clarinews@clarinet.com (02/05/90)
FAIRFAX, Va. (UPI) -- Viorica Ghican pulled away with 400 meters to go to head a 1-2 finish for Romania in the mile Sunday at the Mobil 1 indoor track and field invitational at George Mason University. Ghican ran away from the field with a sustained kick to set a meet record of 4:27.10 in finishing ahead of teammate Margareta Keszig and Svetlana Kitova of the Soviet Union. Romania also captured the 800-meter run as 1984 Olympic gold medalist Diona Melinte held off a pair of East Germans, Christine Wachtel and Sigruns Wodars. Melinte's winning time was 2:00.13 as the top three runners shattered the meet record. American indoor record holder Diane Dixon captured the 400 meters for the third straight year in 52.31. In the men's 400, Clarence Daniel, running for the Florida Clippers, won by five yards over world outdoor record-holder Butch Reynolds in 46.28. Jose Luiz Barbosa of Brazil outleaned Stanley Redwine of the United States to capture the 800 meters in 1:49.39. Redwine ran 1:49.56, with third-place finisher Ray Brown another hundredth of a second back. Larry Almberg won the master's mile in 4:17.69 to defeat a field that included legendary rivals Jim Ryun and Kip Keino of Kenya. Ryun, the former American mile record-holder who finished second to Keino in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, was seventh in 4:42.37. Keino finished last in 5:04.18.