WALNUT – Even before Walter Dix finished second to Jamaicans Yohan Blake and Usain Bolt in the 100 and 200 meters, respectively, at the 2011 World Track and Field Championships, the former Florida State NCAA champion questioned whether he needed to leave the Sunshine State to become the fastest man on the planet.
For three years, Dix had talked about a move to Southern California with John Smith, partner in the Orange County-based HSI, and coach of a string of Olympic sprint champions, notably Maurice Greene. Last fall, Dix finally made the move.
“It was just a question of him deciding whether I would make him a better sprinter,” Smith said.
On Saturday, Dix said he received his answer.
Powering past a world class field in the final 30 meters, Dix blazed to a wind-aided 9.85-second victory in the 100 meters at the Mt. SAC Relays. While Dix was aided by a 2.4 meters per second wind — .4 above the legal limit — the mark was nevertheless the fastest 100 in the world this season under any conditions. It also validated Dix’s move across country to train with Smith.
“John’s definitely made me a lot better sprinter,” Dix said.
Asked if the race might also send a message to his Jamaican rivals, Dix shrugged.
“That’s for you guys to write,” he said.
Lauryn Williams, another Florida sprinter who has also done some soul searching in recent seasons, also declined to declare her unexpected victory in women’s 100 meters a statement race.
Williams, the 2004 NCAA 100 champion at Miami, was the Olympic 100 bronze medalist at the 2004 Games in Athens. A year later, she won the world 100 title. But after finishing fourth at the 2008 Games and fifth at the 2009 Worlds, Williams decided to sit out the 2010 season.
“I just lost heart, lost the go,” she said. “I was just going through the motions.”
During that year away she decided she wasn’t finished.
“The one thing is it made me realize is that I still want to do this,” she said. “I still have more left in the tank, that I’m not OK with walking away from my sport.”
But returning wasn’t as easy as she expected.
“Horrible times, horrible places,” Williams, 28, said describing a 2011 season in which she failed to make the 100 final at the U.S. Championships. “I was running 11.30s, 11.40s. And those were on the days I felt great.”
On Saturday, she stunned an elite field with a legal 11.17 clocking, the second-fastest time in the world this season. Still, Williams doesn’t expect her comeback to cause any sleepless nights for her rivals. At least not yet.
“It’s a solid time,” Williams said. “They might think they need to keep an eye on Lauryn. But I don’t think it scares them, has them shaking in their boots. I still need to get faster.”
Two of Williams’ potential rivals for spots on the U.S. Olympic team in the 100 skipped the race. Smith pulled world champion Carmelita Jeter out of the race after her surprising world-leading 22.31 200 last weekend left him concerned that Jeter might do too much, too fast, too soon with the London Games still more than three months away.
“Caution,” Smith said.
Allyson Felix, a three-time world champion in the 200, opted for the 400-meter relay, anchoring the Kersee All-Stars to a 42.87 victory.
Felix said her longtime coach, Bob Kersee, will decide shortly before June’s U.S. Olympic Trials whether she will attempt to make Team USA in the 100 or 400 in addition to the 200.
So it is strictly Kersee’s decision, Felix was asked.
“Unless I don’t like his choice,” Felix said, laughing.
NOTES
Brittney Reese won the women’s long jump with a world leading leap of 23-feet, 4 1/2 inches. The mark also broke the meet record of 22-101/2 set by Carol Lewis in 1984. …
Great Britain’s Martyn Rooney squeaked past 2004 Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner to win the 400 in a world leading 44.92, four-hundredths ahead of the Texan. …
Michelle Perry edged 2004 Olympic champion Joanna Hayes, Perry’s former UCLA teammate, in the 100 hurdles 12.70 to 12.72 in a race in which six women dipped under 13 seconds. …
UC Irvine’s Charles Jock fell short in his bid to run 1 minute, 44 seconds in his first 800 of the season. Instead, Jock finished fifth in 1:47.15. “Honestly, I just think I was getting all the rust out,” Jock said.
