U.S. elite don’t shine at meet

A chilly wind blew, a few national records fell and some of the best second-tier track and field athletes in the United States came away satisfied with their performance Sunday afternoon at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays in Walnut.

As for the elite athletes from the U.S., they produced a mixed bag of results.

The highlights of the 49th annual meet might well have been the performances delivered by Mexican nationals Giovanni Lanaro and Gerardo Martinez, and Shu Ying Gao of China.

Lanaro, a former Mt. SAC and Cal State Fullerton pole vaulter who competed for Mexico at the 2004 Olympics, cleared 19 feet 1 inch in the men’s invitational event, breaking the meet and stadium records and setting a Central American mark. Martinez set a Mexican national record by clearing 7-6 1/2 to win the men’s high jump.

In the women’s pole vault, Gao cleared 14-11 to break meet, stadium and Asian records.

One of the top American performances was by sprinter Carmelita Jeter, a graduate of Torrance Bishop Montgomery High and Cal State Dominguez Hills. She won the women’s invitational 100 meters in a wind-legal 11.16 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year. Jeter, 27, says she has been pushed by her new coach, Len Webb, and teammates at South Bay Track Club in Torrance.

“I train with all the guys on the team, so every day I’m in a serious workout,” she said. “I’m trying to catch up to them, and then they’re trying to make sure I can’t.”

Mike Mitchell, who competed at Paramount High, Mt. SAC and Azusa Pacific, won the men’s invitational 200 in a wind-legal 20.33 seconds, just 0.01 off the world-leading time this year.

“I didn’t get out as good as I wanted to, but I noticed I relaxed more than I usually do,” he said. “K-I-S-S, meaning ‘Keep it simple, stupid.’ ”

The expected stars of the meet didn’t shine as brightly, but several competed outside their specialties and others were making their first test runs this year.

Allyson Felix, the 2005 outdoor world champion and 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the 200, won the 400 in 51.74, slightly off her personal best of 51.12. Felix, who graduated from North Hills L.A. Baptist High in 2003, said she was too fatigued to speak with reporters afterward.

Alan Webb of Reston, Va., a two-time U.S. outdoor champion in the 1,500, passed three runners in the final straightaway of the 800 and finished third in 1:47.32.

“I wanted to be closer to the front at the start, but I didn’t get out well,” he said. “I was happy with the way I closed the last 100.”

Dwight Phillips of Kennesaw, Ga., the 2004 Olympic gold medalist in the men’s long jump and two-time defending world outdoor champion, won the event with a leap of 26-9, well off his personal best of 28-2 3/4 . Phillips said he has started training this season under Tom Telez, the former coach of nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis, and he has made some changes to his form.

“I wanted to jump a bit further,” he said. “But primarily, my goal was to come out here and execute on my new jumping.”

Joanna Hayes, a Riverside North High and UCLA graduate who won gold in the 100 hurdles at the 2004 Olympics, scratched from the event after finishing third in the 400 hurdles earlier in the day. Melaine Walker of Jamaica won the event in a world-leading time of 55.99.

That turned out to be the top performance of the meet for the Jamaican team. Asafa Powell, the world-record holder in the 100, scratched from the 400 relay because of tenderness behind his right knee, said his agent, Paul Doyle. The Arkansas Alums took advantage of Powell’s absence and won the event in a world-leading 38.30.

dan.arritt@latimes.com