Brenner Sets American Shotput Record: 73-0 1/2

John Brenner said that he wanted to close the gap between himself and the Europeans. The former UCLA shotputter made a giant step, make that throw, towards that goal Saturday afternoon at Drake Stadium.

On his first competitive effort of the outdoor season, Brenner got off a throw of 73 feet 1/2 inch to establish an American record. The old record was 72-9 3/4, set by Brian Oldfield in 1984.

It was the sixth longest throw of all time, excluding Oldfield’s marks when he was a professional athlete. Only East Germany’s Udo Beyer and Ulf Timmermann have ever thrown farther in amateur competition. Beyer is the world record-holder at 74-3 1/2.

Brenner, 26, who is still the collegiate record-holder at 71-11, was competing unattached as part of the UCLA-Houston dual meet.

After setting the record on his first throw, he didn’t let up. He passed, then had throws of 71-8, 72-2 1/2, 72-1 3/4 and 72-10. That’s an average of 72-4 1/2--one of the greatest shotput series of all time.

“I thought I could throw 71-plus coming into the meet,” Brenner said, “but my ribs were hurting during warm-ups and I didn’t feel good. I thought I’d just save myself for the competition.”

Brenner’s previous best throw was his 71-11 mark at the 1984 NCAA meet in a stirring competition with SMU’s Michael Carter.

Brenner said he has always done his best with someone pushing him, but he had only negligible collegiate competition to contend with Saturday.

“I thought he could go 73 feet today,” said Art Venegas, UCLA’s weight coach, who also coaches Brenner. “He had an opportunity to show where he’s at now, but he can do better than what he did today. When he puts it all together, he’ll throw a lot farther.”

Brenner, who was ranked seventh in the world last year, said that he has lost 20 pounds, down from the 295 pounds he was carrying last year.

He also said that he now feels better since he abandoned bench pressing. “It didn’t work for me and I felt too tight,” he said. “I don’t need that much bulk. I’m just working on strengthening my legs.”

This was Brenner’s first competition since a meet in Italy last September. He missed the indoor season with a wrist injury.

Brenner had a hip injury in 1985, and Venegas had said that 1986 would be a transition year with better results ahead in 1987. He was prophetic.

Venegas also said that Brenner was depressed last year because the Europeans were pulling away from him. However, if Saturday’s performance is any indication, he’s closing the gap in a hurry.

In the dual meet, the UCLA men’s and women’s teams beat their Houston counterparts by respective scores of 98-44 and 76-60.

The anticipated sprint competition among UCLA’s Henry Thomas and Mike Marsh and Houston’s Joe DeLoach didn’t develop. Thomas and DeLoach didn’t compete after the sprint relay. Thomas has a slightly strained tendon in his leg, while DeLoach was bothered by a pulled groin muscle.

Track Notes

Bill Green, competing unattached, established a personal best mark of 255 feet in the hammer throw in a competition that was held Saturday morning at Cal State Los Angeles. . . . UCLA’s versatile Gail Devers won three events--the long jump at 20-10 1/2, the 100 in 11.15 seconds and the 200 in 23.2. She also ran the anchor leg on UCLA’s winning sprint relay team. Her 100-meter time was the fastest in the world this year. . . . The UCLA men’s team improved its dual meet record to 8-0 this year. The Bruins are now 26-0 in dual meets since Bob Larsen became coach in 1985. . . . Brian Oldfield has the best shotput mark of all time, a 75-foot throw in 1975 when he was a pro. . . . UCLA shotputter Jim Banich had his best throw of the season, 63-10. . . . John Brenner’s throw of 73-0 1/2 was identical to the best indoor throw of 1986 by Switzerland’s Werner Gunthor. Brenner is expected to compete in the Puma-Mt. San Antonio Relays April 26 and the Pepsi Invitational at UCLA May 16.