Men 100 Meters

Maurice Greene, who has won every honor there is to win in the 100 during the past 4 years, decided to run just the first round here. His aim, besides running one fast race (9.90, equaling the meet record) was to satisfy the letter of USATF's requirement that defending world champions compete at the nationals in order to use their "wild card" entry in Edmonton.

Greene's move leaves no clear favorite going into today's semis and final. His training mate and fellow Olympic relay gold medalist Bernard Williams showed he is ready with a 9.96 chasing Greene in the heats.

Next on the time list from the heats is Tim Montgomery, a top-3 finisher '97-'99 and the '97 World Champs bronze, who won heat 2 at 10.08. Notably, he was also top American (9.92w) on the Hayward Field track at the Pre Meet last month.

Two experienced veterans in the field are Dennis Mitchell, the 35-year-old Mean Green Machine, whose 10.11 placed him 2nd to Shawn Crawford (10.09) in heat 1, and Jon Drummond.

Drummond, who usually depends on a lightning-quick start in his best races hit the tape in that same heat almost even with Mitchell at 10.11. His 5th-place finish in the Sydney century gives him recent experience at the highest level.