TRACK AND FIELD / MOBIL 1 INVITATIONAL : Herold Kicks Back, O’Sullivan Left in Dust

Jens-Peter Herold of East Germany, 1988 Olympic bronze medalist in the 1,500 meters, was outkicked Friday night by Marcus O’Sullivan in the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games in New York.

But it was a different story Sunday when they ran the mile at the Mobil 1 Invitational at George Mason University.

After losing to O’Sullivan by .24 of a second, Herold avenged his loss to the Irishman by winning in a time of 3:58.96. O’Sullivan was timed in 4:00.39, followed by Steve Scott at 4:01.21.

O’Sullivan said he was emotionally drained after winning in New York.

“I won more on emotion last (Friday) night than I did on physical fitness,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s difficult to come from something like the Millrose and try to get back up again because you’re just so emotionally strung out.

“I warmed up today like it was just a training session. Friday night I could barely move because I was so nervous. I didn’t have that same edge.”

Herold had the edge, passing O’Sullivan with two laps remaining.

“It was embarrassing,” O’Sullivan said. “I just couldn’t get going. Normally I’ll fight and fight to make it close and interesting for people. Today I just couldn’t get rolling.”

Herold said he felt more comfortable running on the 200-meter tartan than he did on the 160-yard wooden track at Madison Square Garden.

“You have to have experience running on the boards,” Herold said. “This track is more to my liking. The wooden track comes back at you, but this is more like an outdoor track and you can power off the ground.”

Herold said he felt strong when he made his move.

“I didn’t want it to come down to a kick because I felt O’Sullivan would win if it was a jog and kick race,” Herold said. “So I tried to make a strong move so it didn’t get down to a kick.”

The three fastest outdoor hurdlers of all-time--Roger Kingdom, Renaldo Nehemiah and Greg Foster--competed in the men’s 60-meter high hurdles but the winner was Arthur Blake, a 1988 Olympian from Florida State.

After failing to make the final at the Millrose Games despite running a personal best of 6.99 seconds, Blake ran 7.51 seconds while Foster was clocked in 7:56. Tony Dees was third at 7.56.

“When I got up this morning I said, ‘I’m going to win today,’ ” Blake said. “Maybe I should try that every morning before I get up for a race.”

Foster thinks Blake, 23, is America’s top young hurdler.

“Blake is going to be one of the best hurdlers in the world,” Foster said. “If I had to pick a young hurdler to take over he’d be at the top of my list.”

Nehemiah, who failed to finish in the Millrose Games after hitting the first hurdle, finished fourth Sunday at 7.58. Kingdom, recovering from the flu, ran last in 7.63.

Olympic champion Jackie Joyner-Kersee was beaten again by LaVonna Martin, former Tennessee star, in the women’s hurdles. Martin, who defeated Joyner-Kersee by .06 of a second in the Millrose Games, was timed in 7.99 seconds and Joyner-Kersee clocked 8.04.

Martin left Joyner-Kersee in the blocks, but Joyner-Kersee was coming on at the finish.

“If I have a good race, I tend to blank out,” Martin said. “I remember the start, but after that I don’t remember anything.”

Diane Dixon, American indoor record-holder at 400 meters, set a meet record of 52.30 in the 400.

Dixon said she has been running better because of help she received from TV star Bill Cosby, who ran track at Temple.

Cosby bet Dixon that she could take a second off her personal best if she would train under his friend Joshua Culbreath, bronze medalist in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1956 Olympics. So Dixon moved from Brooklyn to Xenia, Ohio, to train under Culbreath.

“I said if Cosby is saying this, (Culbreath) must be good,” Dixon said. “It’s been great training with him.”

Track Notes

Four other meet records were set. Viorica Ghican of Romania set a meet record of 4:27.10 in the women’s mile and teammate Doina Melinte set a meet record of 2:02.13 in the women’s 800. Sorin Matei of Romania set a meet record of 7-7 in the men’s high jump. The media was unable to interview the Romanians because their translator didn’t accompany them from New York, where he attended the Millrose Games. . . . Clarence Daniel set a meet record of 46.28 in the men’s 400.