Spearmon Shows Another Gear in 200

Sprinter Wallace Spearmon Jr. of Arkansas said he knew what to do when he found himself in the middle of the pack coming off the turn in the invitational 200 meters Sunday at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays in Walnut.

Instead of panicking, he calmly increased his speed and left the field behind.

The reigning NCAA indoor champion and U.S. indoor-record holder at 200 meters, Spearmon established a meet record with a time of 19.97 seconds.

“I really had to work for that one,” said Spearmon, whose time Sunday is the fastest in world this year. “I started out fast over the first 100 because I did not want anyone to get me on the turn.”

Over the final 100 meters, Spearmon pulled away, making his competition appear as if they were running in mud. Tyree Washington finished second at 20.48, and USC’s Wes Felix was third at 20.80.

“My goal for every race is to win, and the time will come with the victory, that’s my philosophy,” said Spearmon, the son of former two-time Arkansas All-American sprinter Wallace Spearmon Sr., who competed for the Razorbacks in the 1980s.

“Hopefully, I will be put in the category,” the younger Spearmon said of being ranked among the world’s best sprinters. “I have a lot of confidence from the indoor season. Right now, I’m pretty happy with where I am.”

Spearmon said his goal for the season is to qualify for the U.S. team and compete in this year’s world championships. He’s not worried about burnout after running a long indoor season.

“We put in a good base in the fall,” he said. “But after the indoor season, it’s been like starting over.”

*

Although USC did not have any first-place invitational finishers, the Trojans did have several strong efforts Sunday, starting with Ginnie Powell’s second-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles behind Perdita Felicien of Nike. Powell ran 12.75 behind Felicien’s 12.73.

The Trojans’ 400 relay team finished second (38.89) behind HSI, which was anchored by Maurice Greene (38.73).

The top performer for UCLA, which had a limited number of athletes compete, was middle-distance runner Jon Rankin, who finished second in the invitational 800, trailing Texas Tech’s Jonathan Johnson. Rankin, who broke the four-minute barrier in the mile last week, ran a personal best 1:47.11 behind Johnson’s 1:46.67.

Former Bruin Amy Acuff leaped 6 feet 4 inches to finish in a tie for first in the women’s invitational high jump with Georgia Tech’s Chaunte Howard.

Azusa Pacific’s Vivian Chukwuemeka won the invitational shotput with a throw of 59-9 1/2 .