No Barriers to Sanchez’s Success

Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic was the world’s best 400-meter hurdler last year, winning an Olympic gold medal at the Athens Games. On Saturday, Sanchez showed that he’s a pretty good sprinter too.

Despite slow starts and gusty winds, Sanchez won the 200 meters and finished second in the 100 to highlight the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational in front of an estimated crowd of 1,800 at Drake Stadium.

Sanchez, a former NCAA champion at USC now competing for Nike, ran 20.88 seconds in the 200 and 10.45 in the 100. He said he ran both events to help his speed in the 400 hurdles.

“Last year, we overdid our strength training ... and at the end, I felt a little flat in most of my hurdle races,” said Sanchez, who finished behind Brandon Evans (10.4) in the 100.

“This year, we’ve been trying to pick it up, and today I felt pretty good.”

UCLA senior Jon Rankin also had a strong day with a personal-best performance in the mile. Rankin ran the fastest time in the world this year, 3:57.89, to become the third Bruin to break the four-minute barrier and the first since Ron Cornell ran 3:57.7 in 1980.

“My training has been there because in the past, I had so many injuries,” said Rankin, whose previous best was 4:05.25, run indoors. “Things have been building on each other and things were going so well. I thought I could run four minutes....

“I knew I had a chance when I was at three minutes heading into the last lap.”

In the women’s 1,500 meters, Nicole Teter followed a similar approach to win in 4:17.42.

“It was really windy out there, so under the circumstances, I’m pleased with my time,” said Teter, a 2004 U.S. Olympian. “I tried to make a move with a lap and a half to go and then made another one at 400.”

UCLA senior Monique Henderson, who won an Olympic gold medal competing on the U.S. 1,600-meter relay team last year, won the women’s 100 Saturday in 11.54 seconds and the 200 in 23.05.

Alyson Felix, Olympic 200 silver medalist in Athens, ran impressive legs for Elite International’s winning 400- and 1,600-meter relay teams.

Arizona’s Sean Shields won the shotput with a national-best 65 feet 7 3/4 inches.

Former UCLA standout Juaune Armon won the long jump with a meet-record leap of 25-6 3/4 and had a jump of 25-10 disallowed because it was wind aided.

UCLA junior Craig Everhart and sophomore Brandon Johnson were double winners. Both ran on the Bruins’ winning 1,600-meter relay team. Everhart won the 400 in 46.28 and Johnson won the 400 hurdles in 49.65.