Mahorn Fit Enough to Claim 200-Meter Title

A Canadian from Toronto, by way of Jamaica, made news in the sprints Sunday, but Ben Johnson was nowhere to be found.

This was Atlee Mahorn’s day in the haze, even if it wasn’t the world championships and Carl Lewis wasn’t in the next lane. UCLA’s Danny Everett and Henry Thomas looked tough enough Sunday afternoon at the Pacific 10 Conference track finals.

Thomas, after all, set a school record in the 200-meter dash a week ago with a 20.18 clocking at the Occidental Invitational. Everett established a personal best of 20.30 Saturday in the first of the two-day competition at UCLA’s Drake Stadium.

But Mahorn, who runs for the University of California, whose most recent effort was a 20.53 in the post-rain conditions at the S&W; Modesto Invitational, went them all one better. In fact, he went almost everyone one better in taking the early lead and then holding on to win the Pac-10 title with a lifetime best of 20.21, the Canadian record and the No. 5 mark in the world this year.

“I spotted Henry at about 175 (meters),” said Mahorn, who also finished second to Mike Marsh of UCLA in the 100 in 10.28, his best time in two years. “I could feel him there. Then Danny came on.”

Everett felt Mahorn, too.

“When I went across the line, he threw his arms back against me,” said the Bruin junior, who took second in 20.23. “That stopped my lean.”

In the grander scheme, Saturday was another step in Mahorn’s comeback from a hamstring injury that ruined his 1987 season, after finishing second in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. 200 the year before as a freshman. The return to form actually started months later, when he finished eighth in the 200 at the world championships in Rome.

The tail end of the 1988 season has taken him from victories at Modesto and the Pac-10 to the NCAA meet June 1-4 in Eugene, Ore. From there, it’s Ottawa in early August for the Canadian Olympic trials and, according to plan, Seoul, South Korea, for the Summer Games.

Mahorn, who moved from Jamaica to Toronto in 1980, credits Johnson, the world record-holder in the 100 and a workout partner last summer, for part of his success. Mostly, the influence has been on the starts, which makes sense. Ben Johnson working with you on exploding from the blocks is kind of like having Wilt Chamberlain, a spectator at Sunday’s meet, give a few pointers on playing center.

The possibilities for Seoul are rather intriguing for Mahorn and his occasional training partner.

Beware Canadians bearing great starts.

“We’d like to make our presence felt,” said Mahorn, who reached the semifinals of the 200 at the Los Angeles Olympics of 1984. “With Ben and me, and (Desai) Williams running the 100 and (Mark) McKoy the hurdles, there is a good chance Canada can take the 1(00), the 2(00), the 4-by-100 relay and the hurdles. We’ve been saying since 1984 that if we all stay healthy, we’ll be in good shape.”

After the injury, Mahorn is doing his part again.