LEWIS NOT FIRST BUT STILL IN MIX : DRUMMOND DOMINATES HEATS IN 100 METERS.

Byline: Rob Gloster Associated Press 

Just before he reached the finish line, Carl Lewis peeked to his right. All he got was a glimpse of Jon Drummond's back.

Though Lewis easily passed his first two tests in the U.S. track and field trials Friday evening by advancing to the semifinals of the men's 100 meters, Drummond was the star of the show.

Drummond ran a personal best 9.99 seconds in the first round of the 100 and then again had the fastest time of 10.00 in the quarterfinals. He celebrated his second-round win by pulling off his shirt and flexing his muscular chest to the crowd.

``All I've got to say is that I have two more races tomorrow. I don't want to say too much and jinx myself,'' said the flamboyant and quirky Drummond, who once accidentally ran a world championship race with a comb in his hair. ``I ran well. I ran fast. And I'm happy.''

Lewis, trying to become the first American male track and field athlete to make five Olympic teams, was second in his first-round heat in 10.10 and third to Drummond and world-record holder Leroy Burrell in 10.04 in the quarterfinals. Burrell ran 10.01 in the quarterfinals.

The semifinals and final are today, with the top three making the U.S. team for the Olympics.

``I don't think today was indicative of how things will go tomorrow,'' Lewis said. ``I feel I can run at this level or better on all four rounds.''

Lewis, who won the Olympic 100 in 1984 and 1988 and has eight gold medals overall, failed to qualify for the 1992 Olympics in the 100.

Gail Devers, the 1992 Olympic champion who has been tormented by injuries this year, had the fastest time of 10.96 seconds in the first two rounds of the women's 100.

Devers won her heat in both the first and second rounds, as did world champion Gwen Torrence. Torrence's best time was 10.99 in the quarterfinals.

Mary Slaney, perhaps the greatest and unluckiest American middle-distance women's runner ever, won her semifinal heat in the 5,000 meters. Though she holds American records at several distances, the 37-year-old Slaney has never finished higher than eighth in an Olympic race.

``I feel like I'm starting over again,'' said Slaney, who estimates she's had 18-20 operations on her legs. ``Really, I started at minus-ground zero with all the injuries.''

In a measure of just how dominant Jackie Joyner-Kersee is among American heptathletes, the two-time defending Olympic champion easily led the field after Friday's first four events despite a cold and throbbing pain in her left ankle.

Her performance in the heptathlon reflected those problems, falling far below her usual standards, but she led after four events with 3,916 points. The last three events are set for today.

Her first-day total in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics was 4,136 points, and she had 4,264 after the first day en route to a world record in the 1988 Seoul Games. Her best first-day total was 4,367 at the 1988 Olympic trials.

Joyner-Kersee, 34, seeking to make her fourth and final Olympic team, twisted her ankle on her first high jump attempt and crawled out of the pit in pain.

``It might have been something in my (high jump) run, because it felt like my foot was coming out of my shoe,'' she said.

Joyner-Kersee had her ankle taped and got an extra sock from husband and trainer, Bob Kersee. She returned to clear her next four jumps, but failed three times at 6 feet, a relatively low height for her.

Agoura High product Amy Skieresz advanced to the final of the women's 5,000 meters, finishing fifth in her heat in 16:12.82.