Sprinters Could Start Fast, Furiously

The finish line is well off in the distance, thousands of miles and more than five months away, at a time and a place when the rest of the world will be examining their every step, scrutinizing their every move.

The starting blocks are in Walnut.

It’s a long way from Mt. San Antonio College to Olympic Stadium in Sydney, Australia, but this weekend, Marion Jones, Maurice Greene, Inger Miller and other ranking members of the U.S. track and field glitterati set out to prove that, indeed, you can get there from here.

The Mt. SAC Relays, to be held Friday through Sunday at Hilmer Lodge Stadium, receives its quadrennial bump in prestige this year, serving again as the unofficial opener to the outdoor track season and the first step in the long haul to Sydney.

It will also serve as the first official competition for Jones since she crumpled to the track in Seville, Spain, during her 200-meter semifinal heat at the 1999 World Championships, having suffered a back injury that has essentially sidelined her since last September.

After sitting out the 2000 indoor season, Jones is scheduled to run in the 400-meter event during Sunday’s invitational portion of the meet. The 400 is Jones’ annual routine at Mt. SAC--not one of her specialty sprints, but an event she needs to polish if she is to complete her audacious goal of winning five gold medals at the Sydney Games.

The Marion Jones quintuple crown would entail individual victories at 100 meters, 200 meters and the long jump, along with team victories in the 400- and 1,600-meter relays--hence the need for an occasional in-competition 400-meter heat.

Ordinarily at Mt. SAC, the 400 serves as a nice, brisk workout for Jones--she blew away the field in 1999--but Sunday, the event stands a chance of becoming a real contest. At a Tuesday news conference to publicize the competition, meet director Scott Davis said there was a possibility that Miller, the 1999 women’s 200-meter world champion, would run against Jones in the 400-meter event.

“I have been told by HSI [Miller’s track club] to save a lane in the 400 for Inger,” Davis said. “It’s not a certainty, but there’s a fairly good chance of it happening. . . . If it happens, it should be a hell of a race.”

If it doesn’t, Miller will run instead in the women’s 100 against a field that includes USC’s Angela Williams, Nigerian champion Mary Tombiri and the Bahamas’ Chandra Sturrup, who had a personal best of 10.96 seconds in 1999.

Greene, the world 100-meter record holder, is entered in Sunday’s 200-meter competition, likely to be opposed by HSI running mate Jon Drummond and former world champion Robson da Silva of Brazil.

Other entries in the invitational portion of the meet include:

* Olympic silver medalist Ato Boldon and five-time Mt. SAC champion Mike Marsh in the men’s 100 meters. Boldon won this event in 1998 with the fastest time in the world that year, 9.86 seconds.

* Two-time world champion men’s shotputter John Godina against the man who unseated him in Seville in 1999, C.J. Hunter.

* World-record holder Stacy Dragila and NCAA indoor champion Tracy O’Hara of UCLA in the women’s pole vault.

* Former world champion Antonio Pettigrew and 1999 world 1,600-meter relay gold medalist Jerome Davis in the men’s 400 meters.

* Johnny Gray, bidding to compete in his fifth Olympic Games this summer, and NCAA indoor champion Jess Strutzel of UCLA in the men’s 800 meters.

* Mt. SAC record holder Hudson De Souza of Brazil in the men’s mile.

* Matt Starkey, 1997 world bronze medalist, in the men’s pole vault.

* Connie Price-Smith, ranked No. 1 in the United States, in the women’s shotput.

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The three-day meet features youth and college competition on Friday and Saturday, with the women’s invitational pole vault scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Saturday night.

The rest of the invitational competition is scheduled Sunday, with the first field event, the women’s hammer throw, to begin at 10 a.m. Opening ceremonies are set for 12:25 p.m., followed by the first invitational running event, the women’s 400-meter hurdles, at 12:55 p.m.

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The Facts

Events being held at Mt. San Antonio College this weekend:

FRIDAY

* Divisions competing--Community College: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. All distance races: 4:30 p.m.

* Tickets--$10.

SATURDAY

* Divisions competing--High School Division: 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m. University/Open evening events: 400m, 800m, 1500m.

* Tickets--$12.

SUNDAY

* Divisions competing--University/Open & Invitational Division: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

* Tickets--$18.