1979 MEN'S FINAL

The top three finishers from 1978 returned as the leading contenders for the 1979 title. Dwight Stones was the leading scorer in the preliminaries and since he was suspended by the International Amatuer Athletics Federation, he was no longer eligible for Olympic competition. This left Stones free to run the half mile, an event in which he was a prohibitive favorite. However, the first two events did not go as Stones would have liked. He had won both the tennis and swimming in 1978, but the tennis competition was much tougher in 1979, leaving Stones in fourth place. In the swimming, Stones missed the first turn and was eventually overtaken by Wayne Grimditch who he had beaten the year before. Greg Pruitt won the weight lifting and the 100 yard dash to take the overall lead after four events. In 1978, Pruitt finished second to Grimditch in the half mile run. With Stones and Joe Theismann both very strong in the half mile, Pruitt decided to forgo the half mile in favor of the bike race. Pruitt finished second to Grimditch in the bike race to maintain the lead. The final fourevents were dominated by athletes who were not real contenders for the overall. Bill Buckner of the Chicago Cubs sets bowling records with a single game of 224 and a two-game total of 397. Maury Wills, formerly of the Los Angeles Dodgers, came within one inch of Bill Bergey's record with a distance of 1'2" in the gold. Jim Taylor, the Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame, won the rowing with a new record of 36.40. Pruitt wrapped up the title by qualifying for the obstacle course final. He went up against Pittsburgh Steeler wide receiver Lynn Swann in the final as Swann bettered his own record with a time of 22.58 seconds.

Freeport, Lucaya, Bahamas

Competition Dates: February 5-7, 1979

Air Dates: February 11 & 18, 1979

Announcers: Frank Gifford, Don Drysdale & Bob Uecker.


PLC. NAME, SPORT

TEN

SWIM

WL

100

HALF

BIKE

BOWL

ROW

GOLF

OC

TOTAL

MONEY

1. Greg Pruitt, Football

0

-

10

10

-

7

0

-

1

7

35

$35,500

2. Wayne Grimditch, Water Skiing

1

10

-

-

4

10

4

1

-

0

30

$24,000

3. Joe Theismann, Football

10

-

-

0

7

0

7

-

0

4

28

$18,400

4. Jim Taylor, Football

7

-

1/2

0

-

4

2

10

0

-

23 1/2

$7,050

5. Dwight Stones, High Jump

2

7

-

-

10

-

0

0

4

0

23

$6,900

6. Ron LeFlore, Baseball

-

-

4

7

-

0

0

0

7

1

19

$5,700

7. Lynn Swann, Baseball

0

-

2

4

2

-

0

0

-

10

18

$5,400

8. Ben Davidson, Football

-

4

7

-

-

0

0

4

0

0

15

$4,500

9. Bill Buckner, Baseball

-

-

1/2

2

-

2

10

0

0

0

14 1/2

$4,350

10. Dave Jennings, Football

-

2

-

-

1

1

1

7

0

2

14

$4,200

11. Maury Wills, Baseball

0

-

-

1

0

-

0

0

10

0

11

$3,300

12. John Havlicek, Basketball

4

1

-

0

0

-

0

2

2

-

9

$2,700

INDIVIDUAL EVENT RESULTS

100 YARD DASH - heat 1

1. Ron LeFlore

10.59

2. Bill Buckner

11.04

3. Maury Wills

11.60

4. Joe Theismann
11.68

100 YARD DASH - heat 2

1. Lynn Swann

10.27

2. Greg Pruitt

10.30

3. John Havlicek

11.93

4. Jim Taylor

12.53

TENNIS

1. Joe Theismann

10

2. Jim Taylor

7

3. John Havlicek

4

4. Dwight Stones

2

5. Wayne Grimditch

1

Theismann d. Havlicek

6-4

Taylor d. Stones

6-3

Theismann d. Taylor

6-4

SWIMMING - (100 yards)

1. Wayne Grimditch

58.29

2. Dwight Stones

59.56

3. Ben Davidson

1:15.6e

4. Dave Jennings

1:17.1e

5. John Havlicek

1:20.8e

WEIGHT LIFTING

1. Greg Pruitt

275

2. Ben Davidson

270

3. Ron LeFlore

250

4. Lynn Swann

240

5. Bill Buckner

230

5. Jim Taylor
230

100 YARD DASH

1. Greg Pruitt

10.03

2. Ron LeFlore

10.32

3. Lynn Swann

10.34

4. Bill Buckner

11.3e

5. Maury Wills

12.3e

HALF MILE RUN

1. Dwight Stones

2:08.17

2. Joe Theismann

2:10.3e

3. Wayne Grimditch

2:10.4e

4. Lynn Swann

N/A

5. Dave Jennings

N/A

6. John Havlicek
2:23.7e

BIKE RACE - heat 1 (Half Mile)

1. Dave Jennings

1:20.71

2. Ben Davidson

1:20.74

3. Joe Theismann

1:21.57

4. Ron LeFlore

1:25.45

BIKE RACE - heat 2 (Half Mile)

1. Wayne Grimditch

1:12.03

2. Greg Pruitt

1:15.54

3. Bill Bucker

1:18.10

4. Jim Taylor

1:18.40

BIKE RACE - final (Mile)

1. Wayne Grimditch

3:19.7e

2. Greg Pruitt

3:21.5e

3. Jim Taylor

3:22.9e

4. Bill Buckner

3:23.3e

5. Dave Jennings

3:23.4e

BOWLING

1. Bill Buckner

173

224 r
397 r

191

2. Joe Theismann

336

N/A

3. Wayne Grimditch

308
4. Jim Taylor

306
5. Dave Jennings

298


ROWING (100 yards)

1. Jim Taylor

38.22

36.40 r

2. Dave Jennings

39.77

38.41

3. Ben Davidson

N/A

4. John Havlicek

N/A

5. Wayne Grimditch

40.65

6. Dwight Stones
40.71
7. Lynn Swann
40.99
8. Ron LeFlore
52.8e


GOLF - closest to the pin (5 attempts)

1. Maury Wills

1' 2"

2. Ron LeFlore

5' 6"

3. Dwight Stones

8' 3"

4. John Havlicek

N/A

5. Greg Pruitt

N/A

OBSTACLE COURSE

1. Lynn Swann

23.56

22.58 r

2. Greg Pruitt

24.04

28.5e
HB
3. Joe Theismann

26.03

4. Dave Jennings

27.1e

5. Ron LeFlore

27.55

6. Wayne Grimditch

31.23
HB

7. Dwight Stones
31.40
HB
 
8. Bill Buckner
32.81
 
9. Ben Davidson
36.5e
WH
 
10. Maury Wills
41.95
WH+HB
 

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