Mt. San Antonio College Relays : ‘Dream’ Team Primed to Break 800 Record

A track athlete can’t guarantee a world record on any given day because there are too many variables.

Even so, it would be surprising if four athletes didn’t set one today in the 31st annual Mt. San Antonio College Relays at Walnut.

Four of the world’s fastest sprinters have been assembled for an assault on the 800-meter relay record.

It’s a dream team of Joe DeLoach, Floyd Heard, Danny Everett and Carl Lewis, who are primed to break the record of 1 minute 20.26 seconds set by USC in 1978.

The Trojan team consisted of Joel Andrews, James Sanford, Billy Mullins and Clancy Edwards. That wasn’t an ordinary college team. Sanford and Edwards, for example, are former World Cup sprint champions.

Nor is there anything ordinary about the sprinters representing the Santa Monica Track Club today.

DeLoach was the Olympic gold medalist in the 200 last September at Seoul. Lewis was the silver medalist. They share the best low-altitude time, 19.75 seconds. Only Italy’s Pietro Mennea has run faster, 19.72 at high altitude in 1979.

Heard has a best time of 19.95, and Everett, the Olympic bronze medalist in the 400, is now gearing his training toward the 200. He has a best time of 20.23.

Everett, the former UCLA star, was cautious when asked if the foursome could break the world record.

“If we run each individual leg real well (with no faulty baton passes), we’re hopeful for an extremely fast time,” he said.

Portions of today’s meet, including the 800-meter relay, will be televised--3:05 to 4:05 p.m.--by the Turner Broadcasting System, a cable network.

In a change of format, there will be open competition both today and Sunday.

Some of the highlights:

Today

100--Raymond Stewart of Jamaica, representing Texas Christian, was third in the World Championships in 1987 in Rome behind Ben Johnson and Lewis. He has a best time of 10.06 and will be opposed by Brian Cooper, 10.07; Nigeria’s Chidi Imoh, 10.00; Mark Witherspoon, 10.04, and three-time Olympian Harvey Glance, among others.

400--Nigeria’s Innocent Egbunike, formerly of Azusa Pacific, was ranked seventh in the world in 1988. His formidable competition includes Willie Smith, Mark Rowe, Kevin Robinzine and Roddie Haley.

400-meter hurdles--Kevin Young, former UCLA star, who placed fourth in the Olympic Games, is the class of this field.

Women’s 400-meter hurdles--LaTayna Sheffield, 10th ranked in the world last year, has noteworthy opposition in USC’s Leslie Maxie and Schowanda Williams.

Long jump--Larry Myricks, the world indoor champion and Olympic bronze medalist, is matched against Mike Powell, the Olympic silver medalist. Myricks, 33, seemingly gets better with age. He had a personal best of 28 feet 8 1/4 inches last year, the No. 4 performer on the all-time list.

High jump--Hollis Conway, the Olympic silver medalist and American indoor record-holder at 7-9 1/4, is matched against Thomas McCants, who scaled the same height as the U.S. outdoor record-holder.

Sunday

200--Everett calls this a “fun event” because there is less pressure on him than in his specialty, the 400. He’s capable of breaking 20 seconds. He’s in a classy field that includes Heard, Witherspoon and Lorenzo Daniel.

400-meter relay--The Santa Monica Track Club has another explosive team in DeLoach, Heard, Everett and Witherspoon. Texas A & M, Florida, Texas Tech and USC could make it interesting.

Discus--Wolfgang Schmidt of West Germany reportedly had a throw of 225 feet last week at Salinas, so he’s ready. He will be competing against his longtime friend, Mac Wilkins, the top ranked American in 1988, and Mike Buncik, who was ranked No. 2.

1,500 meters--Kenya’s Julius Kariuki, the Olympic gold medalist in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, has the speed to surprise at this distance.

Pole vault--Kory Tarpenning, who ranked fourth in the world in 1988 with a best vault of 19-3 3/4, will be opposed by Tim Bright, Doug Fraley and Dave Kenworthy, who were among the 10 top ranked American vaulters last year.

Track Notes

The women’s 400-meter hurdles is the first open event today starting at 1:55 p.m. . . . Tonight’s distance carnival features the 5,000, 10,000 and 3,000-meter steeplechase. Doug Padilla, the second-ranked American in 1988, heads the 5,000 field. Pat Porter, Ed Eyestone and Mauricio Gonzalez are the apparent class of the 10,000 field. . . . Sunday’s opening ceremonies are set for noon. . . . Andre Phillips, the Olympic gold medalist in the 400-meter hurdles, has a pulled hamstring, but the injury isn’t considered serious.