Lagat Misses His Intended Time by a Mile

Bernard Lagat stopped by Los Angeles on Saturday night with designs on running the fastest indoor mile in the world this year, but Los Angeles refused to cooperate.

The banks of the track were too steep, the straightaways were in splinters, the rabbit was too slow, the crowd was too small and scattered, the required electricity in the air wasn’t there.

A serious challenge to Mark Carroll’s 2000 world-best time of 3:54.98 wasn’t going to happen, so Lagat, taking his cue from the scraping-to-get-by Los Angeles Invitational Indoor Track Meet, salvaged what he could--a respectable time of 3:59.6 and his second victory in as many years at the Sports Arena.

Lagat, who ran more than three seconds faster last weekend in Fayetteville, Ark., had requested a rabbit capable of running a 1:54 pace. The assignment fell to Ricky Ethridge of Cal Baptist, who completed the first 440 yards in 59.2 seconds but reached the 880 mark at 1:58.8.

He didn’t receive the help he needed from behind, either, as Brian Berryhill failed to mount much of a challenge.

“I kept looking back for him,” Lagat said of Berryhill. “I was expecting him to push me more because he’s a strong runner and maybe we could have pushed together. But I didn’t see him before the race, and I couldn’t lay down strategies with him.”

When asked about the not-so-fast pacesetter, Lagat smiled and shrugged.

“I thought I could run 3:55 today, but it didn’t happen,” he said. “The rabbit was slower than I hoped, but I didn’t follow him. It was my mistake, too.”

Lagat, who won the 1999 NCAA championship while running for Washington State, is hoping to qualify for Kenya’s Olympic team at 1,500 meters. He needs to finish in the top three at the nationals in Nairobi in July--a race that could be as competitive as the Olympic final in Sydney.

“There are a lot of milers in Kenya now,” Lagat said. “It has become popular there, like the steeplechase.”

Attendance for Saturday’s all-day meet was announced at 6,094, although by the time the men’s mile went off, around 8:40 p.m., there were maybe 1,000 spectators strewn across the first and second levels. Noise levels, while higher than what accompanied most Clipper games at the Sports Arena, were not especially adrenaline rush-inducing.

If the audience was a non-factor, the tattered 20-year-old running surface was an outright obstacle. More than one meet official described Lagat’s time as being exceptional “on this track.”

In another featured race, UCLA’s Jess Strutzel handed 39-year-old Johnny Gray his first defeat of the indoor season by winning the men’s 800 meters in 1:50.11. Gray, boxed in by Cal Baptist’s Milton Browne entering the final turn, settled for second and a time of 1:50.46.

“I let this one slip away,” said Gray, who had been undefeated in three indoor meets this year. “On the last turn, I had to walk a tightrope to get by him. Unfortunately, I couldn’t.”

Strutzel, 21, said it was “inspirational” to run against the grand old man of the 800 meters.

“He sets the standard,” Strutzel said of Gray. “He’s been around a long time, and I’ve never seen anyone do what he has done. It’s great to be able to race against him.”

Other meet highlights included:

* Shane Lavy, formerly of Nebraska, tying the meet record in the men’s high jump at 7 feet 7 1/4 inches.

* Lawrence Johnson winning the men’s pole vault by clearing 18-6 1/2.

* Gerald Williams, the state’s community college 200-meter champion in 1999, winning the men’s 50-meter sprint in 5.64 seconds. USC’s Kareem Kelly finished third in 5.67, outleaned at the tape by Jeff Laynes, who also was clocked at 5.67.