NATIONAL OUTDOOR TRACK AND FIELD MEET : Moses Starts New Streak With Convincing Victory

To hear Edwin Moses tell it after his convincing victory over Danny Harris, Saturday was just another day at the office.

Maybe it was for him. After all, Moses has been through two Olympics, one World Championships and a 107-race winning streak, so what’s one more national championship, especially when all it takes to win is a time of 47.99 seconds?

But a crowd of 13,724 at San Jose City College for the final day of the USA/Mobil track and field meet was anything but casual about the 400-meter intermediate hurdles. The people had also come to see Carl Lewis, Evelyn Ashford, Valerie Brisco, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Willie Banks and the new kid in the 400 meters, Butch Reynolds, but there was no question in anyone’s mind that the main event was Moses vs. Harris.

It was the first time they had met since June 4 in Madrid, where Harris sent Moses to defeat for the first time in nine years, nine months and nine days.

Moses called the loss a relief.

“Now we’ll see how someone else handles the pressure,” he said.

Harris, 21, didn’t appear to handle it well, at least not nearly as well as the 31-year-old Moses. The Iowa State senior from Perris, Calif., is hardly a novice, having finished second in the 1984 Olympic Games at age 18, but this was the first time he had been in a race with Moses when Harris realistically could have been expected to win.

He wilted right before the eyes of the capacity crowd and a national television audience, which was able to see the entire race thanks to the meet organizers, who held the start until ABC returned from a commercial break.

Moses took advantage of the delay, reclining on the track as if he were spending a day at the beach. “I enjoyed it,” he said. “I was a little overheated after the warm-ups. I needed a few extra minutes to concentrate.”

While Moses relaxed, Harris paced back and forth in front of his blocks, anxiously awaiting the start. “You like to go ahead and get it started,” he said.

When the race finally did start, there was no question that Moses was the superior hurdler on this day. He started in Lane 4, while Harris was in Lane 5. But Moses had the lead by the time he reached the third hurdle. After 6 of the 10 hurdles, he already had made up the stagger. At one point in the stretch, he had what appeared to be a 9- or 10-yard advantage. He won by more than 7 yards.

He wasn’t thrilled with his time. He ran faster, 47.69, when he lost in Madrid. But while his 47.99 ranks far down on his all-time list, it is still notable. Only five other men have ever broken 48 seconds.

Harris ran 48.70 Saturday, well behind his 47.56 in Madrid, and just edged David Patrick, who finished third in 48.76. UCLA’s Kevin Young was fourth in 48.91. The first three represent the United States in the World Championships at Rome Aug. 29-Sept. 6.

“That’s the strongest I’ve ever seen anyone run at that time of the race,” Harris said of Moses’ charge down the backstretch and into the curve. “I lost my concentration when he went past me.”

Rod Law, a close friend of Moses’ from Glendale, said Moses had to run all out on the backstretch after hitting the first hurdle.

“It was just a reaction to that,” he said. “You don’t know how much time you’ve lost.”

But there appeared to be more to Moses’ fast start than that, even though he denied it. “When I run under 47, I’ll be a lot faster than that,” he said.

While Moses wouldn’t reveal his strategy, saying he ran his typical race, it appeared as if he wanted to send a message early to Harris. Moses lost the race in Madrid by allowing Harris to take the early lead. Pressing to catch up, Moses hit the 10th hurdle. But no hurdle seemed too big for him to clear Saturday.

“The point here was to run a good race, no matter how anyone else ran,” he said. “That’s it.”

If that seems like a subdued response to his biggest victory since the 1984 Olympics, then it is consistent with his attitude before the race. “He’s always the same,” said his wife, Myrella. “He just takes care of business.”

The man in charge of his business, Gordon Baskin, said he had dinner with Moses Friday night and didn’t notice any difference in the hurdler.

“He was joking and having fun,” Baskin said. “Maybe he was a little more contemplative than usual, but he really doesn’t change his approach that much. That’s what makes him a champion.”

It also is characteristic of Moses that he found some good in defeat.

“Looking at it from a positive point of view, my losing was good for the sport,” Moses said. “It’s more exciting for the fans. It’s not good for me to win all the time. This adds a little suspense. That’s what we need, big duels.”

With that, Moses was off to the airport to catch a flight to Finland. His next race is Thursday night at Helsinki, where he probably will meet Harris again.

“I still feel I can beat Edwin,” Harris said. “He won today. Give him credit for that. He came back and ran like a champion. But my confidence is still high. You can’t win every day.”

No one told that to Moses for almost 10 years. Perhaps now he’s on his way again.

“The streak,” he said, “is one.”