THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 11, 1996 TAG: 9605110075
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
The CIAA men's track meet was completed nearly three weeks ago, but the outcome remains in dispute.
Norfolk State says it won the meet, but St. Augustine's has the trophy.
It's a sore subject - literally - for athletes on both sides. Norfolk State coach Steve Riddick demonstrated how sore when he pulled some snapshots out of a desk drawer.
The photos showed one Norfolk State athlete with a knot the size of a golf ball over his left eye. Another picture showed an NSU runner with a split lip. Other pictures showed NSU athletes with scratches, bruises and teeth marks on their sides.
``That's OK,'' said St. Augustine's coach George Williams. ``I've got kids with bumps on their heads, too. It was a brawl.''
That ending wasn't surprising, considering that coaches from Norfolk State and St. Augustine's bickered from the start.
``(Riddick's) problem is he's trying to come here and run my meet,'' Williams said.
Riddick said the problem was that it wasn't Williams' meet, it was the CIAA meet, and should have been run according to NCAA rules for conference championships. The meet was held at St. Augustine's in Raleigh.
When it ended, Norfolk State had 190 points, Riddick said. That was enough to win, by 30 points.
Said Williams: ``When the computer put out the results, we had won it.''
Riddick has a four-page list of complaints about the way the meet was run, including not enough officials, coaches from St. Augustine's and North Carolina Central served as officials - a conflict of interest - and not enough security and crowd control.
``I had certified officials in every key event,'' said Williams, adding that other coaches didn't complain.
Riddick said problems started on April 19 when he arrived for a pre-meet coach's meeting only to learn that it had been held the day before. Riddick said he wasn't notified the meeting had been changed, and that several key decisions were made without his input.
``We thought all the coaches knew, because we sent the information out,'' Williams said.
Tensions built the next day during the 800 meters, when Calvin Graham of Norfolk State and Chris Scott of St. Augustine's got into a shoving match.
Riddick said Scott shoved Graham, and Graham grabbed Scott as he fell to the ground. Williams said Graham grabbed Scott without provocation.
Riddick said the incident could have been prevented if there had been an official on the backstretch. The same two athletes had been involved in a shoving match at the indoor championships, he said.
Things boiled over after the meet's last event, the 4x400 meter relay. Norfolk State won the event, and Riddick and Williams agree that NSU's Ali Ahmed raised his baton as he ran down the stretch.
Riddick said the raised baton was a gesture of celebration. Williams said it was taunting, an automatic disqualification.
Whatever his intention, just after he crossed the finish line, Ahmed was approached by a St. Augustine's fan, who took exception to Ahmed's gesture.
``He pushed (Ahmed) and said, `You can't do that,' '' Williams said.
Riddick said he put his arm around Ahmed, and then a St. Augustine's athlete struck Ahmed. Other St. Augustine's athletes then began to beat Ahmed, as Riddick tried to pull them off, he said.
Williams said it was a ``two-sided thing'' as athletes and spectators joined the fray.
Norfolk State needed a police escort to its bus, Riddick said, and bottles and rocks were thrown at NSU athletes.
``I've been in this sport many a day, and I've never seen a fight at a track meet,'' Riddick said.
Riddick won a gold medal as a sprinter in the 1976 Olympics, and has run in meets around the world. Williams, one of the nation's most respected track coaches, has won seven NCAA outdoor titles and will be a U.S. assistant coach at the Atlanta Olympics.
They would seem to have a lot in common, but relations have been strained since this year's cross country championships, when Williams accused Riddick of cursing at one of his runners.
CIAA commissioner Leon Kerry is scheduled to rule on the dispute. Riddick has the entire meet on videotape, he said. He wants the first-place trophy, and an apology.
The trophy would be Norfolk State's first outdoor title in some time. St. Augustine's has won the last 17 CIAA outdoor titles.
``I don't have anything against Steve or Norfolk State,'' Williams said. ``I do have the well-being of my student-athletes in my heart.
``If the commissioner and NSU want this trophy, I'll drive up there and give it to them personally. Because it doesn't mean that much to me. I didn't even bring it into my office. It's still sitting in my garage, gathering dust.''
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY MEN'S TRACK by CNB