European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 19, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                I of pet Jan Merrill training in  cup Eom Pettlon next month olympic hopeful Jan Merrill by Mike Spear staff writer t the she bolls into a sprint Down her arms and legs pump with Quick mechanical there is no mistaking her her running brings to mind a steam Locombo 1 live and embellishing that image is lha Quick 1 rasp like breathing that comes almost As East As her when she is 15 Yards away you can see the frown on her hushed her deepest icel eyes blink repeatedly As if the Force of the wind against them is Loo much her Long Brown hair is pulled Back into a  her High Check As she flashes past in knee her her breathing sounds even like a Quick succession of hoarse then As she slows Down transformation the locomotive image quickly dissipates and there running easily is olympic Middle distance runner Jan who weighs 107 pounds and stands in she set two women world records at Ingel running meters in is 37 and 3 Miles in then in Early at the German National championships in Hamburg she won the women race in a meet record Lime of at that race she came in third in the 800 meters but her time of was her lifetime currently she is training for the world cup track and Field Competition As she continues around the track at the Johannes Gutenberg University Ai her Norm the 1966 Marathon Calls out the Lime and direct her training with hand signals when she is beyond hearing Robert a pole who Hast soared under 17 feel this is going through a he won the Southern German championships at Sarah Riecken in mid july with a vault of 17 65 by the Broad jump Berno Dean of inc University sports who Cna Ehod the West German team through six pointers to japanese Tomiko Uchida holds the asian record Pilu Magazine ii Imil the world Donl think she can come to says 1 is Loo math Art computer t 9w Barm sett on Twy Attu Iii i the til uie Lafe Laen Toa the Uwi Fth m Bow a of peed a thin Mill of w with Iron Grey deepest dark has been described Tough demand ing Trainer when asked it Hefta tougher than other for the and at the far end of the Kisliak of practices on the he will run the the 110 meter hurdles for his country in the world As Merrill completes an easy paced Lap Higgins Calls Okay 400 this and suddenly she is a Loco Milivo As she rounds the first he Calls pick in up pick it up and she Flics Down the Back at Merrill who i shy everywhere but on the also holds five aau National she came in eighth in the olympics Ijo melor finals last year in Montreal with a Lime but in the semifinals she ran a which she says is one of her Rhet satisfying racing Higgins and Merrill Are among a group of americans who train at the either for several weeks each As in the Case of for a year or longer they also compete in representing the schools University sport it is merrills third year at the University and partly because of her training in she feels she has gotten steadily after her first year in Europe she returned to the pah american games in Mexico and won the meter last year she came Back to Mainz to train Afler the this year her performance in the Aana Lional championships in los Angeles in june where she won the earned her a Slot on the Ameri can team to Tho world she will run the the University is a familiar place to Higgins who trained there in the Early 1960s when he was in the he says he comes Back i train Merrill there each summer because he thinks Europe has a belter training Mainz has produced Many outstanding says you come to Europe you learn from the teacher the coaches Hen will Lake an idea and  examine it from All sides and  coma up with what they consider a better Higgins says that if everything works out in the aau championships next he and Merrill will come Back again but not until after the american russian track and Field Competition in the us in which Merrill Hopes to their cumin is the world cup and the hardest training a ready is she is on a plateau now and were suing to try to slay August 1977 t have no Way of i dont see what the am doing so i cant draw 1ffl not Over in the soviet Orion or in Bulgaria but Ive heard that Merrill was an Allstate Field hockey player and a Champion swimmer at her High Shes very always been Strong even when she was a she was an aau swimmer in Connecticut and her respiratory system is very so what you try u do is prepare for the very then if your card lays Down that Day f merrills mining is two Owin she is also building a training base for the 1980 olympics in Moscow she int competing As often As other ath letes on the european track and Field tour its not like racing every Day and not being Able to train in Between like alot of people she were running in Small races and tapering Down for the big when you mention the take note of the poor performance by Jans training for some Basic besides a shy Schmidt in the javelin and Kathy Mcmillan in the Long the United states women did not really do that much in the there Are a lot of girls in the United states who Are really who really want to do something and while icy Are in the United states they Are not going to gel the coaching because that the weakness but Over Here to Europe they have our production of Middle distance in the United sales is very High right now and out of the lop 10 inthe five Are americans and Jans the Young if some think Merriu is training there Are the fun Days far too when Shes competing most of my races have been fun i enjoy each one As 1 a i dont run one w much thai i get tired of my schedule i feel at ease with All of them with the exception of the 100 and 200 that goes right along with Higgins philosophy on racing is he most lasting he training every that but the 25 or w competitions a Fiey Slick in your you want to try to have the person enjoy them youve got to Lake inc athlete Back to the playground and let them be like the Lille kid on the  slay in ii merrills performances have steadily improved Over the last three specializes in the because that the Only oly Unpi distance event for women it want inaugurated until 1972 in Munich they were supposed to add the but the of the olympics decided that women Are not Strong enough to take the hard Higgins says Wal la they decided All so she specialized to the this year Merrill set the american record for the mile in than set the world record for the at West Point with a before breaking her own record at v i did the Best indoor half mile in the nation this year at Dartmouth she her Lime then was my Best time for the meters is set last year at the aau who runs a sporting goods store in is pleased with the Progress Merrill has made in relation to her she got the american records last year in the and he so her times for the 20yearold level were faster than anyone else when they were that he now for 21 they Are still faster than anyone else when they were merrills biggest american competitor is Fra Ocle Durrieu who beat her this year in the men at the aau championships Luu will Rathe meters id Ibe Coria cup Forte team Liggons says Merrill can stay competitive for id years he emphasizes if she desires he adds if she after the world cup Well Fly then Well look fit what Shes interested Well Lake a couple of weeks then Start running in the Woods for the next two to three the stars and stripes Page 13