Field Trials

DNA Plant Technology Corp., the Cinnaminson agricultural-biotechnology firm, said yesterday that it had signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the use of a government technology that halts the ripening of fruit until after it is harvested. The technology involves shutting off what is known as the ACC synthase gene. ACC synthase is an enzyme necessary for a plant's production of ethylene, a ripening hormone. DNAP said it would conduct field trials of tomatoes grown from plant cells modified with the altered ACC synthase gene beginning this year.

The White House yesterday unveiled new rules for genetically engineered plants and food products, reversing part of a deregulation policy proposed last year by the Bush administration. There were broad hints of more to come for biotechnology. Also under review, said a Clinton administration official, was whether to label genetically engineered foods. The Bush administration had rejected such a requirement as unnecessary. In a final rule published yesterday in the Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it would require a 30-day notice before field trials of gene-altered crops could be conducted.

Wallace E. Ryon, 79, a retired salt company district manager and avid fan of fishing and English setter dogs, died June 18 of cardiopulmonary failure at his Haverford residence. Mr. Ryon was born in 1907 in Lawrenceville, Pa., a town that until the turn of the century was named Ryonville in honor of the Ryon family's glass factory. The factory closed in the mid-1950s. "A lot of people in Lawrenceville still have Ryon-made glasses," said Carla Dietze, a daughter of Ryon and his first wife, Lona Tankins Ryon.

The story began with an athlete and a drug test. Then came the lawyers. And a U.S. track and field organization. And an international sports body, the Supreme Court (and lesser courts), and 31 400-meter runners. Given the history of the Butch Reynolds saga, yesterday's little twist should come as no surprise. A judge in a West Virginia circuit court ruled yesterday that shot putter Randy Barnes, the banned world recordholder and 1988 silver medalist, should be allowed to compete in the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials.

Track star Florence Griffith-Joyner is not like other human beings. She doesn't put her pants on like the rest of us. Griffith-Joyner, who ran last year's World Championships in a hooded bodysuit that once belonged to a speedskater from Mars, now wears something called a "one-legger" - thanks to an experiment at home with scissors. She has these bodysuits in lime green and in purple; she finishes off the outfit with a contrasting barely there briefkini over the unitard. Of course, Griffith-Joyner makes statements in other ways.

Olympic shot put hopeful Tressa Thompson admits she dropped out of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials last week after learning that she tested positive for drugs, the Omaha World-Herald reported yesterday. The former All-America at Nebraska said she tested positive for cocaine, amphetamine and methamphetamine late last month at a meet in Portland, Ore. "I've decided that I have to stand up and take my punishment straight on," Thompson told the newspaper. "I know what I did was wrong.

There can be only two possibilities for why Jackie Joyner-Kersee would unretire and show up at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. Either the 38-year-old Olympic legend has suddenly developed a need for attention or she has a good feeling that she can grab one of the three Olympic berths in the women's long jump. "I don't really know," Joyner-Kersee, the three-time Olympic gold medalist, said yesterday when asked if she believed she could qualify for a fifth Olympic team.

I would like to attend the 1988 Olympic Trials for track and field, to be held in Indianapolis in July, but have been unable to find a source for tickets. I don't want to buy an entire package. Also, do you know the locations of any other trials being held for the Summer Olympics in Seoul - such as basketball and gymnastics? The Olympic Track and Field Trials will be held from July 15 to 23, but according to The Athletics Congress ("Athletics" being another term for track and field)

Marion Jones was back on the track, and looking unbelievably ordinary again. Jones faded to last in her five-woman qualifying heat in the 200 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials last night in Sacramento, Calif., but still advanced to today's semifinals because six runners withdrew from the race. That meant only one of the 19 women entered was eliminated. Jones' time of 22.93 seconds was 10th-fastest. Maybe Jones knew that as she slowed down the straightaway finishing far behind the heat's winner Inger Miller.

First he served notice. Then he shut it down. And finally, he took aim. The most incredible thing about Maurice Greene on the opening day of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials was that the fastest human on the planet did exactly what the favorite is supposed to do in a preliminary heat - just enough to get safely into the next round. So what does it say to the competition in the 100 meters when Greene eases off the throttle at least 15 meters from the finish and is still the only guy yesterday to run less than 10 seconds?

MOST OF US have done the mundane routine of running the mile in middle-school gym class. It was the introduction to distance running (for 12-year-olds, 1 mile is distance running) for Massachusetts native Sean Quigley. After the run, he quickly looked up the world record for that distance. "When I saw it, it boggled my mind," he said. Now in his senior season of track and field at La Salle, it's Quigley who has been boggling other people's minds with his success in the sport.

Marion Jones was back on the track, and looking unbelievably ordinary again. Jones faded to last in her five-woman qualifying heat in the 200 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials last night in Sacramento, Calif., but still advanced to today's semifinals because six runners withdrew from the race. That meant only one of the 19 women entered was eliminated. Jones' time of 22.93 seconds was 10th-fastest. Maybe Jones knew that as she slowed down the straightaway finishing far behind the heat's winner Inger Miller.

For Stacy Dragila and Dawn Ellerbe, the example is clear. In 1984, on a steamy August day in Los Angeles, American Joan Benoit attacked a world-class field and made history by winning the first women's marathon in Olympic history. Making an Olympic team is precious enough. Winning a gold medal is the ultimate achievement. But becoming the first-ever Olympic champion in an event, that's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And that's the chance Dragila and Ellerbe will have as they head to the 2000 Sydney Olympic.

Olympic shot put hopeful Tressa Thompson admits she dropped out of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials last week after learning that she tested positive for drugs, the Omaha World-Herald reported yesterday. The former All-America at Nebraska said she tested positive for cocaine, amphetamine and methamphetamine late last month at a meet in Portland, Ore. "I've decided that I have to stand up and take my punishment straight on," Thompson told the newspaper. "I know what I did was wrong.

Villanova runners consider themselves part of a fraternity, and as far as Michelle DiMuro-Ave is concerned, it would be a shame if fellow alum Jennifer Rhines had to go to Sydney, Australia, alone. So tonight, DiMuro-Ave will continue her quest to earn a companion ticket to the Olympic Games by competing in the semifinals of the women's 800 meters at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. Rhines earned her ticket in the 10,000 meters. "I think [former Villanova coach Marty Stern]

Marion Jones swears that behind the scenes, away from the harsh glare of the media, her husband, C.J. Hunter, is just a "big, soft teddy bear. " "That's not true," said Hunter, the 1999 world champion in the shot put who is more than "Mr. Marion Jones. " On the world track and field circuit, Hunter, who made his second Olympic team by finishing second Saturday at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, has been described as belligerent, gruff and menacing. His relationship with the European media, which is much more attuned to track, has been so cantankerous, he has earned the nickname, "The Beast" to his wife's "Beauty.

First he served notice. Then he shut it down. And finally, he took aim. The most incredible thing about Maurice Greene on the opening day of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials was that the fastest human on the planet did exactly what the favorite is supposed to do in a preliminary heat - just enough to get safely into the next round. So what does it say to the competition in the 100 meters when Greene eases off the throttle at least 15 meters from the finish and is still the only guy yesterday to run less than 10 seconds?

The United States Olympic track and field trials start here tonight for more than 1,200 athletes hoping that the occasion will deliver them all-expenses-paid trips to Sydney, Australia, later this summer. The eight-day trials will produce some of the most dramatic and heartbreaking sports stories of the year. In the first category, fans should thrill to the 200-meter showdown between Michael Johnson, the world-record holder and reigning Olympic champion at the distance, and Maurice Greene, the two-time world 200 champion.

There can be only two possibilities for why Jackie Joyner-Kersee would unretire and show up at the 2000 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. Either the 38-year-old Olympic legend has suddenly developed a need for attention or she has a good feeling that she can grab one of the three Olympic berths in the women's long jump. "I don't really know," Joyner-Kersee, the three-time Olympic gold medalist, said yesterday when asked if she believed she could qualify for a fifth Olympic team.

It was March 16 and Stephanie Allocco had just gone 0 for 3 in Rowan's 10-2 softball victory over Illinois Wesleyan in Ocoee, Fla. The victory was the first in a winning streak that has reached 14 games, and the last in which Allocco would doubt herself. The freshman, who was replacing Joy Pittner, a four-year starter and all-American shortstop, was 1 for 11 after three games. "I had a really hard game," Allocco said. "For the first time, I thought, 'Wow, I'm playing horrible, I'm not hitting, and we're still winning.