400 Propels Watts Back Into Spotlight : Track and field: USC’s injury-hampered sprinter leaves the shorter races behind him during junior year.

For someone who has made a name for himself in track and field’s fast lanes, Quincy Watts of USC has needed the patience of a marathoner since graduating from Taft High in 1988.

Watts, the No. 1-ranked high school sprinter in the country by Track & Field News in the 100 and 200 as a junior, had been hampered by injuries for three consecutive years before he stepped up to 400 in resounding fashion this season.

Watts had a modest personal best of 46.67 seconds in the 400 at the start of the season, but he has lowered that mark to 44.98 entering the 400 in the U. S. Olympic Festival at UCLA’s Drake Stadium today. He also will run a leg on the West team’s 1,600-meter relay Sunday.

Watts’ latest alteration to his personal record came at The Athletics Congress championships at Randalls Island in New York City on June 15 when he placed third to qualify for the U. S. team, which will compete in the World Championships in Tokyo, Aug. 24-Sept. 1.

A cool customer in high school, the 21-year-old Watts admits that he felt some heat during his first two seasons at USC. He was aware that he was being written off by many as just another great high school sprinter who would not live up to his billing in college. And it hurt him.

“After I got injured in my freshman season, everybody was like, ‘Oh, he’s washed up,’ ” Watts said. “And after my sophomore year, that talk really got loud. . . . That was real frustrating to me. You lose a lot of respect. I just wanted to gain that respect back.

“I knew deep down inside that all I needed was one healthy year and Quincy Watts would be back. If Quincy Watts could stay healthy, Quincy Watts would be a factor again.”

Danny Everett of the Santa Monica Track Club would vouch for that. The 1988 Olympic bronze medalist in the 400, Everett was running third at TAC before Watts ran him down in the final 25 meters of the race.

Coincidentally, Gabriel Luke of Rice had gunned down Watts in a similar manner for the NCAA title two weeks earlier.

“(The 400) is still a very new race to me,” Watts said. “I never focused on it until this year, so I’m still learning a lot. Every race is different to me.”

At the start of the season, Watts planned to run the 400 to build his strength and endurance. His heart was still set on the 100 and 200--events in which he had run 10.30 and 20.50, respectively, in high school--but when his 400 times kept improving, he revised the master plan.

“I sat down with Coach (Jim) Bush and my dad, and figured that this was the furthest I had come since I had been here,” Watts said. “And maybe it was best to stick with the 400 since it had taken me that far.”

Watts’ decision--which came after he won the 400 title at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays in 45.78 in April--also was based on the fact that his legs were still firing on all cylinders.

In the previous three seasons, Watts had never survived the month of April without a major injury.

As a senior at Taft, he was sidelined for six weeks because of a torn right hamstring. He recovered in time for the state championships, but he was unable to win his third consecutive 200 title, finishing second to Bryan Bridgewater of Washington High.

As a Trojan freshman, Watts never really got out of the blocks. His right hamstring was torn in a workout the day after the dual meet against UCLA and he never returned to competition that year.

Last year, he strained his left hamstring early in the season, recovered well enough to place third in the 200 at the Pacific 10 Conference meet but then pulled up in the semifinals of the NCAA championships.

“That was probably the toughest time for him,” his father, Rufus Watts, said. “He was really down after that.”

Don Quarrie was the USC sprint coach at the time, and after Quincy’s mishap at the NCAA meet, he tried to soothe Rufus’ disappointment by reminding him that he never won an NCAA title during his career at USC, yet went on to win the 200 and place second in the 100 for his native Jamaica at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.

Rufus Watts, however, didn’t want to hear that.

“I told him right then, ‘Don, he’s going to run the 400 next year,’ ” Rufus said. “ ‘He’s got to take some stress off his legs.’ ”

It was shortly thereafter that Quincy Watts decided for go out for the Trojan football team as a wide receiver.

He said it was something he’d always wanted to do. Rufus believed it would take some of the pressure from track off his son, and although Quincy rarely got into games--and failed to catch a pass all season--he is convinced that the weight training and a more complete stretching program have made him stronger and more resilient to injuries.

Bush, the USC coach, was so pleased by Watts’ performance at the NCAA meet--which came 1 1/2 weeks after he suffered a severe case of dehydration and a slight muscle pull at the Pac-10 meet--that he encouraged the 6-foot-3, 190-pound athlete to call it a season.

Bush had coached several top quarter-milers--including 1971 Pan American Games gold medalist John Smith and 1972 Olympic Games silver medalist Wayne Collett--during his 20-year tenure at UCLA, so when he talks, people listen.

Watts--who had a best of 45.49 at the time--figured there was still something deep inside him that had yet to be tapped, so he began training with UCLA sprint coach John Smith and went to the TAC meet.

“Going to TAC didn’t cause any problems between Coach Bush and I,” Watts said. “I could understand where he was coming from, but I went there because I was just starting to run. That’s where all the main competition was and I wanted to be among the elite athletes in the world competing and see how I stood against them.

“I trained hard. I got back my sharpness after the NCAAs, and running against those guys really helped me.”

Despite his success in the 400, and the fact that Bush has said that he can be the “greatest quarter-miler who ever lived,” Watts is still not convinced that his athletic future lies in the 400.

“I’ve found a home in the 400,” he said. “I’ve found something that I’m competing well in again. I’ve found something that’s made me happy again. But as far as going back to the 100 and 200, I definitely feel like I can be one of the best sprinters in the world in those events. But it’s not going to be a sudden move. It’s going to be well-planned.”

Having reached his goals of placing among the top four at TAC and running under 45 seconds, Watts won’t say how much faster he thinks he can run this season.

“That remains to be seen,” he said with a smile that lets one know that he expects to run faster. “It’s going to be interesting because I’m doing a lot of good things with my training right now. . . . There are a lot of good times ahead for Quincy Watts right now. I think Quincy just has to continue to go out there and run well in practice, and good things will come.”

Quincy Watts’ Career

Year Age School Best Time USR WL USL 1986 15 Taft High 10.56 (100m) -- -- -- 20.97 (200m) -- -- -- 48.27c (400m) -- -- -- 1987 16 Taft High 10.30A, 10.36 -- -- 31 20.50A, 20.67 -- 39 25 46.98 -- -- -- 1988 17 Taft High 10.48 -- -- -- 20.67 -- -- 42 46.67 -- -- -- 1989 18 USC 10.46 -- -- -- 20.67 -- 47 25 Did not run -- -- -- 1990 19 USC DNR -- -- -- 20.66 -- 49 25 47.02 -- -- -- 1991 20 USC Has not run na na na 20.69 na na na 44.98 na na na

USR (United States ranking); WL (Place on world performer list); USL (Place on the U. S. performer list); c (converted time from yards); A (time run at altitude exceeding 1,000 meters).

Finishes in major meets:

1986: California State high school 100 meters, 2nd, 200, 1st.

1987: The Athletics Congress Junior (19 and under) 200, 2nd; California State high school 100, 1st; 200, 1st.

1988: Olympic Trials 200, 6th in quarterfinal heat; TAC Junior 100, 3rd; 200, 3rd; California State high school 200, 2nd.

1990: NCAA 200, injured in semifinal; Pac-10 200, 3rd.

1991: TAC 400, 3rd; NCAA 400, 2nd.