Jones Just Can’t Keep Up in Her Return Outdoors

Marion Jones is not superwoman.

Despite her dominance of the world’s top female sprinters from 1997 to 2002, she has never been faster than a speeding bullet or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

That was never more obvious than at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays on Sunday, when she finished fourth in the invitational 200-meter race while running against a good -- but not great -- field.

Jones, who romped to Olympic titles in the 100 and 200 at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, was running her first outdoor race of the year after sitting out the 2003 season to give birth to her first child. But no one expected her to be beaten while running against a field that did not include anyone who had previously been ranked among the top 10 in the world in a sprint event.

“Fourth place for me obviously is a huge disappointment,” Jones said after running a wind-aided 23.02 seconds. “But looking at the big scheme of things, it’s very small in ultimately what I want to do. There are going to be a number of challenging times for me this year in terms of races, in terms of times. But I’m really looking at the big picture this year, and if I spend too much time concentrating on this race and that race and this race, then I’ll be in trouble. I want to run well [in the Olympic trials] July 9-18 and then in Athens.”

Athens will be the site of the Olympics, where Jones hopes to become the first woman to win the 100 and 200 in consecutive Games.

Jones, 28, ran a strong turn Sunday and had a three- or four-meter lead entering the home straightaway with 100 meters left. But things began to go awry for her shortly thereafter as Penn State senior Connie Moore began to cut into her lead.

Moore, who ran a career best of 22.60 to finish third at the NCAA indoor championships last month, pulled alongside Jones with about 70 meters to go and then passed her on her way to a winning time of 22.71.

Crystal Cox, running unattached, finished second in 22.91, and Tonette Dyer of San Diego State placed third in 22.99.

“Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to catch her,” Moore said of Jones. “I was just trying to stay with her.... But when I saw her in front of me, I just went for it.”

Jones, who had not lost a 200-meter race she had finished since placing second in the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational in 1997, made no excuses.

“There was no hitch,” she said when asked about her inability to change gears when Moore passed her. “I just got beat today. I’m never one for excuses, and I won’t start now. I’ve got some work to do.”

Jeff McAuley, the sprint coach at Penn State and a former assistant at Cal State Northridge, was pleased with Moore’s victory and with the fact her time was nearly a second faster than she ran last year in finishing second in a university-open race at Mt. SAC. But he added that “everyone is going to run a lot faster later on in the season, and Connie is going to need to run a lot faster too.”

Jones, who set her career best of 21.62 in the 200 at the 1998 World Cup meet, said she knew that a lot of people would be disappointed by her performance Sunday. But no one was more disappointed than she was.

“My expectations are so high,” she said. “To do a press conference after a fourth-place finish at Mt. SAC is nothing compared to what I’m going to say to myself in the mirror when I get back to the hotel room.”