It’s Lewis Cruising in 10.05 : Track and field: Conditioning seems no problem in 100-meter victory. Barnes is upset in shotput.

Sprinter Mark Witherspoon, who trains with Carl Lewis, sensed that Lewis was prepared for an extraordinary performance at the USA/Mobil National Track and Field Championships.

“Last week in workouts we had some pretty good starts,” Witherspoon said. “We were running pretty fast. And I told Carl earlier in the week that he was ready to run well.”

Witherspoon’s analysis of Lewis proved correct.

Bursting from the blocks, Lewis ran 10.05 seconds to win the 100-meter dash final Friday night at Cerritos College. It capped an extraordinary two days for Lewis, the world record holder in the 100 meters at 9.92 seconds.

After his start, Lewis accelerated from the field at the 60-meter mark to beat Witherspoon (10.25). Lewis thrust his fist into the air in triumph after crossing the finish line.

Was he surprised that he ran so well here?

“I was able to stay tightly focused on what I had to do, because I didn’t expect too much out of myself,” Lewis said. “I didn’t know what to expect. I felt I ran three good races here. I was pleased with the way I ran. If I just stay relaxed and stay focused, I can start well, and that’s basically what happened.”

Earlier this week, Joe Douglas, Lewis’ manager, hinted that Lewis might drop out of the meet after the qualifying heats because he wasn’t in shape. But Lewis demonstrated that he’s fit by cruising through three races in two days.

In his first competition since September, Lewis ran a wind-aided 10.06 seconds in a preliminary heat Thursday, and then ran 10.20 in a semifinal heat to advance to the final.

By winning, Lewis assured himself of a spot on the team that will represent the United States at the Goodwill Games next month in Seattle.

Will he be there?

“Everybody’s putting so much on the Goodwill Games, and it’s not a matter of trying to negotiate or money,” Lewis said. “A week ago everyone was saying, ‘You can’t go.’ And now everyone is saying, ‘Why aren’t you going?’ Settle down a little bit. We’ll work things out and we’ll be there.

“It isn’t money, and it isn’t that I’m holding out. It’s just a matter of money . . . er . . . timing. The reason I’m here had very little to do with the Goodwill Games, but everybody continues to say ‘He came here because he had to qualify for Goodwill.’ But my being here is on a much larger scale. I’m trying to work together (with the Athletics Congress) to move our sport forward.”

In the meet’s biggest upset, Randy Barnes, who set a world record of 75 feet 10 1/4 inches in the shotput last month, was beaten by Jim Doehring. Throwing with a hand injury, Barnes put the shot 66-9 1/4, but Doehring got off a throw of 69-6 3/4 on his last trip to the ring to win.

Barnes had just one legal throw, followed by two consecutive fouls. He passed on his next two throws and, after Doehring passed him, Barnes intentionally fouled his last throw because he knew it wasn’t good enough to win.

Barnes said he injured his right hand between the back of the knuckles during the Bruce Jenner meet at San Jose last month and reinjured it at a meet in Milan, Italy, last Thursday. The injury makes it difficult for Barnes to grip the shot.

“I haven’t practiced at all,” Barnes said. “I’ve been trying to rest my hand. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Was Doehring surprised to upset Barnes?

“I’m not too surprised because I’ve been training very well in the last week,” he said. “It’s just a culmination of a lot of hard work.”

Roger Kingdom, world record holder in the 110-meter high hurdles, had to come from behind to beat Michael Tony Dees in the hurdles. Kingdom was timed in 13.22 seconds and Dees in 13.40.

“I got off to a great start,” Dees said. “But at the (number) eight hurdle Roger pulled up alongside me, and he shook me at the 10th hurdle. I have no excuses about getting second.”

A notoriously poor starter, Kingdom said that’s the weakest part of his race.

“In the last couple of years the thing that’s been hurting me is the start of my race,” Kingdom said. “And all during the offseason, and even at the beginning of this year, I’ve been concentrating on the start and trying to get out a little bit better.”

But Kingdom made up for his poor start when he made his move midway through the race.

“Unless you’re (behind) a number of times, it can make you start to press,” Kingdom said. “But from having a poor start I’ve gotten used to it, and I just try to relax and make my move and come on strong.”

The high jump provided the most drama as Hollis Conway beat Doug Nordquist in a jump off. Conway and Nordquist both cleared 7-8 3/4, but Conway also cleared that height in a jumpoff and Nordquist failed to clear it in two tries.

In other finals, Sheila Hudson won the women’s triple jump with a wind-aided leap of 46-2. Hudson’s jump would have surpassed her record jump of 46-0 3/4, but it won’t be eligible for record consideration because of the wind. However, her best legal jump of 45-9 was a meet record, breaking her old mark of 45-5 1/4, set in 1987.

Kenny Harrison, Hudson’s training partner, won the men’s triple jump with a leap of 56-3 1/4 on his last jump.

LaVonna Martin won the women’s 100-meter hurdles in 12.90 seconds, Michele Finn won the women’s 100-meter dash in 11.20, beating Carlette Guidry (11.25) and Evelyn Ashford (11.30), Steve Plasencia won the 10,000 in 28:11.41 and Debbi Lawrence set an American record of 46:14.4 in the 10,000-meter walk. Vince Labosky won the men’s javelin with a throw of 261-3 and Connie Price won the women’s discus with a throw of 191-6.

Track Notes

Jackie Joyner-Kersee needed just one jump to advance to the long jump final. Joyner-Kersee jumped 22-9 to qualify for today’s final. She said she’s planning to compete in the heptathlon at the Goodwill Games next month at Seattle. “I’m here to get in shape for the heptathlon,” she said. “I’ve been bothered by a hamstring problem, but it held up today.” . . . Mary Slaney qualified the today’s 1,500 final by running 4:18.40 to finish eighth in a semifinal heat. . . . Butch Reynolds dropped out of a 200-meter qualifying heat because of a sore left hamstring.