at a .320 clip. Penn State lost to both schools in the NCAA College World Series last month. 1 Arizona State, wh'ch lost to Southern Cal in the Series final,;had the two winningest pitchers in the country in Jim Otten and Eddie Bane. Both hurlers compiled 15-1 records. Bane, who led the nation in strike outs with 192 and was fourth in strike outs per game with 12.3, is now chucking for the Minnesota Twins. ww< STATE NOW SNOWING | £a*