Nature Boy

The temperature had dropped to 30DEG in the wake of a bitter, 20 m.p.h. wind. Most of the 134 contestants who lined up on Michigan State University's golf course at the start of last week's four mile N.C.A.A. Cross-Country Championships were well insulated against the cold: they wore stocking caps, ear muffs and sweat shirts. Some even wore socks over their hands. Not Oregon State's hardy Dale Story, 19. Barefoot, dressed only in lightweight trackman's skivvies, he explained: "I like the natural feel." Added Story's coach, Sam Bell: "It's part of Dale's toughening process. He feels that if he is tough this way, he will be tough in other ways."

Story's competitors quickly learned just how tough he was. Striding effortlessly over the frozen ground, he took the lead after the first mile-and-one-half. At the two-mile mark, he turned back to Brigham Young's Matti Raty and said: "This is too close. We'd better break out and force the pace." Raty moved out with Story, but he soon found himself dropping behind the fleet-footed Oregon State runner. By the time the leaders had rounded the 17th green and headed for the finish line, Story had a 50-yd. lead. The rest of the field was strung out all across the golf course--with the last stragglers as much as six minutes behind. Story's winning time (19 min. 46.6 sec.) was the fifth fastest in the history of the race.

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