Olympic Sprinter : USC’s Pancho Morales Ran for Puerto Rico in ‘84; Saturday, He’ll Face UCLA

Most athletes say there is more pressure in trying to make the United States Olympic team than in participating in the Games.

It’s a one-shot situation in the trials, and if a highly regarded athlete happens to be injured at the time, well, it’s just bad luck.

The system isn’t perfect, but no one has devised a better one.

USC sprinter Luis (Pancho) Morales got two opportunities, though, to participate in the Olympic Games.

Morales was born in Washington, D.C., and his father was born in Puerto Rico. Although Puerto Rico is a commonwealth associated with the United States, it is a separate country for Olympic purposes.

So Morales had “dual citizenship.” If he couldn’t make the U.S. Olympic team, he could try to make Puerto Rico’s--and that’s what he did.

Morales advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. 100-meter trials but didn’t come close to making the final, finishing a distant seventh.

“The day after the U.S. trials I was called by Puerto Rico officials, and they said if I came down there and made a good showing in a meet, I could be on the Puerto Rican team,” Morales said. “I thought to myself, ‘Wow, another chance.’ ”

Morales made the most of it, too, beating all of Puerto Rico’s best sprinters.

So Morales was back on the Coliseum track in August 1984, wearing the colors of Puerto Rico. He gave it his best shot, reaching the semifinals of the 100 against the world’s best sprinters.

And he came ever so close to making the final. He finished two-hundredths of a second behind Canada’s Tony Sharpe, who qualified for the final in fourth place.

Morales will return to the Coliseum Saturday, in the USC-UCLA dual meet, and this time he is favored to win the 100 meters and should make a good showing in the 200.

The Trojans have a strong sprint corps, and their only hope of upsetting the Bruins in the meet is to come through in the shorter races and get some unexpected points elsewhere.

Morales has the Pacific 10’s best time in the 100 at 10.29 seconds and the second-best in the 200 at 20.57.

But Morales is virtually unknown compared to UCLA freshman Henry Thomas, who came out of Hawthorne High hailed as one of the best sprinters ever to prep in California.

“I’ve been looking forward all year to running against Henry,” Morales said. “There was so much talk about his going to UCLA, and people have asked me how I’ll do against him. But not many people have said that I should take him because I have more experience. It’s like I have something to prove.”

Morales won’t be able to prove it Saturday, though. Thomas is coming back from a foot injury and is expected to participate in just one event, the 1,600-meter relay.

Morales, a small sprinter at 5-7 and 155 pounds, has also had his share of injuries.

He was coming off a promising 1984 season in which he won the 200 in the Pac-10 meet when he suffered a stress fracture in his right shin and was red-shirted in 1985.

Now an inflammation in his left shin bone is bothering the junior sprinter.

“It has bothered me for about a month and the pain can be excruciating,” he said. “But our trainers say I’m a tough person because I’ll run with pain. I don’t like to do it, but I will.”

Besides competing in the 100 and 200, he will run the anchor leg on the 400-meter relay team against UCLA.

USC has been a sprinter’s school dating back to Olympic champion Charley Paddock in the 1920s. Morales is trying to carry on the tradition. He ranks fifth on the school’s all-time 100-meter list behind James Sanford, Lennox Miller, Clancy Edwards and Darwin Cook.

“He’s a fighter,” USC Coach Ernie Bullard said. “He’s a guy who has shown leadership through his actions. Other athletes look up to him because of his willingness to run. He doesn’t fear anyone.”

Morales is now trying to get the wrinkles out of his 100-meter race.

“I have the start and finish but I don’t have the middle part of it and that’s what I’m working on,” he said. “I have to keep shifting. I run the first 40 OK, and the next 20 is crucial to get your momentum. I can usually hold my speed the last 20 meters.”

Morales said that he has been getting advice on running the 200 from Don Quarrie, a former USC sprint star and a gold medalist in the 200 in the 1976 Olympics while competing for Jamaica.

“He has taught me not to run the 200 all out, but to break the race up in parts, when to run and when to relax,” Morales said. “He says that a lot of the race is mental. He’s preparing my mind for a tough double Saturday, and I’m going to try and do it.”

The 200-meter race could be one of the most competitive events, with Morales, Mike Dexter and possibly Antonio Manning of USC going against UCLA’s Danny Everett, Mike Marsh and Anthony Washington.

Morales said that he set two goals as a sophomore at Oxon Hill High School in Maryland to eventually compete for USC and to run in the 1984 Olympics.

Both have been realized, and he will probably show up for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, as well. After all, he has more options than most other athletes.