Noble runs into world all her own

Becca Noble ran herself into a whole new realm Friday afternoon.

The recent Rogers High School graduate became the fastest 800-meter runner in state prep history, winning the event at the U.S. Junior Track and Field Championships in Carson, Calif., in a time of 2 minutes, 3.73 seconds.

It was achieved in typical Noble fashion, with a closing sprint that beat BYU freshman Heidi Magill, who was second in 2:04.99. Sarah Bowman of Warrenton, Va., the fastest high school 800 runner this season coming into the meet, was fourth in 2:07.88.

The victory earns Noble a spot on the United States team for the Pan American Junior Championships July 28-31 in Windsor, Ontario – and some other distinctions.

She moves ahead of Issaquah’s Deanna Coleman on the all-time Washington high school list. Coleman’s 2:04.7 best had stood up since 1979.

It’s also the fastest junior (19 and under) time in the world this year, ahead of the 2:03.98 clocked by China’s Qing Liu in April. Noble just missed cracking the all-time U.S. junior top 10, which is topped by Kim Gallagher’s 2:00.07 run in 1982 – also the U.S. high school record.

Noble, headed for the University of Oregon next year, received her medal from four-time Olympian Madeline Manning Mims.

Meanwhile, in the senior championships being held concurrently, Dominque Arnold narrowly missed being the second former Washington State athlete in as many days to win a title, finishing second to Allen Johnson in the men’s 110-meter high hurdles.

Arnold ran a lifetime-best 13.01, but it wasn’t enough to catch Johnson, the 1996 Olympic champion, who clocked 12.99.

Four other former Cougs didn’t fare as well. Spokane’s Anthony Buchanan was eliminated after finishing sixth in his heat of the 100 meters. Arend Watkins was fifth in the semis of the high hurdles, while Eric Dudley was eliminated in the heats of the intermediates. Francesca Green finished 16th in the women’s long jump at 19 feet, 7 1/2 inches.

Elsewhere, the championships were tinged with controversy.

Moments before the start of the women’s 100-meter preliminaries, Marion Jones grabbed her warmup clothes and walked off the track, a stunning exit for the woman who once dominated the event.

Moments later, Olympic gold medalist Justin Gatlin was disqualified from the men’s 100 for a false start. However, Gatlin protested and was reinstated into the semifinals on a referee’s decision.

Jones’ agent, Charles Wells, said that she had a hip flexor injury and would not compete in the 200 meters, either. The injury, he said, occurred two weeks ago during training.

Jones, a two-time world champion and 2000 Olympic gold medalist in the 100, has been dogged by doping suspicion for two seasons, even though she never has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and has vehemently denied ever taking them.

Jones’ abrupt departure came hours after her boyfriend, former world record holder Tim Montgomery, withdrew from the men’s 100, ending his chances of qualifying for Helsinki.

“Considering everything that’s going on, he just can’t concentrate on track and field,” Wells said.

Gatlin, who had talked at length about his budding rivalry with new world record holder Asafa Powell of Jamaica, was called for a false start based on computer readings of the pressure he puts on the blocks. The field gets one false start, but anyone who has one after that is eliminated.

Gatlin’s alleged false start came in the first heat. Bernard Williams was disqualified for a false start in the second heat. Maurice Greene, who won Williams’ heat, said, “He’s holding us for like a thousand years. He’s like no other starter in the world.”

Olympic silver medalist Bryan Clay set a world decathlon discus record en route to winning the 10-event title with 8,506 points, 500 more than runner-up Paul Terek.

Clay, the heavy favorite in the 10-event competition with the absence of injured Tom Pappas, threw 183-3 in the discus to break the world decathlon mark of 180-5 set by Razvigor Yankov of Bulgaria in 1979.