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The Hernando High graduate was one of 16 to advance.
By JOHN ROMANO
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 15, 2000
SACRAMENTO -- Around the time he stepped in the starter's block Friday night, John Capel began to miss his literature courses. Not to mention world history and macro economics.
The Hernando High graduate was about to compete in the Olympic Trials for the first time, to discover he was visibly nervous. And he began thinking that maybe he had made a mistake by dropping out of the University of Florida to concentrate on his track career.
Another 10.12 seconds later, Capel had advanced to today's semifinals in the 100 meters and the nervousness was gone. The second guessing remained.
"The reason I think I should have stayed in school is because I would have had a lot more races under my belt this year," Capel said. "I would have been a lot more race-ready. I wouldn't have been half as nervous as I was out there today."
Capel, who was a kick returner and receiver on the Gators football team, said he plans on applying for reinstatement to UF for next season. He will not be able to compete for the track team but, as long as his deal with adidas does not violate NCAA rules, he can regain eligibility for football.
For now, Capel has more pressing matters.
He is one of 16 runners to advance to the semifinals and his 10.12 was tied for the sixth-best heat of the night. He will need one of the top eight times to advance to the finals and one of the top three to qualify for the Olympics.
Capel, 21, said he was feeling fairly good in the days leading up to the event, but his confidence was seriously rocked when Maurice Greene ran an effortless 9.93 in the heat before him.
"Looking at the times, I thought I was in pretty good shape," Capel said. "Then Maurice came out there blazing and I thought, "Oh my gosh.' I was in a heat with Tim Montgomery and Tim Harden and they've been running with Maurice forever. So after watching Maurice do that, I got real scared about the heat I was in."
The top two finishers in each of the five heats along with the next six best times qualified for the semifinals. Going into the final heat, Capel needed to run a 10.22 or better if he did not finish in the top two.
The time should not have been a problem. He had run 10.03 last year and 10.13 this year, but he was concerned nerves would get the best of him.
Running in the fourth lane, Capel jumped out front with Montgomery, only to see Brian Lewis moving ahead on the outside.
"My focus was to get out with Tim Montgomery and stay alongside him. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw Brian getting away. I just kept thinking I needed to stay in second," Capel said. "I tried to go to another gear to catch Brian and my calf tightened up."
Although his times have had him ranked as high as No. 8 in the U.S. in the 100 and No. 5 in the 200, Capel had never raced with so much at stake. He won the 1999 NCAA title in the 200 and finished second in the 100, but the competition was not nearly as daunting.
Having survived his first stress test of the trials, Capel said he sees good things ahead for today and the 200 next week.
"I feel pretty good. Coming out of that heat, I think I did pretty good making it to the next round," Capel said. "Now, I think I can go out and relax. I was more scared than focused today. I had never been in this type of competition. Now, having raced against those guys, I think I can stand there and know I belong."