Saturday, June 22, 2002
Greene edges Montgomery in 100 showdown
By ROB GLOSTER
AP Sports Writer
STANFORD, Calif. — With a dramatic dash and a withering stare, Maurice Greene temporarily silenced the man who had questioned his claim as the world's fastest human.
Greene won his semifinal heat of the men's 100 meters at the U.S. Championships on Friday night in 9.99 seconds. As he crossed the finish line, Greene looked back over his left shoulder at Tim Montgomery, who was second in the heat at 10.13.
“Like I said, there's been a lot of talk. Now it's time to show what you've got,” Greene said.
Most of that trash talk has come from Montgomery, who has the fastest time in the world this year and has spent months questioning Greene's speed. On Friday night, Montgomery paid homage to his rival.
“That was great, I would have done it to him,” Montgomery said of the stare. “He did put an end to me saying anything today.”
Of course, the two will face off again Saturday night in the final.
In the women's 100, Marion Jones has no such rival. The three-time national champion won her semifinal heat into a 5 mph headwind in 10.98 seconds — a quarter-second quicker than anyone else in her heat.
Chryste Gaines won the other women's semifinal in 10.96, but she was running with a light tailwind. The first day of the three-day national championships offered chilly conditions and strong winds.
“We would just like to have it a bit warmer, say 15 to 20 degrees,” said Gaines, a Stanford graduate who spent her college years on this track.
The temperature at the start of the three-day meet was 63 degrees, but gusty winds of 17 mph made it feel significantly colder and made the conditions more conducive to speed skating than track and field.
Serene Ross broke her own American record while winning the women's javelin. Ross' throw of 197 feet broke the record of 195-8 she set in May at the NCAA Championships in Baton Rouge, La.
Lance Deal, 40, who retired after the 2000 Sydney Olympics, returned to win his ninth national title in the hammer throw with a toss of 244-5.
That ties Hal Connolly, who won nine U.S. titles in the hammer in the 1950s and 1960s.
Deal, who only began working out seriously again in March, said “nowhere in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be back here at the national championships.”
“I just decided to go out and throw on a sunny day in December and it just filled my heart,” said the graying Deal. “It was like visiting an old friend.”
Savante Stringfellow won the men's long jump with a leap of 27 feet, 11 1/2 inches, the best in the world this year; Brianna Glenn won the women's long jump; Tisha Waller won her fourth national title in the women's high jump, and Teri Steer won the women's shot put.
Jen Rhines, a four-time runner-up at the U.S. Championships, captured her first national title by winning the women's 10,000 meters, and Mebrahtom Keflezighi won the men's 10,000.
Greene is the world record-holder, the Olympic champion and the world champion. He edged Montgomery at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton despite limping the final few meters with a hamstring injury.
Greene has raced only once in the past 10 months while recovering from that injury, and Montgomery has been the fastest man in the world this year in his absence. Montgomery also is the defending U.S. champion.
Montgomery has raised doubts about Greene's injury, and said he was “very amazed” Friday to be beaten by a man who only returned to racing 11 days ago.
“If he was injured, he regained his strength very quickly,” Montgomery said, adding that he never had a chance to challenge Greene Friday night because he got a bad start.
Jones won't win five medals at these championships, as she did two years ago at the Sydney Olympics. That's because there are no relays at these championships, and Jones is not competing in the long jump in 2002.
But she's the favorite to win another national title in the 100, and will be a strong favorite to win her fifth straight U.S. title in the 200.
The first round of the women's 200 is Saturday night, two hours after the final in the 100.
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