World-Leading Marks Set the Standard

The weather conditions may not have been perfect, but that did not stop sprinters Wallace Spearmon and Veronica Campbell, as well as middle distance runner Rachid Ramzi, from registering world-best marks at the Adidas Track Classic on Sunday at the Home Depot Center.

On a cool, windy afternoon, Spearmon ran away from 400-meter specialist Jeremy Wariner to win the 200 in 20.06 seconds; Campbell defeated Lisa Barber in the women’s 100 in 10.99; and Ramzi held off Bernard Lagat to win the 1,500 meters in the fastest time run in the U.S., 3 minutes 32.34 seconds.

“I was hoping to run a little bit faster but I wasn’t sure if the wind was going to be allowable,” said Spearmon, silver medalist in the 200 at last year’s world championships.

Spearmon got off to a strong start with training partner Omar Brown of Jamaica, forcing Wariner to play catch-up from an inside lane. Off the turn, Spearmon surged into the lead and over the last 100, Wariner could not make up the difference, finishing with a personal-best time of 20.19.

“I got out like I usually do,” said Spearmon, who ran his personal-best time of 19.89 last year in London. “I felt [Wariner’s] presence on the turn.”

For Wariner, who says he plans to double in the 200 and 400 at the 2008 Olympics, Sunday’s race was anything but a disappointment.

“I knew that [Spearmon] had a better straight and curve, so I just tried to go out and get next to him,” said Wariner, the reigning Olympics and world championships title holder in the 400. “I knew if I did that, I would be in good position to try and win or get a good time.”

Campbell’s win over Barber also was determined over the last half of the race. After running with the pack, Campbell surged into the lead and maintained her edge over Barber, who finished second at 11.06.

“I’m really quite satisfied with my time,” said Campbell, who won two gold medals and a bronze for Jamaica at the 2004 Olympics. “I wanted to get a quick start and be out in front.”

Barber, who competed despite a sore hamstring, did not run well out of the blocks but finished strong, which was her goal.

“Veronica is a great competitor,” said Barber, 2005 U.S. champion in the 100 and 2006 world indoor champion at 60 meters. “I just really worked on the end of my race. I was a little precocious coming at the start because of my hamstring.”

Ramzi, the 2005 world champion at 800 and 1,500 meters from Bahrain, is another who stepped up at the end of his race Sunday.

With less than 300 meters left, Ramzi began his kick and Lagat, the U.S. record holder in the 1,500, was unable to overtake him. Ramzi’s time broke Britain’s Sebastian Coe’s U.S. soil record of 3:32.53, set at the 1984 Olympics at the Coliseum.

“I wanted to be here to perform in America,” Ramzi said through an interpreter about his first meet in 2006. “I really wasn’t sure what kind of time I’d have. I knew my training was good, but I didn’t know where my training would be in a race situation.”

Lagat finished second in 3:32.94, the fastest for an American in a U.S. all-comers meet, breaking the record of 3:31.1 set by Jim Ryun in 1966.

“I didn’t even know that we did that,” said Lagat said about the American records set in the 1,500.

“I was really excited to come back to Carson and run,” added Lagat, a two-time Olympics medalist for Kenya before becoming a U.S. citizen. “Knowing Rachid Ramzi would be here, I knew it would be a good competition. That’s what I love, of course. This is a good start for me.”

Other top performers Sunday included Marcus Brunson, who won the 100 in a personal-best 10.01; Andrew Rock, who won the 400 in 44.83; Khadevis Robinson, who won the 800 in 1:45.23; Michelle Perry, who won the 100 hurdles with a wind-aided time of 12.61; Sanya Richards, who won the women’s 200 in 22.42; and Dee Dee Trotter, who won the women’s 400 in 51.19.