Goldengirl

Tall, attractive Goldine from Bakersfield was the sensation of Day Two of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field. Bursting from the blocks with a sharpness that had the 12,000 crowd cooing like wood pigeons, she zipped to U.S. records in Semi-Final and Final of the 100 metres. In the Final she clocked 10.81, just three hundredths slower than the still unratified world record posted recently in Warsaw by East Germany’s speed queen, Ursula Krüll. And between appearances in the 100 metres, Goldine fitted in a qualifying run in Round One of the 400 metres.

Goldine’s action-packed afternoon started with coffee and Danish at 12:15 in the University restaurant. From then, her schedule went as follows:

1:30 — Change for a warmup for the afternoon’s racing.

2:45 — Report for Semi-Final One of 100 metres. Rivals include Debbie Jackson (San Jose Cindergals), who has twice recorded 11 flat, and Mary-Lou Devine (Tennessee State), one of the favorites for the event, with 11.04 the Quarter-Final yesterday.

3:02 — Goldine produces a perfect start, steals a metre from Jackson and Devine, holds it up to halfway, and then surges another metre clear to record a new U.S. record of 10.90. Second, Devine 11.08; third, Jackson 11.13.

3:35 — 400 metres Heat Two, First Qualifying Round: Making it seem like strolling, Goldine glides to an easy win in 53.42, second fastest time of the round.

4:00 — Time out from jogging for a Coke and sandwich at the refreshment car.

5:15 — Report for 100 metres Final. The line-up, with Semi-Final times, Mary-Lou Devine 11.08, Jean Shadick (Will’s Spikettes) 11.02, Goldine Serafin 10.90, Francie Harman (Philadelphia) 11.13, Shelley Wilson (Atlantic City Astro-Belles) 10.97, Debbie Jackson 11.13, Therese Newhart (Tennessee State U.) 11.14, Janice King (Valley of the Sun Track Club) 11.20.

5:31 — 100 metres Final. After one break, Goldine leaves the cream of U.S. sprint talent metres back as she stakes her claim for a place on the plane to Moscow. Knees going like a majorette’s, golden hair slipstreaming, she rips through the wire in 10.81, the third fastest ever — and that into a light breeze that slowed runners-up, Shelley Wilson and Mary-Lou Devine, to 11.04 and 11.07.

No Serious Running