THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 17, 1996 TAG: 9606170158
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: 35 lines
The first bad omen was her lane assignment. Tonya Williams said she never races well in Lane 1, but that's what she drew for Sunday's final of the 400-meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials.
Bad sign No. 2 and 2-A were the strength of the field, and that Williams wasn't as nervous as she probably should have been to run with appropriate urgency.
``But I told myself before the race, I'm going to come in relaxed and enjoy myself,'' said Williams, a two-time NCAA champ at Illinois.
Williams ran hard early and led briefly. But in a blistering race won by world-record holder Kim Batten, Williams faded to sixth place and failed to make the Olympic team.
Batten ran 53.81, Tonja Buford-Bailey ran 53.92 and Sandra Farmer-Patrick ran 54.07, the three fastest times in the world this year, to make the team. Williams, at 55.94, ran her slowest time of the three-race competition.
``I did what my coach told me to do - get out hard and work it at the end if I'm with them, but I wasn't with them,'' said Williams, who attended Norview High School. ``I put an extra step in (at the first few hurdles), and I think that put me behind. My steps were all screwed up.''
Williams, 21, won her NCAA titles in the 400-meter hurdles, but will have another chance to make the Olympic team in the 100-meter hurdles that begin Friday.
``This is a fun time for me,'' Williams said. ``I think sometimes I don't take the 100 as seriously as I take the 400, and I think that takes away from my performance. I'm going to try to change my mindset for next weekend. Hey, maybe I'll come up lucky in the race that I didn't expect to come up lucky in.'' by CNB