U.S. Olympic Festival -- Barcelona Stars Devers, Miller Take First Place

SAN ANTONIO - Gail Devers and Shannon Miller performed like Olympic stars in the U.S. Olympic Festival.

Devers, gold medalist in the 100-meter dash at Barcelona, set a festival record in winning the 100 high hurdles and anchored the winning 400 relay last night at Alamo Stadium.

Miller, winner of five medals at Barcelona, coasted to the all-around gold medal in gymnastics with a festival-record score and helped lead her East squad to the team championship.

Devers won the hurdles in 12.76 seconds, eclipsing the mark of 13.01 set by Lynda Tolbert of Washington, D.C., in 1982. It was the fastest time in the United States and second-fastest in the world this year.

"There were a lot of mistakes I could feel myself making," Devers said of the hurdles. "But this is just my second race (the other being the U.S. Championships). I know what I need to work on. We're just getting started back on my hurdle technique."

The winning relay time was 43.79.

Miller, of Edmond, Okla., had an all-around score of 39.375. Kerri Strug of Tucson, Ariz., won the silver with 38.825 and Marianna Webster of Joplin, Mo., was next with 38.325.

Miller's score bettered the previous record of 39.025 set by Brandy Johnson in 1990.

Miller, 16, has been bothered by a sore lower back. "Actually, it wasn't hurting as bad tonight as it has been," she said. "I just went out and tried to do my routines."

BASEBALL

The gold medal went to the North, which scored eight runs in the fifth inning to beat the South 13-7. Eric Schreimann of Jefferson City, Mo., hit a two-run double in the big inning.

WOMEN'S ICE HOCKEY

Women's ice hockey made its festival debut with the United States beating Team Canada 6-3. The teams will play another exhibition today. The sport will be included in the 1998 Winter Olympics.

TWINS TO SQUARE OFF

Twins Sharon and Karen Hough of Canton, Mich., competing in taekwondo's flyweight division, will face each other in the semifinals today.

"When I look at her out there, it's like I want to win, but I don't want to hit her hard," said Karen, who is younger by 15 minutes. "We definitely fight each other differently than we do other people. We don't knock each other's brains out."

The Houghs, 18, like the same music, clothes and foods. "The only thing we don't share is boyfriends," Karen said. "I'm afraid of what she'd do to me."

Doublemint chewing gum approached the twins about a TV commercial, but the audition coincided with an important taekwondo tournament.

NOTES

-- Decathlete Dave Johnson finished fourth in the javelin with a throw of 232 feet, 8 inches. The gold medal went to Ed Kaminski of Shawnee, Kan., who threw 246-9.

-- Mary Ellen Clark of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., finished first in the preliminaries of the 3-meter springboard diving with a score of 434.25 points.

-- Connie Price Smith of St. Charles, Mo., set a festival record in winning the discus with a throw of 206-7. Smith, who threw more than 200 feet on four of his six throws, bettered the record of 199-9 set in 1985 by Carol Cady of Stanford, Calif.

-- One of the best boxing matches saw David Diaz, 17, a Golden Gloves champion from Chicago, outpoint Yagim Abdullah 26-16 at 139 pounds. Abdullah won the silver medal in the U.S. Championships in March.