Ex-Banning Hurdler Will Challenge Other Olympians

The indoor track season is young, but former Banning High School hurdler Tonie Campbell is as enthusiastic as during the ’88 Olympics when he won a bronze medal in the 110 high hurdles.

Campbell, 28, is eager to compete in what he calls the “hottest race in history,” the 55-meter high hurdles at the Sunkist Invitational today at the Sports Arena.

The field includes two-time Olympic gold medalist Roger Kingdom, gold medalist Andre Phillips, silver medalist Greg Foster and Campbell, a three-time member of the Olympic team.

It will be the first time Campbell and Foster have met since the Olympic trials in July. They are longtime rivals and missed competing against each other in Seoul because Foster broke an arm shortly before the trials and didn’t make the Olympic team.

“The rivalry between Greg and me is dead,” Campbell said. “He has won 90% of the time. Now I just run against the clock. That’s what I’m concerned about. I’m confident about the race (Sunkist) and I just want to do things right.”

Campbell is also anxious to run against Kingdon because he lost to the top-ranked 110-meter hurdler at Seoul in a disappointing race. Campbell didn’t get going until the rest of the pack was several hurdles ahead because he thought there was a false start.

Ken Matsuda, Campbell’s coach since the hurdler’s days at USC, says he made an incredible comeback in Seoul.

“If you took a picture of the first six hurdles,” Matsuda said, “you would see that he wasn’t even around. He came back in the last four (hurdles), and he at least got a medal.”

Campbell says he was so sure the start was false that he almost stopped after the first gun.

“I lazily came out of the block,” he said, “because I assumed the second gun would go off. By the time I realized it counted, those guys were gone. I had to run down five athletes to get to where I got.

“I had to be mentally strong to do that. Normally I would just stop. I lost an indoor and an outdoor national championship for doing that.”

Campbell finished third behind England’s Colin Jackson.

“I still accomplished a dream,” Campbell said. “I got a medal at the Olympics, and I’m very comfortable with that. I look at the race on videotape and smile.”

Campbell has plenty to smile about although his career has experienced gloom. In the last nine years he’s been ranked among the world’s top eight hurdlers. He’s currently ranked third.

His numerous titles include the World Championship, the Grand Prix and the World Cup. The World Championship is his favorite title because he won it four months after shattering a knee in a 1985 race.

“It was a judgment error,” Campbell said. “I caught my foot on the hurdle and it tore ligaments and cartilage. The doctor said maybe I’d jog again but never come back (as a hurdler). I proved a lot of people wrong (at the World Championships).”

But things weren’t always good for the 6-3, 165-pound athlete who was once a rail-thin trackster at Banning. He wasn’t a star in high school or even in college.

“When Tonie came to USC,” said Milan Stewart, Campbell’s college roommate and teammate, “he wasn’t happy. He was kind of bitter. He changed his attitude and that’s why he’s been successful.”

Originally Campbell didn’t want anything to do with high hurdles. He wanted to jump only low hurdles but was told by his high school coach that he had to do both if he wanted to be on the team.

“When I was in 10th grade,” Campbell said, “the seniors on the team actually pushed me as I ran over the high hurdle. They forced me to do it, and I think it was the best decision made for me in my life.”

Campbell never won a City or state title at Banning although the Pilots won the City championship in his senior year. He always finished second or third at the big meets.

“Out of high school,” said Matsuda, who coached track at USC for 18 years and recruited Campbell, “he wasn’t the best hurdler within three miles of his house. He was a skinny, gangly kid, but there was a presence about him. He’s the kind of guy who is very durable. There’s a tremendous consistency about him. He’s not like Greg Foster, who has God-given talent. Tonie is more of a technician. He tries to minimize mistakes.”

Stewart says that’s why Campbell is often underestimated. He agrees that Campbell doesn’t have blazing speed but says he has tremendous ability.

“He’s faster than a lot of people know,” Stewart said. “And he does the exact thing over every hurdle. If you wake him up in the middle of the night, he’ll still go over the hurdles perfectly.”

Consistency, however, wasn’t enough in college. Campbell never won an NCAA outdoor title or even a Pacific-10 championship in four years at USC.

He won the NCAA 60-yard hurdle indoor title as a senior in 1982 and placed second at the PAC-10 meet in the 110 high hurdles as a sophomore. The highlight of his collegiate career was making the 1980 Olympic team the summer of his sophomore season. It was ruined, however, when the United States boycotted the Games in Moscow.

“I was very disappointed to sacrifice my career that way,” Campbell said. “It was a dream for me to make it. It took a lot of effort and a lot of hours. I was bitter and upset that I had done all the work for nothing.”

At the 1984 Olympics, Campbell was favored to win at least a silver medal since he had placed second to Foster at the trials. But several days before competing, his wisdom teeth--all six of them--impacted and caused an infection.

Campbell ran the three slowest races of his life in Los Angeles. His best time was 13.54. A week later, after the wisdom teeth were removed, he was back to 13.2.

“God just didn’t want me to do well,” Campbell said. “I mean, I had it all planned out. I was going to get a medal, retire and get married. But I didn’t get a medal, my fiancee left me and here I am.”

Now Campbell wants the gold. He realizes that a bronze just won’t do. That’s why he plans to compete in Barcelona in 1992 with younger brother Terrence, a junior hurdler at Banning.

“He really helps me,” Terrence said. “He gives me a lot of advice and encouragement, but by then (1992), . . . “ Terrence said, whispering and looking over his shoulder to make sure Campbell wasn’t listening, “he’s going to be kind of old . I think I can beat him.”

And who better to strip Campbell of his lifelong dream than his baby brother?