Lewis Coasts Through 2 Heats in 200 Meters : Gallagher Wins Women’s 800 in 1:58.01; Gray Takes Men’s 800 With 1:43.96 Clocking

Carl Lewis, trying to duplicate his feat of four gold medals in the Olympic Games, won the first two rounds of the men’s 200-meter heats Monday at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Lewis, who already has won the 100-meter dash during the Trials in a wind-aided 9.78 seconds, the fastest ever run, also was to compete in the long jump Monday night.

Kim Gallagher, the 1984 Olympic silver medalist in the women’s 800, got another shot at the gold by winning the Trials for the second straight time.

Her clocking of 1 minute 58.01 seconds was the fifth-fastest ever by an American woman and made her the third-fastest American ever, behind Mary Decker Slaney and 1968 Olympic champion Madeline Manning.

Delisa Walton-Floyd took second in 1:59.20 and Joetta Clark fell over the finish line in edging Debbie Marshall for the third spot. Clark was timed in 1:59.93 and Marshall in 1:59.97, making the first time four American women went under 2 minutes in the same race.

In the men’s 800, American record-holder Johnny Gray took the lead after about 300 meters and held on to win in 1:43.96.

National champion Mark Everett of the University of Florida finished second in a personal-best of 1:44.46, with Tracy Baskin third in 1:44.91, also a career best.

Fourth-place finisher George Kersh of Taft College set an American junior college record of 1:45.35.

In the hammer throw final, Ken Flax, the 1988 national champion and 1986 NCAA champion, broke the meet record twice and equaled it once in winning with a throw of 253 feet 6 inches.

Flax, seventh in the 1984 Trials as an Oregon sophomore, matched the Trials record on his first attempt, reaching 240-3. He smashed the record on his next toss, heaving the hammer 251-9. After a foul on his third attempt, he got off his winning throw in the fourth round, then concluded with throws of 248-7 and 235-9.

Lance Deal finished second at 248-2 and Jud Logan, the American record-holder, was third at 248-0.

Other finals scheduled Monday night were the women’s javelin and 400 meters, and the men’s 10,000 meters.

The semifinals and final of the men’s 200 will be held Wednesday. After that, it will be determined whether Lewis again will make the U.S. team in three individual events, as he did four years ago. He also qualified for a possible spot on the 400-meter relay team by winning the 100.

Although he is not yet assured a place on the relay team--that will be determined by the coaches--Lewis most likely will anchor the 400 relay. He anchored U.S. teams to world records in the relay at the 1983 World Championships and 1984 Olympic Games, and ran the final leg on last year’s winning team at the World Championships.

Lewis eased to victory in the first round of the 200 in 20.32 at the Indiana University Track and Field Stadium, then ran a sparkling 20.03 in the second round.

He got out so quickly and established such a substantial lead early in the first race that he was able to look around by the time the six-man field reached the curve. Despite looking around a total of three times, his time was the fastest in the six first-round heats.

In the second round, Lewis again burst from the starting blocks quickly and was in front immediately. He did not look around this time as he charged down the straightaway and won handily.

“I felt confident in both races,” Lewis said. “Physically, both felt very easy. They weren’t real fast.

“The rain (which fell more than an hour before the second round of the 200 and delayed the race for about 35 minutes) seemed to take the spunk out of everybody.”

Lewis set the American record in the 200 in 1983 on this track, clocking 19.75, only .03 of a second off the world record of 19.72, held by Pietro Mennea of Italy.

Lewis won the 100, 200 and long jump, and ran on the winning 400 relay team in the 1984 Los Angeles Games. He is trying to match that accomplishment this year at Seoul. No track and field athlete has won four gold medals in two consecutive Games and none has won the 100, 200 or long jump twice in Olympic history.

Also moving easily through the first two rounds of the 200 was Calvin Smith, another member of the 100-meter team. Smith, the two-time world champion in the 200 and the former world record-holder in the 100, finished second in his opening 200 heat in 20.90, behind Roy Martin, timed in 20.61, then won his second-round heat in 20.32.

“It was not too hard to come back from the 100,” Smith said. “Those races gave me the confidence to run well in the 200.”

Martin also was quicker in the second round, winning his heat in 20.24. Joe DeLoach won the final second-round heat in 20.14, the second-fastest time of the day.

Meanwhile, Patty Murray, with a time of 33:57.22, and Lynn Jennings, clocked in 34:04.77, were the heat winners in the semifinals of the women’s 10,000 meters.

Overall, 18 women advanced to Friday night’s 10,000 final, including two-time Olympian Francie Larrieu Smith and marathon team member Margaret Groos.

Sixteen pole vaulters advanced to Wednesday’s final, all clearing 17 feet 7 inches, but one who failed to make it was American record-holder Joe Dial.

Dial, who has cleared 19-6 1/2--only Sergei Bubka of the Soviet Union ever has gone higher--passed the opening height of 17-3 1/2, then missed three times at 17-7.

Among those clearing 17-7 were Olympic silver medalist Mike Tully, Olympic co-bronze medalist Earl Bell and American indoor record-holder Billy Olson.

Leslie Maxie won the first semifinal heat of the women’s 400-meter intermediate hurdles in 55.66 and Sandra Farmer-Patrick took the second heat in 55.19. Barely advancing was American record-holder Judi Brown King, fourth in her heat in 56.48.

The final will be held Wednesday night.