TRACK AND FIELD : 800 Relay Record Set in Philadelphia

Carl Lewis and Leroy Burrell, the world’s two fastest sprinters, led the Santa Monica Track Club to a world record of 1 minute 19.11 seconds in the 800-meter relay Saturday at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia.

Mike Marsh, Burrell, Floyd Heard and Lewis broke the mark of 1:19.38 set by Santa Monica in 1989. Burrell, Heard and Lewis combined with leadoff runner Danny Everett to set the previous record.

“It’s been our plan,” Lewis said. “We were a little concerned all week because of the (cool) weather.

“We’re thankful that about 10-15 minutes before the race the sun came out. Being a little warmer helped us.”

Lewis is the world record-holder in the 100 meters, with a time of 9.86 at the 1991 World Championships. Burrell had the second-fastest time, 9.88, in history in that race. Marsh ran 9.93 this year, and Heard was No. 3 in the United States in the 200 last year.

Heard said that after handing the baton to Lewis: “I watched him around the curve. I was counting down (the clock) as he was running. When we got to 1:19 flat I said to myself, ‘We have to have it.’ ”

Earlier, the same Santa Monica foursome won the 400-meter relay in 38.97.

“We’ll do better later,” Burrell said, referring to the 800.

Butch Reynolds won the 400 meters at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, but his time of 45.92 seconds fell short of the 45.80 he needed to qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials.

“The race tempo wasn’t there,” Reynolds said. “We thought the whole field was going to run a lot faster than that.”

Reynolds was recently cleared to run in the United States while appealing a two-year suspension from track after testing positive for steroids in 1990.

During Saturday’s meet, Reynolds avoided running against Michael Johnson, who ranks No. 1 in the world in the 200 and 400. Johnson ran only the 200, winning easily in 19.9 to extend his unbeaten streak at that distance to 28 meets.

Johnson hasn’t said whether he will try to qualify for the Olympics in both races or one.

During Saturday’s 400, Reynolds allowed Danny Harris and Southwestern Louisiana’s Henry Brooks to set the early pace, then bolted into the lead.

Gwen Torrence, the No. 1-ranked U.S. woman in the 100 and 200, beat Lillie Leatherwood and Natasha Kaiser in the 400 with a time of 50.95.

In a women’s invitational at UC Irvine, Jackie Joyner-Kersee won the 100-meter hurdles in 13.01, the high jump at 6-2 1/4 and ran legs on the winning World Class Track Club 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams.

Gail Devers, who won the 200 in 22.94, anchored the winning 400 relay team to a time of 43.4 and ran the lead leg on the 1,600 relay team that clocked 3:32.67.