NATIONAL OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD MEET : Reynolds and Conley Win; Lewis Finishes 2nd in 100
SAN JOSE — Butch Reynolds verified again that he’s most likely the best 400-meter sprinter in the world. Triple jumper Mike Conley reaffirmed that there probably isn’t a better athlete in the closing stages of a competition.
And Carl Lewis showed that he is human by finishing second in the 100 meters.
Reynolds held off Arkansas’ Roddie Haley, as he did in the NCAA meet, to win the 400 in the USA-Mobil outdoor track and field championships Saturday at San Jose City College. Reynolds’ winning time of 44.46 seconds established a meet record.
Conley, who has gained a reputation for winning when the pressure is on, did it again. He had two jumps of more than 58 feet in the triple jump, with a best of 58-7 1/2, elevating him to No. 3 on the all-time list.
As for Lewis, he failed in an attempt to win three events in the championship meet. He got off to a bad start in the 100, then finished strongly but behind Mark Witherspoon, his Santa Monica Track Club teammate. Lewis had previously won the long jump and the 200.
“I woke up with a hamstring pull in my lower left leg and I just nursed it (the injury) all through the race,†said Lewis, who had injured his left knee Friday. “I just wanted to make the team.â€
Witherspoon was timed in 10.04 seconds, just .01 faster than Lewis. Lee McRae was third in 10.08. The first three finishers here qualified for the U.S. team that will compete in the World Championships Aug. 29-Sept. 6 at Rome.
Missing from the team, though, are several notable American athletes, including:
--Jim Howard, who recently established a U.S. record of 7-8 3/4 in the high jump but failed to clear the opening height here.
--Valerie Brisco, who won three gold medals in the 1984 Olympic Games but went out too fast in the 400 Saturday. The field swept by her, and she finished fourth. She had the consolation of being on the 1,600-meter relay team.
--Al Joyner, brother of heptathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who finished fourth in the triple jump and limped off the field with a leg injury. He was the gold medalist in the ’84 Olympics. Other casualties in the three-day meet were Mike Tully, pole vault; Bonita Brown, women’s 100-meter hurdles; Dwight Stones and Doug Nordquist, high jump; Kirk Baptiste, 200 meters; Tonie Campbell, 110-meter high hurdles, and Dave Laut and Brian Oldfield, shotput.
Tully, Brown, Baptiste and Laut were medalists in the ’84 Games.
Their absence doesn’t necessarily mean that the United States will not have a representative team, but Europeans will be wondering what happened to some of the familiar faces.
However, Edwin Moses will certainly be in Rome. He avenged his June 4 loss to Danny Harris, who had snapped his 107-meet winning streak, by winning in impressive fashion in 47.99 seconds.
Reynolds, who recorded the best time ever at sea level, 44.10, earlier in the season, resisted a challenge by Haley in the last 80 meters to win the 400.
They were together for 40 meters until Reynolds pulled away. Antonio McKay was third, while UCLA’s Danny Everett finished fourth.
Everett will be on the 1,600-meter relay team at Rome.
“I wasn’t as smooth as I wanted to be,†Reynolds said. “I had never run three days in a row before.â€
He obviously made the adjustment.
Once again, Conley had an impressive double in the championship meet. Last year, he had marks in the 28- and 58-foot ranges in the long and triple jumps, respectively, but finished second in each event.
He was third in the long jump Friday with a wind-aided jump of 28-0 3/4, as Lewis and Larry Myricks finished ahead of him.
But he clinched the triple jump on his fifth attempt Saturday at 58-1 and then recorded a legal mark of 58-7 1/2.
“It felt good to win my first national title,†Conley said, “and I expect to go 60 feet in the triple jump.†.
Willie Banks, the world record-holder at 58-11 1/2, was second at 57-8 1/2 (wind-aided), and Charlie Simpkins was third at 57-5.
It was a disappointing day for some of the other renowned athletes, though.
Brisco went out very fast and sped by the 200 mark in 22.5 seconds in the 400. But she couldn’t hold on, tiring with 300 meters left.
“I’m not used to coming out in 22.5,†she said. “When I heard the time, I mentally relaxed. I think I underestimated my competition.â€
Alabama’s Lillie Leatherwood-King won in 49.95, best time ever for a female college athlete.
Evelyn Ashford had advanced to Friday’s 200 final, in which she was fifth, but she was forced to pull up with a hamstring injury in her semifinal heat of the 100, finishing sixth.
“It’s a very slight tear, though, and I shouldn’t be out more than two weeks,†said Ashford, Olympic champion and world record holder in the women’s 100. “It has bothered me since the first day I got here.
“This has not been a good year for me. I had a virus this winter and because of that my training base hasn’t been good.â€
Ashford, among other athletes doubling in the 200 and 100, was critical of the schedule.
“I don’t think they thought about the sprinters when they made up the schedule,†she said. “It’s very hard to run the 200 and then come back and run the 100. It’s really hard on the legs.â€
Pam Marshall, who won the 200 Friday, finished third in the 100 Saturday as Diane Williams won in the wind-aided time of 10.90.
“I couldn’t believe that they would be running the 200 before the 100,†Marshall said. “The 100 warms you up for the 200, but the 200 drains you for the 100.â€
Olan Cassell, executive director of The Athletics Congress, the governing body for track and field in the United States, was questioned about the 200-100 scheduling.
“That’s the way the organizers wanted it,†he said.
It’s also believed that’s the way television wanted it. ABC reportedly wanted to televise the 100 on Saturday, instead of the 200.
Track Notes
Joe Dial, who has a pending American pole vault record of 19 feet 6 1/2 inches, won the event in a jump-off with Earl Bell, clearing 19-0. Billy Olson was third. “I wanted to break the world record today, but it just didn’t work out,†Dial said. “At least, I got over 19 feet. That makes six out of seven meets that I’ve been over 19 feet†. . . Jackie Joyner-Kersee, who won the heptathlon earlier in the week, easily won the long jump at 23-3. . . . Other winners: Henry Marsh in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for his ninth national championship; John Brenner in the shotput at 69-9, not threatening his American record of 73-10 3/4; Johnny Gray, who set a stadium record of 1:45.15 in the 800, and Syndey Maree, who had a strong kick in the 5,000 with a winning time of 13:51.45. . . . Jim Spivey had a better kick than Steve Scott and won the 1,500 in 3:43.66. Scott was timed in 3:44.10. . . . Jerome Carter and ex-UCLA athlete Lee Balkin each cleared 7-7 in the high jump, with Carter winning on the basis of fewer misses at lower heights. . . . Brenner also qualified in the discus, taking third with a throw of 206-2. John Powell, 40, won at 217-3. . . . UCLA’s Henry Thomas, who has a groin injury, scratched out of the 100. . . . An overflow crowd of 13,724 watched the final day of competition.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
