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