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Friday, June 13, 1997

Henry Neal returns

BY DAVID CLAYBOURN / Greenville Herald-Banner

GREENVILLE, Texas - After Henry Neal flashed across the finish line at the Greenville High School track, his coach David Gish flashed a broad smile as he checked his stopwatch.

"Are you ready for this, Hank?" Gish asked, eager to give Neal the good news on his time for 150 meters.

"Sure," said Neal, with hands on his hips while catching his breath.

"I got you in 14.63," Gish said. "Way to run Henry!"

Neal, who dipped under the listed world record in that seldom run event, has clocked some sizzling practice times in preparation for the 100-meter dash competition at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships this week in Indianapolis. Neal and Gish are hoping the practice times are an indication that he can make the U.S. team for the world championships with a top three finish in Friday night's finals.

His 14.6 was under the 14.8 recognized as the fastest hand-time for a 150, clocked in 1983 by Pietro Mennea, the former 200-meter world record-holder. This according to a list compiled by Roberto Quercetani.

By comparison, Donovan Bailey clocked a 14.99 over the same distance in his million dollar match race against Michael Johnson, who pulled up lame. Bailey coasted to the finish after turning around to see that Johnson was injured.

Neal followed up his sizzling 150 with a 6.18 on Gish's stopwatch for a 60-meter practice sprint. Rounding up and adding .24 for conversion purposes for fully-automatic clockings, Neal's time converts to a 6.44, just off the listed world record of 6.41 for the indoor 60, held by American Andre Cason.

The powerful 5-8, 185-pounder also clocked some swift times over other distances in practice, including a 20.1 for 200 meters, an 8.0 for 80 meters, a 4.2 for 40 meters and a 3.9 for 40 yards.

While the practice times indicate he's ready to make a serious run at a national championship in the 100 meters, Neal knows that it doesn't mean anything unless he produces at the meet.

"I'm excited about them," he said of his times, "but it's still practice. It's not going to go on record or anything. As soon as I do it in a meet, then it means something.

"Ain't nobody going to back down because of what I ran in practice," he said.

None of the other competitors in the 100 meters have reason to be afraid of Neal, whose track record as of late in the event hasn't been much to write Greenville about.

He set a national high school record in the event in 1990 with a 10.15 at the UIL State Meet in Austin and barely missed making the finals of the USA Outdoor Championships that year by .01.

But that's as close as Neal has ever gotten to making the finals of the USA nationals and the U.S. Olympic Trials.

In 1992 he pulled up only 20 meters into the first round of the 100 at the Olympic Trials after injuring a hamstring muscle less than a week before the meet.

In 1993 he failed to advance out of the first round of the 100 and 200 at the USA meet with his respective times of 10.33 and 20.93.

He made it to the semifinals in the 100 at the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials but finished two spots out of advancing to the finals with a sixth place finish in 10.14.

Neal's enjoyed better success on the indoor circuit, where he's won eight Grand Prix races and finished first in points for the 60 meters in both 1994 and 1995.

But a national indoor title has also eluded him. He was third in the 1993 USA indoor and sixth in both the 1994 and 1997 meets. A hip injury also hurt his chances in 1995, when he entered the indoor nationals with a four-meet winning streak.

His hard-luck finishes have made the 26-year-old mentally tougher. He said he's now focused on what he has to do this week against the other top U.S. sprinters.

"I can say I'm ready," he said. "I'm mentally focused. That's all I've really needed.

"I don't think I've ever looked forward to a meet as much as this one. I guess it feels good to be in shape again," he said.

Gish worked Neal into superb condition with four months of hard work on the GHS track and in the weight room.

"I think he's better prepared than when we were running indoors," Gish said. "The last three practices in succession he's P.R.ed. If he'd have done this two or three weeks ago I'd be worried. But this is the right time for him to be peaking."

Neal's best time this season in the 100 has been a 10.16, which earned him second place at the Texas Relays in Austin and ranked him No. 6 in the U.S. rankings through May 21. Former Blinn College runner Tim Montgomery and Rice-ex Kareem Street-Thompson share the top spot at 10.06. Next are Jon Drummond at 10.09, Brian Lewis at 10.10 and Maurice Greene with a 10.15.

Neal's best legal time in the event is a 10.09, clocked back in 1992. He figures he'll have to run better than that to make the U.S. team.

"I know I can P.R.," he said. "I'm looking for 9.9s."

Gish said Neal's top challenges should come from Drummond and Dennis Mitchell, who were on the U.S. Olympic team in 1996, plus from Montgomery and Streete-Thompson.

"They're the ones I think you have to watch for," Gish said. "Henry knows all these people pretty well. He's been around them long enough that I don't think anybody can play any head games with him. The main thing Henry has to do is run his race."

Neal and 31 other competitors in the 100 will run in four preliminary heat races starting at 5:15 p.m. Thursday on the new Indiana University track in Indianapolis. The top 16 advance to the two-race semifinals, which start at 8:25 p.m. Thursday. The best eight advance to the 7 p.m. finals on Friday night.

Should he reach his goal and make the U.S. team, then it will be Neal's turn Friday night to flash a broad grin. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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