The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Triathlete Spasojevich takes top spot in sports fan's poll; gymnast is second By Chris Juxwik Six number-one votes were cast for Spasojevich, while Marian's gridders garnered four and Kunzer two. Kunzer's voting strength was in the middle of the pack, as she netted five third- place tallies and four fourth- places. SPASOJEVICH, 45, qualified for the Bud Light Ironman com­ petition in Kona, Hawaii, and his story was featured in the Sept. 21 issue of the Plaindealer-Herald. His goal for the Kona triathlon -- in which he had to bike 112 miles, run 26 and swim 2.4 -- was to finish in 14 hours. He shattered that dream, crossing the final finish line in just over 13 hours. In his interview with the Plaindealer-Herald, Spasojevich said he was attracted to the triathlon because of its individual base. "There's nobody to count on but yourself," he said then. He also said he hoped he could run the 26 miles, something he hadn't attempted before.'He ob­ viously had nothing to be concern­ ed about. A Spasojevich added, ^'in a triathlon, it's all up to you. You either did it or you didn't. There The outcome was about as ironic as anyone could have im­ agined. It was strength versus grace, male versus female, youth versus maturity. But either way, two more fitting competitors couldn't have been produced. In what resulted in a very close race, McHenry triathlete Tom Spasojevich captured the top spot as the biggest area sports story of 1 9 8 4 i n t h e f i r s t - Plaindealer-Herald sports fan's poll, outdistancing young gymnast Karly Kunzer by six points. Winding up in third place was English Channel swimmer George < Hauser, while the success of Marian Central's football team was fourth, and the extensive amount of vandalism at the ^McHenry Jr. Youth League baseball fields tied with the McHenry-Johnsburg basketball game for fifth. It was a diverse group which cast its ballots in the poll, as 13 dif­ ferent stories gained at least one . first-place vote. Athletes and scenes involved in the top five sports stories of the year include triathlete Tom Spasojevich; gymnast Karly Kunzer; Marian Central gridders Tom Will and Brian Truckenbrod; swimmer George Hauser; vandalism at the McHenry Jr. Youth League baseball fields and basketball players from McHenry and Johnsburg high schools. * Plaindealer-Herald photos FAN'S POLL RESULTS l.Spaso]evlch(6) 52 2.Kunier(2).. . 46 3.Hauser(l). . ....34 4M«i«i(4) 32 S.Vandallsm(l) 27 5.JHS-MCHS gamed) 27 7.Tracey Hoffman* l) .18 feCanoeist V.Hopp 12 8.MCHS girls'tennis(2) J* .12 lO.ChrisCreutx... -- 10 Other*: MCHS boys' cross-country (1) 9; MCHS basketball coach Ken Ludwlg's 300th victory (1)7; MCHS wrestling success (1) 5; Art Jackson's McH. Country Club champion­ ship (1) 5; JHS wrestling qualifiers (1) S; JHS' Brian Suidak county sliotput champ 4; Marian-Richmond playoff football game 4; MCHS is granted varsity soccer 4; Tri- County girls' softball league debut 3. Results based on five points for first-place vote, four for second, three for third, etc. First-place votes in parentheses. Coming Wednesday: ,1 n W e d n e s d a y ' s w i n n e r a n d a g u e s t w i l l a t t e n d a Plaindealer-Herald, the winner Chicago Cubs' game, on us. of the drawing from our sports Look for the winner in Wednes- fan's poll will besevealed. That day's edition. - . " <¥> Page ml' PLAINDEALER-HERALD. FH1DA V. JANUARY 1L1985 - * ' „ l . - . ' Sports ' • ; • And the winner is ...