Discus

Shante Evans was in heaven. Never mind the mud and rain showers. Nothing bothered the West Chester Henderson senior yesterday. Just being able to compete in the fourth annual Henderson Invitational was a pleasure. "I just love doing track," said Evans, who posted record-setting performance in the girls' discus and shot-put events at Henderson's track. "In track, you have to get used to the rain," she said. "It's spring time, and it rains. " Competing in any type of weather is something Evans missed.

All week, Stephanie Brown Trafton had hints of the miracle that was about to occur. Brown Trafton, 28, who didn't qualify for the finals at the 2004 Olympics, and barely earned her trip to Beijing at this summer's U.S. trials and bollixed her first two attempts in qualifying, was the surprise gold-medal winner in last night's women's discus competition. Her initial toss of 212 feet, 5 inches held up throughout the steamy conditions at the National Olympic Stadium. She had made it this far only because her final qualifying attempt Friday turned out to be the round's best.

Tyson Gay wasn't the only U.S. track and field athlete to have a terribly disappointing day. American men failed yesterday to advance to the finals of the discus and, amazingly enough, the long jump. In that event - dominated for decades by such U.S. stars as Jesse Owens, Ralph Boston, Bob Beamon, Arnie Robinson and Carl Lewis - the best a U.S. jumper could do was Trevell Quinley's leap of 25 feet, 9 3/4 inches, good only for 19th place. Brian Johnson was 22d and Miguel Pate 38th.

Karen Shump's records grow. Her accolades build. Yet you wouldn't know the most accomplished high school female shot putter in Southeastern Pennsylvania and the state is on the verge of something special next week. The affable Penncrest High senior could become the only female thrower in state history, or at least as far as anyone knows, to win four PIAA Class AAA state shot-put championships. However, you won't find the Oklahoma-bound Shump crunching numbers, just calculating each step she takes in the shot-put circle, meticulously going over in her mind her glide, her release point, her technique.

Al Oerter, the native New Yorker and discus great who won gold medals in four straight Olympics to become one of track and field's biggest stars in the 1950s and '60s, died yesterday. He was 71. Oerter died at a hospital near his Fort Myers Beach, Fla., home, his wife Cathy Oerter said. He had dealt with high blood pressure since he was young and has struggled with heart problems, she said. "He was a gentle giant," she said. "He was bigger than life. " Oerter won gold medals in 1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968.

Shante Evans wasn't doing cartwheels when she learned that redistricting in the West Chester Area School District would force her to leave West Chester Henderson High to attend the new Bayard Rustin High. As a freshman last season at Henderson, Evans played a key role as the Warriors showed signs of turning around a struggling girls' basketball program. With redistricting, she would be going to a new school and an unknown basketball program. "I didn't want to go to Rustin," said the 6-foot Evans, who was enjoying turning some heads with her play for the Warriors.

From the moment Karen Shump stepped onto the high school sports stage a year ago, it was evident she was someone special. A year later, friend and foe and an awed coaching fraternity in two sports are scrambling to describe adequately just how special an athlete Shump is. What makes the sophomore at Penncrest High School in Media stand out is her ability to lap the field in two sports - softball and track and field - in the same season....

Laura Gerraughty rode into the Penn Relays a champion, and she'll depart a champion. Her mode of early-morning transportation yesterday was a motorcycle, and the means to her champion status has always been the shot put. In the college women's Championship of America yesterday, the North Carolina redshirt senior claimed her fourth meet title with a throw of 59 feet, 2 3/4 inches. And in doing so, she became only the fifth collegiate athlete to accomplish that feat in the carnival's 112-year history.

Here's a look at the all-South Jersey boys' track and field first team: 100 meters: Lindsey Shannon, Atlantic City, sophomore. Shannon ran 10.66 seconds to win the state South Jersey Group 4 title. Shannon followed that performance with a third-place finish at the state Group 4 meet. 200: Wayne Davis, Oakcrest, senior. After converting his handheld time of 21.3 to a fully automatic 21.54, Davis posted South Jersey's fastest time en route to winning the Cape-Atlantic League championship.

Kevin Glover isn't greedy. A Meet of Champions' appearance in the javelin is all the Gateway track and field standout really wants. The senior will get an opportunity to earn just that at this weekend's NJSIAA Group 2 Championships at Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville. The top six finishers qualify for the Meet of Champions at South Plainfield High on June 8. Last season, Glover finished ninth at the Group 2 state meet with a throw of 162 feet, 2 inches. That distance was way short of the 171-3 he threw the previous week to win the South Jersey Group 2 Sectional title.