FAIRFAX, Va. -- Call him Bob, call him Kennedy, call him a kid from the heartland.
Just don't call him America's distance running hope.
Bob Kennedy was in diapers in 1972, when the United States produced the Olympic champions in the marathon, Frank Shorter, and 800 meters, Dave Wottle. The United States has since been a third-world country in races longer than the 400, but Kennedy took strides toward alleviating that shortcoming last summer.
A 24-year-old from Indiana who ranked fourth in the world in the 5,000 in 1994, Kennedy showed yesterday that he has little competition stateside at shorter distances, winning the 3,000 at the Mobil Invitational in 7 minutes, 45.34 seconds, a meet record and the fastest time by an American this year.
Kennedy overtook Todd Williams with a little more than a lap to go at George Mason University's fast indoor facility, then talked about the burden -- or lack thereof -- of being America's premier distance runner, an honor he earned with the 13:02.93 he ran in the 5,000 last year.
"I'm doing the things I want to do not because I feel a responsibility to American distance running, but because I feel a responsibility to myself," Kennedy said, "I don't feel burdened at all."
Kennedy was something of a prodigy in 1991, when he upset reigning Olympic champ Peter Rono of Mount St. Mary's in the 1,500 in the NCAA championships. He learned early he could race with the elite Africans, a task beyond the ability of all but a handful of Americans.
"I really don't know their thoughts, but I sense they know who I am now," Kennedy said of the Africans. "After last year, there's no reason I can't run 12:55 [in the 5,000]. When I do, there's no guarantee it'll be a world record, but that's OK. I'll readjust my goals, just like I did last year."
Kennedy will shoot for the American record of 7:39.94 in the 3,000 at the USA indoor championships at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta next weekend, but he will not move on to the world indoor championships in Barcelona, Spain. He will instead focus on the world cross country championships.
Besides Kennedy, the list of luminaries yesterday included Michael Johnson, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Jearl Miles, Maria Mutola and Gwen Torrence.
None, however, was as satisfied as Tony Barton, the lesser-known winner in the high jump.
Barton, 26, got his start at Milford Mill High, and blossomed while a collegian at George Mason. He's won at Milrose, won at the NCAAs and represented the U.S. in the 1993 world championships, but until yesterday, he had never won a Mobil Invitational on his home track.
He did so in style, clearing 7 feet, 7 inches -- a personal best indoors and the second highest by an American this year.
"I don't know if I was jinxed here or what, but I feel like there's a monkey off my back," Barton said. "I've always felt under a lot of pressure when I jump here, and I'm really excited to win.
"A height like this at the USA championships will get me a berth at the worlds, for sure."
One of the meet's few surprises came in the men's 800, in which Tony Parrilla might have made his move too soon. Parrilla, a one-time Severna Park High standout whose trademark is a furious finish, stole the lead on the inside with a little more than a lap to go, but was passed on the final straightaway by Kenyan Joseph Tengelei.
Parrilla's time, 1:47.82, was the second fastest by an American this season.
Other than that, the rest of the Mobil Invitational ran to form.
Johnson posted his 39th straight win in a 400 final, and the time, 45.55, has been bettered only once this season. He stunned himself two weeks ago with a world record 44.97 at the Reno Air Games, and had Johnson not been slowed by a cold yesterday, he might have approached that record.
Allen Johnson continued his strong form in the 60 hurdles, but the big noise there came from former world champion Greg Foster, who didn't take kindly to being placed in Lane 1, and embarked on an obscenity-laced tirade afterward.
"I want to say thanks to Mobil," Foster said. "I was told I would run in Lane 4. I got here and was switched to Lane 5, and then I was switched to Lane 1 before the race. I ain't no rookie, and I don't appreciate that."
Among the women, the ageless Joyner-Kersee handled a solid 60 hurdles field in 7.87, .06 of a second off her American record. Miles, the reigning world outdoor champion, wore orange-tinted sunglasses and set a meet record in the 400 in 51.92.
Mutola, a 22-year-old from Mozambique who has been practically untouchable since the 1992 Olympics, turned in a season's best 1:59.41 in the 800. Torrence, No. 1 in the world in the 100 and 200 in 1994, easily won the 60 in 7.10.
NOTES: David Bobb, the fastest sprinter ever to attend UMBC, was fourth in the men's college 55 -- in 6.35. Rice's Kareem Streete-Thompson, ranked No. 2 in the world in the long jump in 1994, took the race in 6.22. . . . Perry Hall's Joe Lielich was 10th in the high school boys mile in 4:33.14. Seneca Lassiter, a Virginian who later this year will attempt to become the fourth American schoolboy to break four minutes outdoors, won in 4:14.50. . . . Sally Glynn of Walter Johnson High in Montgomery County won the high school girls mile in 4:52.03.