National Outdoor Track and Field Meet : Moses Saved by Gun, Wins Heat; Harris Advances, Too

The big streak has ended for Edwin Moses, but a little streak lives on.

Danny Harris ended Moses’ winning streak of 107 straight finals June 4 at Madrid, but Moses still has another modest streak going for him--although it’s not quite the same.

By winning his heat Thursday in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles at the USA-Mobil national outdoor track and field meet, Moses is now unbeaten in 16 preliminary races for more than nine years.

That streak--and Moses’ chances in this meet--could have ended as he slipped in his blocks and sprawled to his knees at the start of the race.

However, there was a recall gun because of a false start, and the race was aborted.

“My blocks slipped,” Moses said. “I was glad to hear the second gun go off because I was on my hands and knees.”

Moses then went on to win his heat in the pedestrian time of 49.82 seconds. Harris won his heat in 48.79, and UCLA’s Kevin Young, the NCAA champion, was another heat winner in 49.23.

The plot thickens with the semifinals today, leading to an anticipated Moses-Harris rematch in Saturday’s final.

Moses patiently answered questions concerning the ending of his streak time and again, but it’s apparent that he’s tired of the subject.

Question: Has a fire been ignited now that your winning streak has ended?

Answer: “The fire has been there for 10 years. If there hadn’t been fire, I wouldn’t have won 122 (consecutive) races.

Q: Is the pressure on Danny now?

A: “Maybe. I don’t know.”

Moses then added that nothing has really changed since his winning streak was snapped. He said the job is still hard, the preparation is the same and he still gets tired.

Harris is seemingly enjoying the media attention and his elevated status, even though he has been a world-class hurdler since he was a silver medalist in the 1984 Olympic Games at the age of 18.

Asked to comment on the media hype concerning his rematch with Moses, Harris smiled and said:

“It’s good for the event. He is probably the only person who could create that kind of atmosphere. Since I’m the only one who has beaten him (since 1977), I’m on the other end of the questions. I feel good about my chances.”

“I feel fresh and ready to run. The preparation to run three races here is in my favor because I train like a quarter-miler. I’m strong.”

As the questioning droned on, Harris was finally asked:

If you were a reporter, are there any questions we haven’t asked you.

Harris: “No, and I would let me go now.”

End of interview.

It has been generally assumed that Young will be running for third place in the 400-meter hurdles final.

“I’m not counting myself out,” he said. “You never know what will happen. Somebody could take the hurdles the wrong way, or there could be a spill on the track.”

Stay tuned.

After Greg Foster won his opening heat in the 110-meter high hurdles, Bob Kersee, UCLA’s women’s track coach, reminded him that he had taken care of another jinx.

He was referring to Foster finally having beaten Renaldo Nehemiah, his long-time nemesis, last winter on the indoor circuit and to the bad luck he has previously encountered on the San Jose City College track.

In three earlier appearances here, Foster failed to finish a race. He had a sore hamstring on one occasion and got bumped by other hurdlers in his other races.

“I just wasn’t mentally prepared,” Foster said. “I’ve been bumped before and continued to go on. That time here I didn’t.”

Not only did Foster win his opening heat in 13.44, he also came back to run away from the field in the semifinals. He had an impressive wind-aided time of 13.15, best in the world this year under any conditions.

He had one minor regret, though.

“It would have been a lot easier to get up for the races here if (Renaldo) Nehemiah were running,” he said.

Nehemiah has an Achilles’ tendon injury and wasn’t able to compete here.

As usual, Carl Lewis has a busy schedule, competing in the 100 and 200 meters and the long jump.

Lewis looked sharp Thursday before a crowd of 5,100 on a warm afternoon. He won his 200 heat in a fast 20.22, then came back as a heat winner in the 100 with a wind-aided time of 10.06.

And, of course, he qualified for the long jump final today with one jump of 26 feet 11 1/4 inches. Larry Myricks led all qualifiers with a jump of 27-1 3/4.

“I feel very good,” Lewis said. “I’m in the best shape I have ever been in. I ran very relaxed and very smooth and jumped rather easily.”

Lewis’ performances are a focal point of the meet, rivaling the 400-meter hurdles and the open 400.

Ohio State’s Butch Reynolds, who recorded the fastest time at sea level, 44.10, earlier in the season, was impressive in winning his 400 heat with a time of 45.09.

“I think it will take a time in the low 44s , or high 43s to win the final,” Reynolds said.

If so, then Lee Evans’ world record of 43.86, established in 1968 at the Olympic Games in Mexico City, could be threatened.

Reynolds said an ideal race for him would be to run the first 200 in 21.4 seconds and then hold on for a 22-second final 200. His strength, he said, is in his finish.

Track Notes

In the only final event, Lynn Jennings won the women’s 10,000 in 32:19.15, fifth fastest ever by an American. Other qualifiers for the World Championships Aug. 29-Sept. 6 at Rome were Francie Larrieu-Smith and Lynn Nelson, who were second and third, respectively. Larrieu-Smith is a 34-year-old veteran. . . . Women sprinters recorded some impressive times. Jamaica’s Julie Cuthbert had a wind-aided time of 10.95 in winning her heat in the 100; Alice Brown had a legal time of 11.0l in her heat, and Pam Marshall had a time of 11.08. Evelyn Ashford, who was ranked No. 1 in the world last year in the 100, was second in her heat in 11.04. She won her 200 heat in 22.55. Florence Griffith returned to her Olympic form of 1984 by winning her 200 heat in 22.35. . . . Valerie Brisco passed up the 200 to concentrate on the 400 because of a time conflict in the events. Brisco was a gold medalist in the 400 and 200 in th 1984 Olympic Games. She was second in her 400 heat Thursday with a time of 52.59. . . . ..UCLA’s Henry Thomas set a school record of 10.15 while finishing second in his 100 heat. . . . Steve Scott, the defending champion in the 1,500, won his heat. . . . Connie Price became the No. 2 American woman in the discus with a throw of 212-8 in a qualifying round.