Track and Field : Ailments Not Enough to Deter Bruin Sprinters

Mike Marsh has been bothered by hamstring injuries in both legs recently. Henry Thomas has been suffering from an allergy.

The junior sprinters are key members of the UCLA track team, along with quarter-miler Danny Everett and intermediate hurdler Kevin Young.

Just when it seemed that UCLA, the defending National Collegiate Athletic Assn. and Pacific 10 Conference champion, might be vulnerable this season, Marsh and Thomas, former teammates at Hawthorne High School, where they helped the team to three state championships, disproved such a suggestion by putting their ailments behind them.

Marsh lowered UCLA’s school record in the 100 meters to 10.12 seconds Saturday night in an invitational meet at Occidental College. Thomas took care of the 200 record with a time of 20.18.

Then, both sprinters contributed to a time of 38.94 in the 400-meter relay, another school record.

They are peaking at the right time, since UCLA is playing host to the Pac-10 track and field championships Saturday and Sunday.

Oregon is the only school with a chance to beat the Bruins, but that isn’t likely, based on the way Marsh and Thomas performed at Occidental.

Marsh, the Pac-10 100-meter champion as a freshman, was more renowned as a 200 runner in high school, winning the state title as a senior.

Now he regards the 100 as his best event. “I don’t think I’m any faster,” he said. “But my reaction time at the start of a race is much better.”

Marsh’s time of 10.12 is the third-fastest in the world this year, exceeded only by Raymond Stewart’s 10.01 and Carl Lewis’ 10.05.

Thomas says his allergy problem is under control now and he plans to run both sprints and a leg on the 400-meter relay team at the Pac-10 meet.

Thomas has great range as a sprinter. He held UCLA’s 100 record at 10.15 seconds before Marsh broke it. He is the defending conference champion in the 200 and was a member of UCLA’s NCAA record-breaking 1,600-meter relay team last year. He has a best 400-meter time of 45.05.

So what race does he prefer?

“I enjoy running all the races, but my preference lies in the 200 meters,” Thomas said. “The 100 meters is a difficult race if you can’t get out and maintain yourself. The 200 allows me to get out well, accelerate and run comfortably.

“Down the road I’d like to move up to 400 meters. But I’m going to concentrate on the 200 meters for the Olympics this year.”

It’s believed that the UCLA coaching staff has deliberately kept Thomas and Everett from competing against each other in the 400. So Everett, with a best time of 44.47, has the distinction of being UCLA’s best quarter-miler, Thomas is equally recognized in the 200 and Marsh is the man in the 100.

UCLA’s women’s team is also favored to repeat as Pac-10 champion, providing that Gail Devers doesn’t stop whirling from one event to another.

The indefatigable Devers won the 100, 200, 100-meter hurdles and long jump while running legs on winning relay teams in last year’s conference meet. She figured in 60 of the team’s 121 points.

She has the same schedule this weekend, but may drop out of a relay or the 200 if the Bruins have already clinched the meet.

“I have a lot of energy to burn,” said Devers of the busy schedule that she favors. “I don’t have time to sit and relax. It hasn’t taken a toll on me.”

Devers set an American record of 12.71 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles last month in Fresno, only to lose it to Jackie Joyner-Kersee with a time of 12.70 May 7 at a meet in Modesto.

That record may be traded back and forth between Devers and Joyner-Kersee, whose husband, Bob, coaches both women.

It’s a soft record compared to the world record of 12.25, and Devers believes that a time of 12.6, or 12.5 is within reach of her and Jackie.

Track Notes

Kim Gallagher has been beset by injuries and ailments since she was the silver medalist in the women’s 800 meters in the 1984 Olympic Games. She is back in shape now and confident that she’ll not only make the Olympic team, but that she has a shot at a gold medal in either the 800 or 1,500. “I’ve already run five 3,000 races and I haven’t done that since high school,” she said Monday at a track writers luncheon. She is regarded as a half-miler, but she believes that the 1,500 may be her best race. Gallagher, who will compete in the 1,500 June 5 in the Pepsi Invitational at UCLA, said she was on the verge of quitting eight months ago. But she said that she realized that she shouldn’t squander her God-given talent.

In the Pac-10 championships Monday at UCLA’s Drake Stadium, Derek Huff of Arizona took the first-day lead in the decathlon and Wendy Brown of USC moved out front in the heptathlon. Huff has 4,046 points to 3,792 for Matt Zuber of Arizona State. Brown leads the heptathlon with 3,495 points and Camille Jampolsky of Oregon is second at 3,434. Both events will be completed today.