Carter edges Spearmon in the 200

After struggling through the early season, Xavier Carter is back.

He surged at the finish to edge Wallace Spearmon in the talent-laden 200 meters on a misty Sunday at the Prefontaine Classic track and field meet in Eugene, Ore.

Carter, winner of an unprecedented 100-400 double for Louisiana State at last year’s NCAA championships, struggled without the discipline and regular competition of a college program.

“I wasn’t really taking it seriously at the beginning,” he said, “but it’s a wake-up for me now.”

He put it together during the last 15 meters to edge Spearmon, the reigning U.S. champion and runner-up at the 2005 world championships. With the race run into a headwind, the winning time was an unspectacular 20.23 seconds, well off Walter Dix’s world-leading 19.69. Spearmon finished in 20.25.

The heralded matchup between 100 world record-holder Asafa Powell and Olympic and world 400 champion Jeremy Wariner didn’t amount to much. Powell was third behind Carter and Spearmon at 20.55 and Wariner a distant sixth 20.78.

Mozambique’s Maria Mutola won the Prefontaine women’s 800 for the 15th straight year, with a world-leading time of 1:58.33. Mutola hopes to add a 16th title before she retires next year.

Sanya Richards’ won the 400 meters in a relatively slow 50.74.

Kenyan Daniel Komen ran the fastest mile on U.S. soil, winning in 3:48.28. Kenyan-born Bernard Lagat, now running for the U.S., was second in 3:50.56.

The previous fastest mile in the U.S. was 3:49.92 by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj at Hayward Field in 2001.

Olympic gold medalist Liu Xiang ignored a crashing Dominique Arnold in the next lane to win the 110 hurdles in 13.23, well off his world record of 12.88.

PRO BASKETBALL

Wizards expect to keep Arenas despite opt-out

The Washington Wizards are committed to keeping Gilbert Arenas, even after the All-Star point guard said he planned to opt out of his six-year, $65-million contract after next season.

While saying he understood the decision, Ernie Grunfeld, the Wizards’ president of basketball operations, said the team is committed to retaining Arenas.

Arenas said his motive was strictly business.

MISCELLANY

Nuggets’ Johnson arrested outside club

Denver Nuggets reserve forward DerMarr Johnson was charged with resisting arrest and interfering with police during a disturbance outside a nightclub in Greenwood Village, Colo. Police said they used a taser to calm the 6-foot-9 Johnson.

Johnson and two women were arrested, booked and released early Saturday. The women were charged with disturbing the peace.

Denver guard J.R. Smith remained hospitalized in Millstone Township, N.J., after being thrown from his vehicle during a crash Saturday night, but his injuries aren’t believed to be as serious as first thought.

“J.R. is fine. There is nothing career- or life-threatening,” Nuggets spokesman Eric Sebastian said.

Smith’s passenger, Andre Bell, 21, suffered life-threatening head injuries. Two others suffered minor injuries.

Roberto Duran was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, N.Y.

Duran, a world champion from Panama in four weight divisions over a career that spanned five decades, joined Olympic gold medalist Pernell Whitaker, another four-division champion. Undefeated Mexican straw-weight champion Ricardo “Finito” Lopez, who held his world title for more than a decade with a string of 21 successful defenses, was inducted too.

Also among the class of 2007 were Argentine trainer Amilcar Brusa, longtime World Boxing Council president Jose Sulaiman and artist Leroy Neiman.