U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL: ORANGE COUNTY’S DAY : LOS ANGELES 1991 : NOTEBOOK : James Wins the Gold in 20-Kilometer Walk

Mission Viejo race walker Allen James won the gold medal and broke two records with his 1-hour 26-minute 23.7-second clocking in the men’s 20-kilometer walk Friday morning at UCLA’s Drake Stadium.

James bettered the U.S. Olympic Festival record (1:28.19, set by Jim Heiring and Ray Sharp in 1982), the Drake Stadium record (1:34:46.2, Todd Scully, 1978), and his career best (1:27:47) with the effort.

In addition, his time was the fastest by a U.S. race walker this year, good enough to beat 1988 Olympian Gary Morgan of Clarkston, Mich., second in 1:26:56.8.

It was the first 20K on a track for James, the track and field team manager for Athletes In Action, a Christian sports organization. There were about 10 people in the stadium--including officials--during the approximately 50-lap race, but James remained inspired nonetheless.

“I had hymns going through my mind the whole race,” said James, who often race walks home from church every Sunday, a 17-mile jaunt from Santa Ana to his home in Mission Viejo.

James, who has spent the past three weeks training in the 5,300-foot altitude of Ft. Collins, Colo., where he was attending a church conference, was on pace to break Tim Lewis’ American record of 1:24:50 through about 15 kilometers before tiring.

That’s OK, James said. He’s not planning on peaking until September’s Alongi Invitational in Detroit. His goal is to break 1:24, the qualifying standard for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.

Daiva Jusionis, team manager for the West women, has seen some flaky aspects of track and field in her 10 years of officiating the sport. But the Olympic Festival has given her further insight.

Christy Johnson of Eugene, Ore., was supposed to compete for the West team in the 10,000 meters Thursday night. But Thursday morning, she called to say she wasn’t coming.

“She supposedly pulled a hamstring,” said Jusionis, a Westminster resident.

So, at 1 p.m. Thursday, distance runner Carmen Maldonado was contacted and agreed to run for the West. She got to the meet, warmed up, started and dropped out after four laps--one mile into the 6.2-mile race.

“Arch problems,” Jusionis said, rolling her eyes. “She just dropped out and split.”

The West had another last-minute entry in the 400-meter hurdles: Diana Pacheco, a senior at John Glenn High School in Norwalk. Pacheco finished last in 1:05.27, nearly 10 seconds behind the winner, Ann Graham.

But because a North team member failed to finish the race, Pacheco’s finish gave the West team two points.

“Hey, two points is better than none,” Jusionis said.