Both came through with American-record performances that drew little attention early in an outdoor track season that will peak at the world championships in Japan in late August.

Flanagan broke a drug-tainted record, Powell a mark set 21 years ago.

Even with no one to challenge her in the field, Flanagan set a U.S. record at 14 minutes, 44.80 seconds a week ago in the Friday session of the Mount SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif. She broke the mark Regina Jacobs set at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento in 2000.

Powell, a two-time Olympian, threw 222 feet last Saturday at the Maui Big Wind Discus Challenge, surpassing the record of 216-10 set in 1986 by Carol Cady.

Powell's throw would have been the second-farthest in the world last year behind German Franka Dietzsch's 224-9. Flanagan's time would have been 13th-fastest. Five Ethiopians, two Kenyans and one British runner were faster.

The two talked about their performances in a conference call on Friday.

"To throw so hard so early is kind of a reward for all the training we've done," Powell said. "I can't say it really comes as a surprise, although I'm certainly enjoying it."

USA Track & Field officials no doubt are pleased to erase a record set by Jacobs, who retired from running 2004 after accepting a four-year ban for testing positive for the steroid THG at the 2003 national championships.

Flanagan's run was her second American record of the year.

In pursuit of Ethiopian Meseret Defar, she broke the U.S. record by more than six seconds in the 3,000 at the Boston Indoor Games Jan. 27. Flanagan's first race since undergoing foot surgery last year.

Her latest record came one day after the anniversary of that operation.

"The kind of state I was in last year was pretty pathetic. I was really down," Flanagan said. "If someone told me that a year later I would breaking the American 5k record, I would have laughed and asked them if they were from another planet."

Unlike the Boston race, Flanagan had no one to chase.

"To have it all work out is pretty nice," the former North Carolina star said. "I thought I was going to be real close. I usually thrive off competition, so to run fast by myself is great."

The 25-year-old runner, who is moving back to North Carolina after a year in Portland, Ore., knows that she faces an uphill competition against the Ethiopians and Kenyans who dominate women's distance running.

"I like to think that by the end of the summer, when I'm running with some of the top women, I'll be able to run about 10 seconds faster."

She doesn't plan to run another 5,000 until the U.S. championships. After that, her goal at the worlds will be to keep up with the best.

"I tell my coach all the time I just want him to put me in contention," Flanagan said. "My ideal situation would be to hang with the Africans for as long as possible and just be in contention."

Powell thought she had shattered the American record five years ago at a meet in La Jolla, Calif. But her throw of 227-10 was not ratified because of the field's technical conditions.

"It's gratifying to be in that kind of shape again and throw those sorts of distances," she said.

The 30-year-old Powell has switched coaches to Dan Pfaff, better known for his work with sprinters and jumpers. They are part of a group called Tiger Bar Sports at a new training site in Rio Vista, Calif.

"What we're trying to do is give post-collegiate athletes a place to train," she said. "After graduation, a lot of us bounce around between locations and coaches."

Like Flanagan, Powell has big goals for the summer.