Louganis, Mitchell win

HOUSTON Untouchable Greg Louganis and unflappable MicheleMitchell successfully defended their U.S. Olympic Festivalthree-meter springboard diving championships yesterday.

Louganis, winner of two golds in the 1984 Olympics, earned his39th national title although at times he was less than his usualspectacular self. He now has nine Festival golds.

Finishing second and earning a trip with the U.S. team to theworld championships next month in Spain was Mark Bradshaw. KentFerguson won the bronze.

Louganis got three perfect 10s on a forward 3 1/2-somersaultpike. But he also received some very human 6s and 5s for a poorlytimed effort, a reverse 2 1/2-somersault pike.

"I was kind of playing it safe and you can't break records andmake 10s that way," Louganis said. "I need some board work. I wasn'tgetting my weight far enough out on the board."

Louganis even admitted to a touch of the nerves.

"I had to keep telling myself to relax," Louganis said."Competition to compete for the world championships can get intense.But I don't see myself playing it safe in Spain."

Mitchell beat back a strong challenge by Kelly McCormick,though both earned places on the U.S. team. Tristan Baker took thebronze.

Mitchell, who also is the defending Festival champion in theplatform, had a tremendous duel in the 100-degree sun with McCormick.

Mitchell led 965.91 to 965.82 for McCormick going into the finaldive. Mitchell scored 8s on an inward 2 1/2-somersault tuck with a2.7 degree of difficulty, while McCormick had 6s and 7s on a back 21/2-somersault tuck with a 2.8 degree of difficulty. Mitchell won byless than seven points.

BASKETBALL: The West, paced by Syracuse-bound Steve Thompson's28 points, downed the East 103-94 to win the gold after not havingwon a game in four previous festivals. Kenny Payne of NCAA championLouisville hit 9-of-11 shots and scored 19 points as the South beatthe North 107-99 for the bronze. Tennessee sophomore Bridgette Gordon scored 22 points as the Southdowned the North 83-78 for its fifth consecutive gold medal inwomen's basketball. The West won the bronze with a 75-74 victoryover the East.

TRACK: Sue Schneider set a Festival record of 1 hour, 17 minutes,11 seconds in 93-degree heat to win the half-marathon. The men'srace went to Keith Hanson in a record of 1:06:03.

GYMNASTICS: Scott Johnson, a member of the gold medal team atthe 1984 Olympics, won the all-around crown.

WATER POLO: The 100-degree heat in Houston brought the watertemperature in the natatorium to 86 degrees, eight above the normaltemperature for games. So organizers dropped 30,000 pounds of iceinto the pool.

The East won twice and the North split a pair. The East downedthe South 13-10 and beat the West 7-5. The West rallied for a 7-6victory over the North before the North edged the South 9-8. Inwomen's play, the North beat the South 10-6 for the gold.

VOLLEYBALL: The North men, behind the slick setting of JavierGaspar and Scott McKeough's 11 kills, routed the West 15-7, 15-1,15-10. In women's play, the West rallied to edge the North 15-9,13-15, 15-4, 15-13.

WEIGHTLIFTING: Steve Gambon totaled 265 kilograms to win the67.5-kilo gold. Michael Jacques won in 75 kilos and Arn Kritsky in82.5-kilos.